Information for parents and guardians

1. When we get a referral to our service, we usually arrange for a worker to go and meet the young person at their school.  If the young person isn’t in school or would prefer to meet somewhere else, we are happy to do this too. 
2. In this meeting, we tell young people a bit about the young Carer service and have a chat to find out what their caring role involves, and how it affects them.  We complete some questionnaires to help our understanding of this.   
3. We will then get in touch with parents/guardians to have a chat and confirm any key details and will also speak to the person who referred the young person. 
4. After this, the young person’s level of need can be determined, and the appropriate level of support can be offered.  
5. The worker will then contact you to let you know the outcome of the meeting. 

• Low need – the young person is currently coping well with the level of caring required of them, and has adequate support available through school, (extended) family or other activities.  These young carers are invited to our monthly youth clubs, school drop-ins if secondary age, and school holiday activities to meet others in similar situations. 

• Medium need – the young person seems to be more impacted by their caring role. As well as the above activities, they can be offered small group wellbeing workshops and some ‘check-in’ calls or appointments with a member of the young carer team. 

• High need – the young person seems significantly impacted by their caring role. In addition to the above groups and drop-in services, we can also offer one-to-one sessions to talk in more detail with a member of staff.  We also have a cognitive behavioural therapist (CBT) who can work with some higher need young carers.  There may be a waiting time for both one to one support and CBT. 

Young Carers Revolution is our voice and influence group, open to all young carers.  It includes one-off projects, creative activities, ongoing campaigns and opportunities for young carers to influence the services available to them and to speak out on the things that matter to them. 

The service also has a family worker who can offer the following support to families of young carers: 

• Support related to a specific issue (i.e. housing, engaging with education, debt management) 

• Signposting and support to access other services 

• Free trips throughout the year for the young carer and one family member to attend 

• Meet ups to allow parents/family members to meet others in similar situations to themselves 

• Workshops looking at the impact of childhood experiences on current issues and parenting 

• If your child has been referred to us by another organisation (such as their school) we will let them know what support we will be offering. 

• We have a database of everyone we work with and records of all our contacts with each person. All information is stored in accordance with GDPR. 

• We may ask you to consent to information about your child being shared with other professionals or organisations to help provide them with support. These may include: Schools, GPs and Health Professionals, Colleges or other relevant organisations. We may also ask your permission to share with Adult Social Care or Children’s services, for example to arrange a carer’s assessment. We will not share information with these organisations without your explicit consent except where disclosure is necessary for the purpose of safeguarding or as required by law. 

We need your permission to work with your child, and to take them on trips or to groups, so consent forms must be completed if you want your child to receive support from us. 

When you sign the consent form you give permission for your child to be supported by us. This form covers all groups, individual work and any small group work with York Carers Centre and must be completed in full, including all illnesses/conditions/medication (including asthma). 

If any details change (i.e. address, phone number, medical information) please update us as soon as possible. 

Media/Photos  

We like to take lots of photos!   On the consent form we ask for permission to take pictures of young carers taking part in activities, and to use these and/or quotes from your child for publicity, such as on our website. We respect your decision if you do not wish to give permission for this.  Please let us know if photo/media consent changes at any time. 

Important: Young carers must not take photos or videos of other young people without their knowledge or consent. It is especially important that they do not upload these to social media if the young carers shown in the images do not want them to. This will be dealt with by us as bullying and taken very seriously. 

Staff will not give out or carry any medication unless parents have arranged this beforehand and completed the medication section of the consent form.  If your child is attending an activity, please ensure you have discussed any medication needs with staff in advance. Young carers can carry and administer their own medication if you feel they are able to do so safely. This will be your responsibility. Please also ensure that any asthma inhalers are bought to every activity. 

• If you are worried, upset or concerned about anything that may arise as a result of your involvement with us, or if you want to tell us about something that has happened, please contact us in the first instance and we will do our best to resolve the issue. If you would prefer it to go straight to a manager please mark for the attention of Sharron Smith, CEO. Our full Comments and Complaints Policy is available here.
• Also, we would always love to hear about any compliments or positive comments you have. You can contact us either way by post: York Carers Centre, 17 Priory Street, York, YO1 6ET Email: enquiries@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk Telephone: 01904715490

If your child is a young carer and you would like to speak to a member of the young carer team about them, please contact them at youngcarers@yorkcarerscentre.co.uk