Meeting documents

To consider this report.

The Committee considered this report that provided an update on the support arrangements for Young Carers since the Cabinet agreed a different approach last May. The new vision was explained to provide better identification of and better support and engagement for young carers across Somerset.

It was noted that the new approach had comprised 3 components, with each being funded, initially, by the Council and an update was provided:

a)    Complex needs: £120,000 allocated to assess and support young carers with more complex needs – facilitated via Team 8 and the Early Help Assessment tool;

b)    Grant Funding for Young Carers Groups: £53,000 annual grant fund for the facilitation of young carers support groups throughout Somerset. Managed initially by Children’s Commissioning and Team 8, and involving young carers in decision making to award grants;

c)     Community Alliance: £75,000 to develop a ‘community alliance’ which would build local capacity to support young carers, especially those who may otherwise be hidden. A meeting was planned, to include working with external organisations/enterprises to maximise social value, with a view to securing additional funding from other sources.

It was noted that the investment of £120k had enabled all staff in Team 8 to have the skills and knowledge to work with young carers with complex needs. Team 8 would be restructuring into the Family Intervention Team (FIS) next January, and this would extend the team’s reach and capacity, enabling young carers to receive a service at evenings and weekends.

There was a brief discussion about the Community Alliance, and it was reported that its purpose would be to increase identification and support to ensure more young carers had a range of support to choose from, with organisations outside the Council. A meeting had been arranged the end of January with a range of interested stakeholders to discuss how best to take this work forward. It was envisaged that a grant funding process would begin in the Spring to identify a range of voluntary sector organisations who would be able to offer relevant and different ways of identifying and supporting young carers. The grant process would require successful organisations to work together, so that best practice would be shared.

In response to a question it was stated that Young Carer attendance at the youth clubs from last September to October 2019 had remained stable compared to participation in the groups before the Cabinet decision. Overall this meant that attendance at the youth clubs represented 37% of the young carers with an allocated Team 8 worker.

It was noted that a recent school survey had included a section asking schools to report numbers of young carers and 50% of schools had responded. Those schools had reported 144 young carers in total who had not previously been known to the Council. This data would be analysed so that schools were supported by relevant services, to ensure young carers were getting the right help.

The Chair reflected on the discussion and he noted that the Committee would be interested to see how the Community Alliance plans progressed and how schools could be better enabled so that young carers could be supported.  Appropriately. He suggested and it was agreed for a further update to be provided next July, to report on the first 12 months of the new arrangements.