Care Act assessment

A Care Act assessment looks (with you) at your care and support needs. From this, we can see what help you might need.

We might offer you a Care Act assessment if you contact us for help and we think you'd benefit from having one.

We can do the assessment over the phone or in person. It depends on your needs and what is better for you.

What the Care Act assessment looks at

The Care Act assessment looks at:

• What you need help with - like things you can and cannot do for yourself
• What's good in your life at the moment and who you have around you - like friends and family who support you
• Your wellbeing - are you affected by not being able to do certain things
• What's important to you right now - for example, how your want to live your life and what you'd like to achieve

There are three criteria we will use during an assessment to see if you are eligible for help. These criteria are set nationally.

The three criteria we assess you against are:

Whether you have an impairment or illness

We look at whether you have a physical or mental impairment or illness.

This includes:

• Physical illness or disability
• Mental health problems
• Sensory impairment
• Learning disability
• Cognitive disability or illness
• Brain injury
• Frailty and impairments from substance misuse

You don't need a formal diagnosis. But we might ask people like your doctor for their views.

If you're unable to do certain things

We'll see if your illness or impairment means you can't do certain things that are important to you.

We are looking for evidence that you can't do at least two of these things without the help of others:

• Preparing and eating a meal
• Getting yourself washed
• Going to the toilet
• Getting yourself dressed
• Being safe in your home
• Keeping your home clean and tidy and in a good state of repair
• Having relationships with family and friends
• Accessing and engaging in work, training, education or volunteering
• Making use of facilities in your local community - like your library
• Looking after a child

Whether there is an impact on your wellbeing

We will ask you about your wellbeing. For example, is it affected by not being able to do the things that are important to you. We want to know if this is having a significant impact on your wellbeing.

After your Care Act assessment, we will write to you and send you a copy of our assessment. This will explain whether you are eligible for our help and the reason for our decision.

If you're eligible

Care and support plan, indicative personal budget, and financial assessment

We'll work with you to create a care and support plan. This will set out what support and care you need to meet your eligible needs. The aim of the plan is to help you get back to doing the things that are important to you.

As part of the care and support plan, we'll give you an 'indicative personal budget'. This is an estimate of the money needed  to meet your eligible needs. This estimated amount helps us start planning what your care might look like. For example, what sort of services you need.

Alongside this, we will complete a financial assessment with you. This determines who will actually pay for your care. Depending on the outcome of the financial assessment, you may then get a 'final personal budget'. See our paying for care guide for more information.

We'll continue to review your needs

We'll get in touch a few weeks after your care and support is in place to see how you're getting on. After this, we'll review your care needs with you on an annual basis. This is so you continue to receive the right support and remain as independent as possible.

We'll make sure you get the same level of care if you move away from Norfolk

If you move away from Norfolk, the council in your new area will still meet your needs. They'll provide the same level of care and support as we did.

We will work with the other council to make sure that there is no gap in care. 

If you're not eligible

Even if you're not eligible for our support, we might point you to other organisations or charities that could help you.

You can also search for support on the Norfolk Community Directory.