Parent carer needs assessment

What is a parent carer needs assessment?

Caring for someone can be rewarding, but it can also make it hard to do other things or to look after yourself.

The parent carer needs assessment is a chance for you talk to someone about how caring for your child affects you and where you might need some extra help. It looks at things like your health and wellbeing, your work, your free time and your relationships with family and friends.

It is not a test of your parenting or caring skills. It is there to help you find and get support that could make your life easier. It is different to any assessment that your child might have, which focuses on their needs.

Norfolk County Council must offer parent carer needs assessments by law, under the Children and Families Act 2014.

Who is this service for?

Parents looking after children under 18 who have disabilities or additional needs. These parents are called "parent carers" in the law. A parent carer is anyone with parental responsibility for the child. This includes birth parents, adoptive parents and relatives with legal responsibility.

Other family members who do not have parental responsibility (like a grandparent, aunt or uncle) might also be able to get an assessment if they provide a lot of regular care for the child (usually 35 hours or more a week).

What if a child has more than one parent carer?

Each parent carer of the child can have their own parent carer needs assessment and get their own support. This is because each might have different challenges and need different support, even if they are looking after the same child.

How to ask for a parent carer needs assessment

Contact Norfolk County Council to ask for a parent carer needs assessment. You can:

• Call 0344 800 8020 or
• Visit our Early help for children and families webpage and select "Request early help" to fill out the online form or
• Speak to your child's allocated worker, if they have one.

What help could parent carers receive?

After talking to you and understanding where you might need some help, someone will offer you information, guidance or support.

You might be offered support from an organisation called Kids. Kids can help you make a personalised support plan based on your needs. Kids also offer:

• Workshops with information and strategies for specific needs
• The 'Healthy Parent Carer' programme to support parent carers' resilience
• Coffee mornings and drop-in sessions
• One-to-one support

If you prefer, you can do the parent carer needs assessment with Kids and Norfolk County Council will arrange this for you. Please note that assessments done with Kids are still shared with Norfolk County Council. All parent carers can get support from Kids if they need it, whether their assessment is done with Kids or with Norfolk County Council staff.