Support for young carers

What a young carer is

You are a young or young adult carer if you are aged under 25 and provide care to somebody.

This care might involve helping somebody with:

  • getting dressed and washed
  • housework, shopping and other everyday tasks
  • collecting and giving medication
  • communicating with others
  • emotional support

Who you might care for

You could be caring for a parent, sibling, grandparent or other family member who:

  • is disabled
  • has a chronic illness
  • has a mental health problem
  • has a substance misuse problem
  • has a condition that needs care, support or supervision

Why you need help

As a young carer, you could be at risk of:

  • social isolation
  • bullying
  • under-achievement
  • missing school and falling behind
  • physical and mental health issues

With the right support you can balance your caring role with doing all the things that you enjoy.

Get a young carers card

You can get an ID Card that tells people you are a young carer.

You can show people this card so that you don't have to tell them lots of personal details.

You can show this card to professionals such as:

  • teachers
  • doctors
  • nurses
  • pharmacists

How to get a young carers card

You can get a card once you have completed a young carer assessment.

These assesments are carried out by South Tyneside Young Carers Service.

Your rights as a young carer

You and your family have the right to be identified, offered information, get an assessment and support.

The Council has a responsibility to:

  • carry out a carer's assessment for young carers before their 18th birthday
  • identify, assess and support carers by working with other local organisations to make sure they are proactively identifying all young carers
  • make sure the assessment process meets the criteria set out in legislation
  • make sure we join up the work of Children's and Adult Services so that young carers and young adults can benefit from the services working together
  • make sure that services working with young carers are aware that young carers now have stronger rights, so they can make sure they benefit from these important changes

For information and advice or to arrange an assessment, contact Children's Social Care on 0191 424 5010. 

Help with school and healthcare

If your teachers and health professionals know that you are a carer, they can try to make things easier for you.

Help at school

You could tell your teachers that sometimes you need to:

  • arrive late
  • leave early
  • have access to your mobile phone

You could also talk to them about how your caring role effects your school work.

Help with healthcare

Sometimes the person you care for may need to attend a medical appointment.

You could ask them to schedule appointments outside of school or college hours so that you can attend.

You should also ask them to explain anything that you don't understand.

Where you can get help