Scrutiny puts forward recommendations to ensure young carers continue to get the support they need
Shropshire Councils Safe and Confident Communities Scrutiny Committee had the opportunity recently to hear the personal story of one of Shropshires young carers.
Sarah Thomas, a young carer from Shrewsbury, presented her moving story on being a young carer, to Scrunity members as part of a report on the future commissioning arrangements for Young Carers services in Shropshire.
The paper which summarises the current commissioning arrangements for young carers was presented to the Safe and Confident Communities Scrutiny Committee at their meeting on Wednesday 23 May. The report also included factors which need to be considered for future commissioning.
Chairman of the committee, Councillor Joyce Barrow said;
“The scrutiny committee were enormously impressed by Sarah and the commitment she makes to her family. She cares for both her mother and father. She told us in great detail the impact this has on her life and really brought home to the committee, the reality of being a young carer’ One of the areas that there seems to be a great deal of confusion over and problems, is when the young carer reaches 18 and is no longer classed as a young carer. As a result of this, the committee is hoping to form a task and finish group to try and address the problems that have been highlighted by Sarah.”
Cllr Barrow continued, “The committee also congratulated Sarah on being one of the Olympic torch bearers, when it comes to Shrewsbury. The other very positive thing that came out of our meeting, is that the Red Cross and the representative of the Voluntary Sector Mark Hignett will look into the gaps identified by Sarah and see what other support they can offer .”
It is estimated that there are currently about 900 young carers in the Shropshire area. Support is available to young carers according to their needs and includes:
· Providing information and signposting for every young carer
· Inviting young carers to a peer support group
· Providing short breaks for young carers
· One to one support
Young Carers are asked to take on a huge level of responsibility at a young age. They give a great deal of time to provide much needed care and support to a family member or close friend, who have a disability or illness, or because of their age, are unable to live on their own without support.
This is why identifying and supporting young carers is critical to continue to support them to ensure they continue to feel valued and lead full and rewarding lives. It is vital that the council and it’s partners continue to safeguard these children and young people, and build on existing support for young carers, and their loved ones to sustain that important contribution.
Since 2008, young carers services have been carried out on behalf of the council by British Red Cross (BRC) whose contract has been extended until March 2013 to allow the service to continue while considering future commissioning arrangements. BRC has exceeded in it’s targets stipulated in the current contract of identifying and supporting young carers in Shropshire.
After hearing the report, the Safe and Confident Communities Committee, put forward other recommendations including advising Young Carers in applying for specific projects from Local Joint Committees (LJCs), whether the council could help with transport issues, and to see if the voluntary sector could provide further support for young carers.
Vanessa Turner, Young Carers Manager, British Red Cross, also came and spoke about the services available for Young Carers.
