What is a Carer Support Plan?
When you register with the Centre you will be offered a Carer Support Plan. This is a chance to meet with an Adult Carer Support Officer (ACSO) and chat through your caring role, what support you might need, and what plans need to be put in place for the future.
As a Carer you are entitled to have a Carer Support Plan completed regardless of who you care for or the level of caring you do.
What does a Carer Support Plan involve?
Appointment
The first things that will happen is an appointment with an ACSO – this may be in person, by phone or by video call.
The ACSO will chat with you about how your caring role affects different aspects of your life, including your physical and mental health, finances, relationships, and education/employment. This helps to identify where you might need support.
Action Plan
Following the appointment, the ACSO will prepare your Adult Carer Support Action Plan. This is a summary of your chat, showing the impact of your caring role on each area of your life. The ACSO will rate each impact as low, moderate, substantial or critical.
The plan will also suggest actions to improve your situation, and state who is responsible for these. You will be sent a copy of the action plan to check and sign.
The next step depends on the level of impact assessed in each area.
Low to Moderate Impact
We will look at ways in which the Centre can support you. This could be helping you to get financial support, linking you with other organisations, or joining one of our groups or events.
Severe Impact
If any area is identified as severely impacted, the ACSO will ask if you are happy for the plan to be sent to social work services. This can help to get extra support in place. This is optional, and we will never send anything without your consent.
Review
Your ACSO will check in with you to see how your action plan is progressing. If progress is not happening in a certain area they can look into this for you.
Your plan will be reviewed annually, or if there is a significant change in your caring situation.
FAQ's
What if I'm not comfortable in talking about certain parts of my caring role?
The Carer Support Plan is about getting you the right support. If you do not want to talk about certain things, such as finances or relationships, that’s okay. We will only include in your plan the things that you are happy with.
Who will see my plan?
Your Carer Support Plan will only be seen by you and your ACSO, unless you give your consent for it to be shared with a third party, such as social work. We will never share your plan without your knowledge.
What if I don't want social work involved?
We will not share your details or any information in your plan without your consent. If you do not want to have social work involvement this is your choice, and we will not force this. The only exception would be if we identified a legal reason why we needed to share, such as if you or the cared for person may be at risk of harm.
What if I don't want to claim benefits or get extra help?
The purpose of the plan is to identify where you could benefit from or are entitled to some support. Whether you choose to get that support is completely up to you.
I care for multiple people, do I need a plan for each?
No, the plan is about you as the Carer, and how your caring impacts on you. If you find you have a new caring role, we can update your plan to reflect this.
If I change my mind about having a plan, can it be deleted?
The contents of the plan belong to you. If you no longer want a plan on record, just let us know and we can delete this for you.
