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Carers Assessments
Under the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000, carers aged 16 or over who provide a regular and substantial amount of care for someone aged 18 or over have the right to an assessment of their own needs as a carer.
Although there is no definition of what regular and substantial care means, this may include:
- Caring for someone living away from home
- Caring for less than 20 hours each week – the legislation does not stipulate that care has to be given for a certain number of hours
If there is more than one carer providing regular care in the household, they are both entitled to an assessment.
A Carers Assessment is the carer’s opportunity to tell social services about the things that could make caring easier for them. The assessment also looks at the carer’s ability to care and to continue caring.
The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act came into force in April 2005. It places a duty on local authorities to ensure that all carers know that they are entitled to an assessment of their needs, and to consider a carer's outside interests - work, study or leisure - when the assessment is carried out.