Carers Centres and local Carers Support Organisations

You will want to

1. promote inclusion in multi-agency local carers strategy, of issues about carers, training and employment and at all partnership levels
   
   For example in Sunderland carers are recognised as a key group in the ‘Inactivity to Activity’ project led by Development and Regeneration at the Council. This encourages partnerships with recruitment/training agencies to make sure carers are identified by them and either supported directly or sign-posted to partner support agencies
   
   
2. Provide advice and information and guidance in accessible formats to carers on Carers rights: recognition, eligibility for assessments, legislation, especially rights to request flexible working from Work and Families Act 2006, Appropriate Childcare for Disabled Children, Telecare, Direct Payments and Individualised Budgets.
3. Sign-posting to Health and Social Care, Job Centre Plus, Career services/’Nextstep’, learning centres/ websites, specific carers courses, money advice, leisure resources.  And signpost carers to financial/benefit advice about the implications of returning to work.
4. Emergency Planning encouraging carers to consider ‘what if…’ and refer for a carers’ assessment – (or just for a carers’ emergency plan if carers’ assessment is too daunting).  Having such a plan in place can also help carers to feel more confident in juggling work and care. Councils now receive funding through the National Carers Grant to provide such support.
   
   For example, Sefton Carers Centre’s emergency breaks scheme available here
   
   
5. Provide/commission local training specifically for carers, e.g. manual handling, managing medication, juggling work & care and back to work guidance.  Link these with Expert Carer Programmes as these are developed.  Promote use of courses such as City and Guilds learning for living.  Highlight sources of job skills training that carers can access eg CV writing or computer skills
6. Develop schemes for carer trainers to assisting in training for professional staff and so that carers can assist in recruitment for partner agencies, e.g. for local authority carers’ leads
7. Promote Carer Friendly Employment Practice - both through the local carers strategy and with local employers
8. Encourage development of work place carers’ groups as part of employers’ response to the needs of carers within their workforce with links to local carers strategy groups
9. Provide advocacy to carers with seeking support from social care services to help them juggle work and caring, consider back to work issues and with complaints’ procedures.  Ensure that the local councils eligibility criteria recognise risk to carers (including to their employment) and that training and work issues are included within carers’ assessments
   
   For example, Action For Carers (Surrey) have a specialist carers’ and employment advocacy service
   
   
10. Feedback to statutory authorities on performance e.g. waiting times and quality of carers’ assessments and services and how these address carers’ needs, for example, in relation to work, uneven responses across the authority, poor customer care standards, level of culturally competent services, use of carers’ grant etc
11. Work in partnership with carers’ leads from statutory agencies and consider, for example, two way briefings, case discussions etc
12. Lobby for carers’ rights locally and link into national campaigns, e.g. for carer recognition, social inclusion and identifying the gaps in service provision and policy