Carers Assessment

What is a Carers Assessment?

The Care Act 2014 gives carers the right to have a Carers Assessment, where there is an appearance of need. If the person you care for lives in the Devon County Council area your assessment will be completed by us. Use the details on our contact page to get in touch about an assessment. If the person you care for lives outside of the Devon County Council area you will need to contact their Local Authority to get an assessment completed either by them or a Carers Service on their behalf. This page on our website will help you find the Local Authority or Carers Service that can help you.

A Carers Assessment is for adult carers of adults (over 18 years) who are disabled, ill or elderly. The assessment will look at how caring affects your own life. It looks at many areas including for example; physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, ability to access work and recreation.

If you are an adult carer of a child or young person under 18 with a disability you would need to contact Devon County Council’s Disabled Children’s Service (DCS), please visit: https://www.devon.gov.uk/children-families-education/send-local-offer/support-for-parents/disabled-childrens-service-dcs/

The assessment is for you, it is not an assessment of your ability to care – it is largely focused on how caring impacts you. No-one will tell you what to do as a result of any issues identified during the assessment. Instead you will be helped to decide what you want to achieve and the support you might need to make any changes.

A key part of the assessment explores whether you are willing to continue to care and also looks at whether you are happy with any support provided. It also explores your feelings and choices around your caring role.  At the end of the assessment a plan is created with you which looks at ways in which any needs you may have can potentially be met.

What are eligible needs?

You may hear the words ‘eligible needs’ used when discussing your assessment. This is a key part of the assessment is determining whether you have any eligible needs as defined in the Care Act 2014. The care act sets out an eligibility criteria and requires the local authority to determine whether you have any eligible needs for support. If you do have eligible needs the law says the local authority have a duty to ensure these needs can be met. However, receiving support in your caring role is not dependent on whether you have eligible needs for support. The local authority has designed a support offer to carers which has elements that all carers can access regardless of whether you have eligible needs or not.  It is designed to offer you the most appropriate support for the level of needs you may have.

Do I need a Carers Assessment?

Often, we find that a carer’s primary concern is for the person that they care for – the Carers Assessment gives YOU the opportunity to consider how caring may actually be impacting you and is an important step in ensuring that you look after yourself and your own life as well as caring.

How is a Carers Assessment carried out?

In order to get a Carers Assessment, you need to be registered with us. As a carer, you can self-register through this form here. If you’re a professional referring a carer, you can fill in a referral form here.

Currently a Carers Assessment can be undertaken via the telephone or face to face with a Carer Support Officer. The assessment takes approximately an hour and a quarter to complete. Information is recorded on an assessment form and if you wish, you will receive a copy of the assessment.

If you need to arrange for a care worker to look after the person you care for or help with travel costs to be able to attend the appointment, you can have up to two hours care paid for or more, if the journey you have to make will mean you have to be away longer. You will receive a claim form prior to your assessment. The claim form will need to be signed by the person providing your check, so please remember to take it with you.

An online assessment tool is currently under development.

Who should complete my assessment?

The Local Authority where the person you care for lives and pays council tax (called Ordinary Residence) are responsible for undertaking your carer assessment on the appearance of need, ie If you live in Cornwall and are struggling in your caring role but the person you care for, lives and pays council tax to Devon County Council (DCC) then Devon Carers will undertake your carers assessment on behalf of DCC.

For more information

The provision of a carers assessment sometimes leads to confusion, as the local authority who must provide the assessment depends on the ordinary residence of the person cared for.

The following clarifies:

19.5 ….

19.6 – The test for ordinary residence, which determines which local authority would be responsible for meeting needs, applies differently in relation to adults with needs for care and support and carers. For adults with care and support needs, the local authority in which the adult is ordinarily resident will be responsible for meeting their eligible needs. For carers, however, the responsible local authority will be the one where the adult for whom they care is ordinarily resident.

Because the provision of support can change from local authority area to area, it is important that any Carers Assessment is completed by the local authority who will be financially responsible for meeting any ‘unmet eligible need’ identified.

It is stated in various locations within the Carer Act 2014 (Section 10, 9) and the Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 96, 17ZB – 3) that a person is not a carer if the person provides or intends to provide care —

  1. under or by virtue of a contract, or

(b) as voluntary work.

How can I request a Carers Assessment?

If you would like a carers assessment, please call the Helpline on 03456 434 435.