Young Carers

If you are a Young Carer and would like to talk about your caring role, share any concerns, or ask for support, please contact us at [email protected] and we will be in touch.

If you’d like your caring role, its impact, and the support you need to be recognised by a professional (e.g. a school, college, GP, or youth worker), you can complete a Young Carers Passport. You can choose to share this yourself, or we can do it for you.

Parents/Guardians of Young Carers

If you have any concerns about your child’s caring role, would like advice, or need support, please contact us at [email protected] and we will get back to you.

To ensure your child’s role and support needs are understood by professionals such as teachers, GPs, or youth workers, you can complete a Young Carers Passport. You can share this directly, or we can share it on your behalf.

Professionals

Devon Young Carers are commissioned by Devon County Council to provide specialist support for Young Carers who are providing high levels of care, or care that is not age-appropriate.

We also offer advice and guidance to all working with Young Carers, which may include:

• Identifying Young Carers, 
• Supporting them in schools, 
• Working towards the Young Carers in Schools Award (YCiS), 
• Setting up a Young Carers group.

To refer a Young Carer for direct support, please complete the DYC - My Young Carer Life Toolkit, along with the DYC Flowchart (see DYC - My Young Carer Life Toolkit) to outline the caring role, tasks completed, and the impact this has. This will help determine whether the Young Carer is eligible for direct support from Devon Young Carers.

With consent, you can complete and share the Young Carers Passport with colleagues or other professionals involved. The Passport highlights the caring tasks, the impact this has on them, and how they want to be supported.

The purpose of the Young Carers Passport is so that the Young Carer does not have to repeat their story, and the right people in their life are aware they are a Young Carer.

It is important to listen to the views of the Young Carer, how they feel and what affects them, they are experts in their roles and their own lives.

Specialist support:

If the level of care the Young Carer provides is high and impacting on their life, a referral can be made to explore the options of support to reduce the level of care the Young Carer is providing.

• Young Carers Needs Assessment
• Specialist support for Young Carers
• Whole family approach
• Advocacy
• Safety planning
• School support
• Working alongside professionals working with the family
• Social opportunities
• Transition to adulthood assessment