Improving Support to Young Carers and their Families Harrogate March 25 th 2009 The Bristol Approach Mike Nicholson, Area Manager, Children and Young People’s Services Carol Watson, Service Manager, Health and Adult Social Care Services

Services to Children Services to Adults Universal Services The Web of Care ? Personal Care Provision Direct Payments – access to employment Occupational Therapy: adaptations DLA Health Care Provision Respite Provision + Sitting Services Supporting People Universal Health Care Provision Universal Educational Provision Universal Health Care Provision Quality of Life: Family activities, Leisure, Culture Benefits Health Care Provision Parent- School Contacts Childcare Occupational Therapy Dedicated Health Care Provision speech and language; physiotherapy; health OT; Hospice/Lifetime Dedicated Educational Provision in and out of Mainstream Out of School Provision Short Breaks; Sitting; Overnights; going out etc Long Term Care/Residential Provision Disabled Parent Whole Family Disabled Child Other Siblings Extended Family Parents Young Carer

1.Set out a compelling vision 2.Focus on critical functions of each agency 3.Deliver strong and distributed leadership The Bristol Approach

A Compelling Vision

To promote the welfare of young carers, disabled parents and their families and to prevent the need for young people to undertake inappropriate caring responsibility for any member of their family The Bristol Vision

Aim To ensure that professional workers consider the needs of the whole family when they make an assessment and provide services 1.Developing joint policy and protocols - Child and Adult Social Care ‘whole family’ assessments - Integrated Carers Strategy 2.Providing Joint Training for professionals 3.Providing advice and guidance available for professionals By The Bristol Vision

Aim To ensure that young carers and disabled parents are able to directly influence the design and delivery of services which aim to meet their needs By 1.Identifying young carers in the city through a city-wide access point and by sharing referral and information data 2.Engaging young carers and disabled parents in joint workshops and in policy and decision making bodies The Bristol Vision

A focus on the critical functions of each agency

The critical functions of each agency AimTo improve support to young carers, disabled parents and their families by developing a range of services provided by voluntary, private and mainstream agencies 1.Developing the voluntary sector role as change agents 2.Challenging main stream agencies to demonstrate that they are delivering their core business to young carers and disabled parents By

Deliver strong and distributed leadership

Leadership Focus on priorities for delivery and hold leaders accountable: AimTo ensure that young carers don’t miss out on their educational, health, leisure and career opportunities because of their caring responsibilities. By 1.Designated professionals for young carers in every school and service setting 2.Annual reports from each extended school partnership on action plans for young carers 3.Youth Centre and Positive Activities for young carers in each locality 4.Common Assessment Framework and Lead Professionals to include a focus on unmet physical and mental health needs

Hold on to each other through the confusion that arises from challenging traditional ways of working: Leadership AimTo develop a collective collaborative identity By 1.Creating stories which reinforce group identity 2.Emotion - having fun and getting passionate 3.Supporting those who find the new approaches challenging. They are experiencing the unravelling of old certainties which of necessity brings a phase of personal ‘Confusion’ before the new awareness resolves

The Voluntary Sector as Change Agents

The critical functions of each agency AimTo improve support to young carers, disabled parents and their families by developing a range of services provided by voluntary, private and mainstream agencies 1.Developing the voluntary sector role as change agents 2.Challenging main stream agencies to demonstrate that they are delivering their core business to young carers and disabled parents By

Young Carers and their families need to be able to access the full range of services available to all Voluntary Sector has key essential expertise/legitimacy to provide advocacy on both an individual and strategic levels. Most money is locked up in mainstream provision and needs to be released for young carers Mainstream organisations have side stepped responsibility to deliver ‘whole family’ approaches. Many services that young carers and their families need are of a statutory nature and we need to be held to account The Bristol Challenge Context

Setting limitations on Vol Org role as sole provider of services e.g. Funding a mainstream young carers youth club, rather than additional funding to the Vol Sector? Strategic influence is more difficult? Is it easier for Vol Sector projects to gain funding for service provision rather than for strategic influence – Feel Good Factor? How will we maintain the Vol Sector’s ‘independence’ from mainstream? Is it wise to challenge the people who are going to commission your services? Voluntary Sector capacity and capability The Bristol Challenge Issues

The Bristol Challenge To create a shared vision for the long term To empower and support young carers to get in to the places where decisions are made Mirror at a local level the way that national voluntary sector organisations influence policy making Developing mentoring and capacity building approach with full cost recovery and work towards longer term commissions e.g. 3/5 yrs Transparent and equitable expectations for Vol Sector and Mainstream in relation to delivering outcomes Solution “How can we challenge our own funders about their practice?” “Will we lose funding to our own youth group?.”

A Story

Young Carers Project working with a 16 yr old Young Carer YCP identifies unmet need for young carer, disabled parent and a disabled sibling – YC needs a carers assessment. YCP meet with glass walls from mainstream agencies and approach the Director of Adult Services Meanwhile there is ‘whole family training going on for Adult and Child Care practitioners – and the Adult Senior Practitioner working with the family carried out the assessment Outcome of formal assessment notes impact of disabled child on both adult and young carer and tries to refer to Disabled Children’s Team who say they don’t do carers assessments. Specialist skills Advocacy Strategic Influence Mainstream Barriers

A Story Adult social worker refers problem to Carol and Mike and they call a meeting of professionals All parties agree to ‘whole family approach’ and offer: Additional time for young carer to spend with separated father Young carer access to leisure activities personal assistant support for mother Weekend respite for disabled child Young Carers Project feedback that they are able to concentrate on their work with the young person and that the ‘whole family’ approach has delivered positive outcomes for everyone in the family Mainstream own the problem Mainstream resources are unlocked Positive feedback on outcomes is part of strategic influence