Barnet's approach to young carers and awareness training

Barnet's approach to young carers

Our starting point is that children and young people who are carers have the same rights as all children and young people. Young Carers should be able to learn, achieve, develop friendships and enjoy positive, healthy childhoods; just like other children. In Barnet, Family Services and Adults and Communities are committed to working together to ensure that young carers are identified, offered assessments and that support provided is based on a whole family approach.

This commitment is reflected in the jointly agreed Memorandum of Understanding and is outlined in our vision for Barnet to be ‘the most Family Friendly borough in London by 2020. This vision is that children, young people and their families are safe, healthy, resilient, knowledgeable, responsible, informed and listened to. The strategy to achieve this is to focus on developing families’ resilience, which evidence tells us is pivotal to delivering the best outcomes for children and young people.

Relevant local training courses regarding Young Carers

In line with Barnet’s Carers and Young Carers’ strategy 2015-20, a programme of multi-agency Young Carer’s Awareness Training has been commissioned, starting May 2017.

This is a one day training course which will focus on resilience, confidence building, improved wellbeing for young carers and their families, and promote early identification and prevention of inappropriate caring roles for young carers. It is aimed at practitioners in regular contact with young carers across children and adult’s services in Barnet including health, private, and the voluntary and community sectors.

Local Young Carer’s Service commissioned by Barnet Children’s Service

Barnet Carer’s Centre (BCC) are jointly commissioned by Barnet Children and Adult Services to provide services to Young as well as Adult Carers. They are based at offices in North Finchley but offer support through a range of services delivered across the borough. BCC also receives grant funding from a number of other sources.

Services are offered following a registration process with the young carer and parent usually in the home. After completing the registration process, the young carer then becomes a member of BCC. Services include:

  • respite clubs which each meet twice a month at a number of venues across the borough, as well outings when possible
  • mentoring to young carers from two support officers and play staff
  • signposting to other services (internally and externally) for the family
  • support through a Schools Liaison Officer at school including help to increase attendance, as well as provision of group support in schools for to up to 90 young carers
  • after-school support and tuition sessions provided by volunteers work in partnership with other agencies in relation to children known to Children’s Social Care
  • awareness raising of the needs and issues of young carers as well as the services available to support them to a wide range of professionals, such as social workers, school-based staff, GPs and other voluntary agencies.