Successful support for young carers at risk from council cuts
Joe Lepper
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Public sector cutbacks are threatening to derail successful efforts by councils to support young carers, according to latest research.
The government’s analysis of 18 targeted support pilots for families with a young carer found significant improvements. But as councils face financial cutbacks, many are likely to end the support when the pilots’ funding runs out next month.
The report, Improving Support for Young Carers – Family-focused Approaches, states: "Local authorities involved in the pathfinder programme reported they believed the financial uncertainty following the comprehensive spending review has made it difficult for local authorities to plan the future of services.
"This has meant that, at the time of publication, many young carer projects are still uncertain about their future position."
The projects focused on tailored support for families with a young carer, looking at arranging extra support and tackling the disruption being a carer has on a young person’s school life and wellbeing.
Among the pilots’ successes was a reduction in "inappropriate caring" by young people that should be handled by health and social care professionals.
In half of cases young carers were taking on these responsibilities, but following intensive family support this figure fell to 30 per cent.
Of the fifth of children where poor school attendance was an issue, the average school attendance rate increased from 64 per cent to 81 per cent.
Among those with the poorest school attendance, attending just a quarter of lessons, the improvement was more marked. Following support they were attending, on average, three-quarters of classes.
Researchers also found that the number of child protection concerns reduced by a third among families involved in the pilots.