Young Carers Darlington

What we do

Young Carers Darlington work with Young Carers (5-25), and their families, to provide support where needed. The service ensures that children and young people are protected from inappropriate caring and have the support they need to thrive and enjoy positive childhoods, to achieve their full potential. We support our Carers through a wide-range of activities, from initial assessments to one-to-one sessions, from fun activities to Carer Breaks, and through ensuring we keep the Young Carer at the heart of all we do.

As with all our Young Carer services, the service uses a whole family approach to help ensure that our Young Carers and their families receive the integrated, co-ordinated and solution-focused support they deserve. Identifying problems early means that services (multi-agency) can work closely together and help prevent a family’s needs escalating, ultimately requiring more intensive intervention.

Young Carers are offered a Full Young Carer Needs Assessment which identifies the level of caring and how this is impacts the person. Resulting in a support plan, developed with the Young Carers input, the assessment aims to look at how we can help reduce the impact of caring, and help ensure that the young person is offered the same life opportunities as their peers.

How we help

– Young Carer Needs Assessment

– Signposting, information and advice

– Whole family support

– One to one sessions

– 5 ‘High Five’ support sessions (annually), focusing on the High Five outcomes: Be Safe, Be Heard, Be a Voice, Be Healthy, and, Be Strong

– Peer Support when needed

– Access to Carer Breaks

– An ambassador programme for those moving on from the service who wish to use their experience to benefit their peers.