Neath Port Talbot - Track the Act information 2019-20
(See below for Young Carers information return)
Question 1: Between the start of April 2019 and the end of March 2020, how many carers
were:
a) Provided with information and advice? 659
b) Had a carers needs assessment/what matters conversation/an existing assessment
reviewed? There were 216 carer’s assessments completed and 4 carer’s reviews
during the year.
c) Received support or direct payments via a support plan? There are currently no
ongoing direct payments to carers, only occasional one off payments, although no
one off payments were made in the last financial year. Current limitations of the IT
system mean that we are unable to provide the number of carers who have received
support via a support plan
Question 2:
What services were commissioned and delivered for unpaid carers from the start of April
2019 to the end of March 2020? NPTCBC has commissioned;
•
Neath Port Talbot Carers Support Service
•
Respite Services, which allow carers some respite from their caring duties – they are:
o one OP Residential Care Home
o one OP Nursing Home
o specialist respite overnight or day Service for people with complex (learning
disability / mental health) needs
Question 3:
How have carers services in your area been impacted since the start of the Covid19
pandemic? Have any new services been developed to assist unpaid carers?
•
Neath Port Talbot Carers Service has adapted well to the changing circumstances.
Whilst face to face carers assessments have had to be suspended, they have
continued to offer the service via telephone or Zoom, albeit most carers have stated
that they prefer to wait until after the pandemic has passed
•
The Service has redeployed its staff who are contacting by telephone all the carers
known to them – more than 2,000 people – as part of well-being checks, and
continuing to offer advice, support and mental health wellbeing support including
counselling
•
The Service has established links with local supermarkets to ensure that unpaid
carers are recognised in a similar way to keyworkers, to help with priority shopping
•
Staff have also volunteered to collect food/medicine on behalf of carers
•
Surveyed Carers and found that people wanted more counselling support. Providing
wellbeing/mental health first aid
•
The service has been successful in gaining quite a lot of external funding to support
the carers with wellbeing and mental health. Major bid from WCVA Voluntary Sector
Emergency Funding of £73k to offer support such as:
o First Aid Wellbeing phone calls by a trained counsellor (These are
professionally called Psychological First Aid but name changed due to stigma
of word used psychological help) and these calls are also used to screen who
will need full 1:1 counselling over several weeks as this is more costly and not
all need it
o Counselling
o Group wellbeing sessions via Zoom
o Hire of community halls when this is allowed to have wellbeing group/peer
support sessions delivered in the community
•
PPE for Volunteers so they can resume doing “sitting service” so carers can get some
much needed respite
•
New website created – not due to Covid but it was accelerated as it was needed
more than ever to refer people to – professionals as well as citizens. Allows both
professionals as well as carers to refer or self-refer via the website
•
Using Facebook to advertise their services and have paid for some adverts on
Facebook which has generated 1000s of clicks
•
Created a “business card” for all pharmacies to staple to the bag of prescriptions
asking “are you looking after someone?” as many carers do not identify themselves
as a carer so they have not included the name “carer” but asking the question of
looking after someone. They will distribute this throughout all the pharmacies as
well as GPs in NPT as it is a need to find more unpaid carers so they know where to
go for support
•
Received funding for IT equipment to be able to work from home and remotely
•
Using Zoom to deliver group work e.g. quiz, fitness etc.
Carers Week was delivered in most via a big programme of Zoom events in
partnership with Swansea Carers Centre
•
Neath Port Talbot Council has developed the NPT Safe and Well service, which
offers services and advice for vulnerable people living in the area, including "Carers
who are supporting those who are shielding themselves or who are self-isolating, to
help them limit their own social contact and protect the vulnerable people they are
caring for."
•
Remaining in contact with third sector providers
•
Recognition given to the third sector providers for their adaptability to providing
their services during this crisis
•
Committed to regional approach and developing local action plan for Carers
Neath Port Talbot Young Carers ServiceQuestion 1: Between the start of April 2019 and the end of March 2020, how many carers were:
Between April 2019 and March 2020 66 young carers have received support and were provided with services which give them the opportunity to receive information and advice at any point. The vast majority of this happens in the Monday night Young Carers Group but not every young carer attends this so we provide additional 1-1 caseload support as well as Engagement activities which take place in holiday times and weekends too. These are one off activities which complement the regular weekly Group. Some of these engagement events have included Duke of Edinburgh Award, Junior Youth Leadership training and online Food Hygiene accreditation as well as trips to Noah’s Ark Zoo and the Bodyguard theatre trip in Cardiff Millennium Centre. These events give longer periods of time to discuss the young carers journey and where they need support, information or guidance…..whilst also giving them great opportunities to do things they would never usually be able to do and make positive memories and bonds with staff and other young carers.
It is a two-way learning process too as the young carers continue to shape and guide our Service. They are an integral part of how we devise and deliver our Awareness Raising sessions to pupils in schools, young people in clubs and youth groups and to Professionals within our local Authority. The sessions they helped devise were used to raise awareness of Young Carers to 5468 young people and 147 staff last year. Young carers attending Group have been assigned individual caseworkers this year and this has provided a greater understanding of the individual needs of each young person and therefore allows more specific interventions, support and information to be provided. This has been a great addition as each young carer is in different stages of life and education while experiencing different pressures at home. b) Had a carers needs assessment/what matters conversation/an existing assessment
reviewed?
42 new young carers were referred with 40 receiving a Young Carers Assessment and/or a Proportionate Assessment, conducted by a Social Worker within Children’s Services during this time period.
In addition 21 existing young carers had a support plan review out of 29 existing young carers that were open during that period. An extra 7 young carers had a support plan review but prior to April 2019. Total number with a support plan review is 28 out of 29.
c) Received support or direct payments via a support plan?
All young carers that are referred to NPT Young Carers Service are offered a unique package of support, depending on need, and a support plan is drawn up and
reviewed. The number receiving support between April 2019 and March 2020 is 66 young carers.
Question 2: What services were commissioned and delivered for unpaid carers from the start of April 2019 to the end of March 2020?
NPT Young Carers Service is delivered by the Families First Youth Work Team that sits within NPT Youth Service. The team offer a range of services to support children and young people up to the age of 25 years, who have caring responsibilities for a family member, where the caring responsibilities impacts on their own health, education of social wellbeing. The Service Specification states that the work to be undertaken is:-
• Ensure that a Young Carers Assessment (YCA) is completed for the family through CYPS;
• Link with adult caring services working with the family, where appropriate, to ensure that actions identified in the YCA are completed, where this affects the health and wellbeing of the young carer;
• Provide opportunities for young carers to socialise together;
• Provide individual and group opportunities for young carers to share their experiences and receive worker and/or peer support.
• Work with relevant schools and colleges to raise awareness of the impact of caring responsibilities on children and young people and support schools to develop plans to maintain the engagement of the young carer in education;
• Work with young carers and their families to identify other appropriate services that will meet their needs and support where referrals to services are required;
• Regularly review support in place and monitor progress;
• Clearly identify and agree an exit strategy with the young carers to ensure ongoing support is in place.
Question 3: How have carers services in your area been impacted since the start of the Covid19 pandemic? Have any new services been developed to assist unpaid carers? Staff have had to adapt the way they support young carers since the outbreak of COVID 19. The Young Carers Group used to meet on a weekly basis on a Monday evening where activities such as cooking healthy meals, promoting emotional wellbeing, arts and crafts, Pool, table tennis, music and Switch Dance 2 were enjoyed by the young carers. However, these sessions have now been put on hold until we can return back to meeting in Groups and defining Social Distancing. Since COVID 19 we have been hosting weekly Zoom conference calls where we have been facilitating quizzes, scavenger hunts, mental health awareness raising and well-being workshops while also using the time to ‘check in’ with the young people and provide emotional. These sessions have allowed the young carers the opportunity for some consistency while also allowing them to meet with their friends which they have been missing during this lockdown.
Alongside the Zoom sessions we have been providing one to one telephone support to each young carer as well as chatting with their families and seeing how they are coping. It is through these conversations that we have been able to offer wider support through Neath Port Talbot’s Safe & Well scheme. Our Young Carers and their families have been given special dispensation and offered free food parcels in recognition that it has become more difficult for the young people to access shops and delivery slots were harder for the parents to access which was causing addition stress on the family. The families and young carers have feedback that this has made a big difference and they’ve really appreciated it.
The young carers have participated in multiple surveys and polls to help promote the young carers service and to ensure the young carers’ voices are being herd through this
challenging period. They have also been participating in the development of the Young Carers ID card which will be of great benefit to them once launched.
It was a shame that Carers Week was in the middle of this pandemic but we still managed to hold the Group session on Zoom, run a staff awareness raising quiz, run a photo competition and promote our awesome young carers to the Local Authority.
During the week, young carers also had the opportunity to join in a joint Zoom session with our Families First Speech Language and Communication Needs Group. They competed against each other in a quiz. This was a huge success and gave all involved the opportunity to see and speak with others, make new friends and take a break from their caring
responsibilities.
Improvements have been made to the Young Carers Awareness Raising sessions as our development officer has had more time to research and develop our current
resources. These will be facilitated to all professionals across NPT, in order to help them identify and support young carers.
