If you would like to meet a support worker, they will arrange to meet you either at home or at another location; maybe a café you feel comfortable in or your local library.
The support worker will explain their role to you and will introduce you to the Parent Carer Needs Assessment. This sounds more formal than it is. It is a conversation guided by some questions to help you explore with support how you are affected by your caring role and how you feel about your current situation. You can look at what works well, and what’s not going quite so well. It looks at things like your wellbeing, whether you can do things away from being a carer and other worries you may have. It is not an assessment of your abilities as a parent or a carer.
Next Steps
After you have talked with the support worker, you will put together a plan of goals you want to achieve. Your support worker will work with you to help achieve these goals.
You will be asked for permission to share your assessment with Norfolk County Council and your support worker will explain what that means. You can still have support with us if you choose not to share this, but it will mean that you won’t have had a formal Parent Carer Needs Assessment.
We may need to talk to other people about support for you or for your child. Unless we have serious concerns for someone’s safety and wellbeing, we will always ask your permission first.
The support we offer
You may receive support in different ways – in person, over the phone and online.
While you are receiving support we will sit down with you and look at progress being made. This will help us make changes if something isn’t helping. At the end of your support with us, we will look at your assessment again to map what has changed for you. You can come back to ask questions, or have some more support at any time.
