Young carers – information for professionals

• Identify children and young people who may be young carers, including when assessing adults or working with families.
• Recognise and act on statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014, Care Act 2014, Young Carers Regulations 2015, and Ofsted expectations.
• Follow the No Wrong Doors for Young Carers approach – every agency shares responsibility for identifying and supporting young carers.
• Ensure any safeguarding concerns are recognised and escalated through your organisation’s procedures.
• Support the young carer by ensuring their caring responsibilities are not excessive or inappropriate, using a whole-family approach where required.

• Introduce the term young carer sensitively and explore whether the child and family recognise the caring role.
• Check whether the young person is already registered as a young carer and whether an assessment has been completed within the last 12 months.
• Obtain consent to register the young carer (parent/carer consent required for those under 16).
• Complete the Day in the Life form.

• Use the Young Carers Levels of Need Guidance (PDF, 155KB) to determine if their support level is 1, 2, 3, or 4.
• Offer or initiate a whole-family assessment if the caring role appears inappropriate or excessive. Talk to the Supporting Families Partnership Team for help to do this
• Maintain ongoing awareness and check-ins if you continue to work with the child.

• Use compassionate, child‑centred conversations to help the young person understand their role and feel safe discussing it.
• Reassure families that assessments are not tests, but tools to understand support needs and reduce inappropriate caring.
• Use the Day in the Life form and Levels of Need Guidance to structure understanding of the caring role and required support.
• Work collaboratively with HCC’s Young Carers team for advice, reviews, transition assessments and whole‑family assessments.
• Signpost young carers and families to support options such as www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/youngcarers, activities, mental health services, and helplines.
• Work in partnership with other agencies (schools, health services, local authorities) using a whole‑family, whole‑system approach.

• Provide information and advice to help you support young carers and implement the No Wrong Door approach in Hertfordshire.
• Attend team meetings to raise awareness of the young carers support offer and help staff confidently identify and support young carers.

• Support schools to achieve the Young Carers in Schools Award.
• Initiate whole-family assessments, support plans, young carers reviews, or transition assessments if no other agency is able to. The aim is to reduce inappropriate caring and ensure the cared‑for person has the right support in place.
• Offer termly Young Carers Communities of Practice for school staff:

The Young Carers team and Hertfordshire County Council support young carers under 18 who live in Hertfordshire.

If a young person attends a school in Hertfordshire but lives outside the county, their school can still support them but they will need to contact the young carers team in their area.