Caring Together: The Carers Strategy for Scotland 2010 - 2015

1.1

The Scottish Government, with COSLA, will keep this strategy under review. An Implementation and Monitoring Group will report annually on progress with the first report being undertaken by August 2011. A formal review will be concluded by August 2013. As part of the review the Scottish Government, with COSLA, and informed by the views of stakeholders, including carers, will decide whether new or revised Actions would be appropriate.

Scottish Government

COSLA

- with partners

2.1

The Scottish Government will provide the Princess Royal Trust For Carers with funding of £150,000 to deliver a Scottish Young Carers' Festival in 2011. As well as achieving the aims of earlier festivals, this fourth festival will give young carers an opportunity to provide feedback, from their own perspective, on the implementation and impact of this strategy and Getting It Right For Every Child.

Scottish Government

PRTC

2.2

Over the next 5 years, local authorities and Health Boards, with partners, will take account of good practice promoted in local authority and Health Board areas and will consider how to adopt or adapt the good practice in their area. As a first step, councils and Health Boards, with partners, will consider the good practice contained in the publication accompanying this strategy.

Scottish Government

Health Boards

Local Authorities

3.1

The Scottish Government will make the information on young carers through surveys such as the Scottish Household Survey and Scottish Health Survey accessible to researchers, care providers and the public through its website and publications.

Scottish Government

- with local partners

3.2

In respect of the 2011 Census, the views of young carers' organisations will be taken into account in deciding what analysis tables will be produced for the General Register Office for Scotland 2011 Census website.

Scottish Government

- with GRO (S)

3.3

The Scottish Government through ScotXed will introduce a classification of "young carers" in the 2011 school census, which will report on the numbers of young carers who have been identified in schools. This will provide a baseline number and raise awareness of young carers, resulting in more being identified and supported.

Scottish Government

- through ScotXed

3.4

By 2011, the Scottish Government will seek to commission research to gather information on the characteristics of young carers in Scotland being supported by dedicated young carers' services.

Scottish Government

SYCSA

3.5

Recognising the particular challenges facing young LGBT carers, the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance will work in partnership with LGBT Youth Scotland in order to develop information, advice and support for LGBT Young Carers.

SYCSA

LGBT Youth Scotland

3.6

In 2011-12 and beyond, local authorities, Health Boards and all carer support organisations are to identify carers and young carers in the hard to reach groups, including BME carers, to meet requirements of equalities legislation.

Local Authorities

Health Boards

Carer Organisations

3.7

In 2011-12, the Scottish Government will draw up a specification and seek to commission research on young carers in communities we know little about including BME young carers, new migrant workers and gypsy travellers.

Scottish Government

3.8

The Scottish Government, with COSLA and partners, will ensure that all the Action Points in this strategy are taken forward in ways which fully address the equalities perspective.

Scottish Government

COSLA

- with partners

5.1

By 2012, if they have not already done so, local authority Education Services will wish to revisit their policies, procedures and approaches for identifying young carers in schools, to reflect the impact of current policy and legislation, including Curriculum for Excellence and the Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice.

Local Authorities

5.2

By 2012, if they have not already done so, local authority Education Services will wish to explore opportunities for developing partnership working with their local schools, parents and the third sector, including young carers' services in order to improve identification of and support for young carers.

Local Authorities

5.3

The Scottish Government will work with the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance to produce a practice guide on young carers for teachers and schools.

Scottish Government

SYCSA

5.4

The Scottish Government and COSLA will promote the use of the toolkit that is currently being developed to assist primary school teachers to identify and support young carers.

Scottish Government

COSLA

5.5

In 2010-11, the Scottish Government will work with the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland on its plans to provide guidance to all GP practices in Scotland on carer and young carer identification and support.

Scottish Government

RCGP

PRTC

SYCSA

5.6

In 2010-12, NHS Education for Scotland ( NES), in collaboration with NHS Boards and the national carer organisations, will review existing training, education, and learning modules for working with young carers; identify core competencies for NHS staff in identifying and supporting carers and young carers; and identify packages and materials to be incorporated within core induction, education and training curricula.

NHS Education for Scotland

Carer Organisations

Local Authorities

5.7

NES will communicate to the relevant regulatory, professional and national bodies the importance of identifying and supporting young carers in workforce training and education.

NHS Education for Scotland

5.8

From 2010 onwards, the Scottish Government will work with NHS Boards to ensure that identifying and supporting young carers is embedded in workforce training.

Scottish Government

NHS Boards

5.9

In 2010-2011, the Scottish Government will work with the Scottish Social Services Council to identify opportunities to raise awareness of young carers' needs, contribution and issues in Social Work qualifying training.

Scottish Government

SSSC

5.10

From 2010 onwards, the Scottish Government will promote this strategy with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships ( ADPs) and with the Scottish Drugs Recovery Consortium ( SDRC) and will work with ADPs and with the SDRC to help identify and support young carers affected by parental substance misuse.

Scottish Government

- with ADPs

6.1

The Scottish Government will continue to support the full implementation of the GIRFEC programme and practice model and will support Community Planning Partners to work with members of the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance to support their efforts to incorporate a GIRFEC approach into their policies and practice.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

NHS Boards

SYCSA

6.2

The Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance will encourage and support dedicated young carers' services to review their assessment models in light of the development of the GIRFEC programme.

SYCSA

7.1

The Scottish Government will continue to work with the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance to promote their work in identifying and supporting young carers, in developing their approaches, in sharing resources and best practice and in highlighting young carers' issues.

Scottish Government

SYCSA

7.2

The Scottish Government and partners will respond to the recommendations coming from HMIe's review of the implementation of the Additional Support for Learning Act and its impact on specific groups of young people, including young carers.

Scottish Government

HMIe

7.3

By 2012, if they have not already done so, local authority Education Services will wish to review the approaches they have in place for ensuring that young carers are supported in school and to ensure that they are not disadvantaged because of the impact their caring has on their attendance, achievement and attainment and behaviour.

Local Authorities

7.4

By 2012, the Scottish Government and Learning and Teaching Scotland will work together to explore opportunities provided by "Glow", the national schools intranet, to identify and support young carers in school.

Scottish Government

LTS

7.5

In 2010, the Scottish Government will continue to work with NHSinform on the development of its Carer Information Zone. Once fully developed, NHSinform will continually review the online service to ensure that it remains up-to-date, accurate and relevant to carers' and young carers' needs.

Scottish Government

NHSinform

7.6

The Scottish Government is currently developing work which aims to drive improvements to the quality, consistency and availability of advocacy support for children and young people. The Scottish Government will consider the needs of young carers within this work.

Scottish Government

7.7

The Scottish Government will review the work undertaken by the Mental Health Development Worker in order to identify what further developments are necessary to support young carers dealing with mental health issues. Consideration will be given to producing a bespoke resource for young carers on issues relating to stress.

Scottish Government

PRTC

7.8

The Scottish Government and COSLA will develop measures to identify the extent to which young carers benefit from the provision of short breaks and respite care by local authorities. This will seek to identify good practice, whilst promoting the Short Break Guidance and highlighting the value of short breaks to young carers.

Scottish Government

COSLA

7.9

In 2010-11 the Scottish Government will work with Shared Care Scotland and others to disseminate the findings of short breaks research that is underway and to consider the development of further actions in light of the findings. In particular, Shared Care Scotland will seek to use the research findings to support partners to improve the local strategic planning and commissioning of short break provision.

Scottish Government

Shared Care Scotland

7.10

For the duration of this strategy, the Scottish Government with Shared Care Scotland and other partners will encourage and support the continued development of more effective ways of providing short breaks through learning networks and, where possible, the setting up of demonstration projects.

Scottish Government

Shared Care Scotland

Local Authorities

- other partners

7.11

In 2010-11, The Scottish Government will work with a range of organisations to explore the potential to develop short breaks provision through volunteers.

Scottish Government

Shared Care Scotland

7.12

The Scottish Government will continue to publish beyond 2011 official statistics on respite provision and will work to improve the quality and consistency of this information, in order to achieve National Statistics status for this data source and publication.

Scottish Government

COSLA

7.13

For the duration of this strategy, the Scottish Government will work with a range of organisations to explore the potential to develop emergency respite and to support carers with emergency planning.

7.14

In 2010-2015 the Scottish Government will explore the innovative use of new technologies that are accessible to and supportive of young carers.

Scottish Government

- with partners

8.1

The Scottish Government will continue to support local authorities and their partners to implement 16+ Learning Choices. This will include working closely with Skills Development Scotland in their role as the national provider of careers information, advice and guidance; and as the hub for 16+ Learning Choices data and monitoring the impact on vulnerable groups.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

SDS

8.2

The Scottish Government will continue to support local partnerships to deliver more choices and chances for young people at risk of moving into a negative destination. This will include monitoring impact on vulnerable groups such as young carers. As part of this the Scottish Government will highlight the need for collaboration between dedicated young carers' services and local More Choices, More Chances Lead officials. This will result in broader awareness of the barriers to education, employment and training and will highlight the importance of flexible, tailored learning opportunities and relevant supports to enable them to combine learning with caring.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

MCMC Leads

8.3

By 2011, Skills Development Scotland will identify baseline data of likely numbers and destinations of young carers through collecting information from appropriate local partners, secondary schools and the Schools Leavers Destination Return.

SDS

8.4

By 2012, Skills Development Scotland will design and develop suitable materials focussed on career management and employability and will develop training opportunities for young carers' services.

SDS

8.5

Skills Development Scotland will review and update previous publicity materials for young carers which identify their options and the support available, in order to encourage young carers to plan to achieve their career aspirations.

SDS

8.6

Skills Development Scotland will work with the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance to develop content about Skills Development Scotland for inclusion on www.youngcarers.net

SDS

SYCSA

PRTC

8.7

By 2011, Skills Development Scotland will explore ways in which referrals between young carers' services and Skills Development Scotland can be formalised and improved.

SDS

SYCSA

8.8

By 2012, Skills Development Scotland will review and evaluate with the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance and BME young carers the particular issues they face in accessing education, employment and training.

SDS

SYCSA

8.9

By 2011, the Scottish Government and relevant partners will develop a "Young Adult Carers Action Plan" to progress the recommendations contained in Appendix 5 of this strategy.

Scottish Government

COSLA

Carer Organisations