Step 1 - Referral
There are two routes into which a referral can be made for self-directed support for carers.
1. Self -referral
Anyone can contact us to make a referral - you can do this yourself or, if you prefer, a relative, carer, friend, GP or other professional can make contact on your behalf. You can make a self referral by contacting Adult Social Care Enquiry Team (ASCET)
or
2. A direct referral is made by social care services
A referral can be made by the social care services who are involved with the person you provide care for. This would be a direct referral to the relevant social work practice team.
Step 2 - Adult Carer Support Plan
The law says that anyone who provides or intends to provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis can have a carer's assessment / support plan. If the amount of care you are providing is affecting your life and your opportunities to do what you want to do, you can have an assessment / support plan.
A carer can have a carer's support plan whether they live with the person they're looking after or not, whether they are caring full-time, or whether they are working and caring at the same time. If you share caring responsibilities with another person, you can both have a carers' support plan as long as you are both providing substantial amounts of care on a regular basis. A carer's support plan can take place before you start caring (for example, if the person you are looking after is in hospital but will be leaving hospital soon) or at any point afterwards.
You can have a friend or family member, or someone like a carer support worker with you during your support planning if you wish. The person who you care for can also be there, if you like. Having someone with you should be discussed when the meeting is being arranged.
As part of the carer's support plan, you will be asked about:
- How being a carer affects you
- Your own health
- Your own feelings about caring and how much care you want to do or are able to do
- How your caring affects work, studying, leisure time, living arrangements and any other commitments such as looking after children
- Any help you need to care for someone
By the end of the plan, we will have a better idea of what kind of support you need, and you can discuss with us any support you think you need. You will be given the opportunity to say how you want to receive your support and how much control you want to have over the support you get.
Step 3 - Eligibility check
Self-directed support is available to unpaid carers who require support to help them maintain their caring role.
Your carers plan will help us to understand what your needs are and establish your eligibility for support.
If, for any reason you don't meet the eligibility criteria for our services, our staff will talk to you about other types of support and community help available. You can also find information on a range of support options in our Community Resource Directory
You can find information on our eligibility criteria on or Carer Support page.
Step 4 - Calculating your Budget and Contributions
Charging
The Social Care (Self-Directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 introduces the right for carers not to be charged for any support they receive as a carer. Charges cannot be made for support provided to carers to continue in their caring role, whether directly provided by local authorities or commissioned by the local authority through voluntary organisations or private organisations.
Note: This does not apply to services that are provided to the person who is being cared for. In this case, the normal charging for non-residential care services will still apply. In the case of short breaks, the elements of the break that are provided for the carer will not be charged.
How we Calculate your 'Budget'
We use a Resource Allocation System (RAS) to identify the budget requirements for each individual based on their needs.
The system uses the information we gather from your carers support plan and puts this into seven personal needs questions. Based on the answers it helps us to understand where you are going to need support and what the cost of that support will be.
- Meeting Personal Needs and Looking after Myself - Health
- Meeting Personal Needs and Looking after Myself - Personal Care
- Staying Safe and Managing Complex Needs and Tasks
- Running and Maintaining the Household I am living in
- Making Decisions and Organising My Life
- Social Relationships and Community Activities
- Employability/ Volunteering/ Personal Development
The Council will inform you of the budget that is available for you to spend on meeting your agreed outcomes. Your budget will usually be administered 4-weekly, in advance, but this may differ depending on your agreed outcomes. Individual budgets will vary from person to person due to individuals having different needs, circumstances, and preferred outcomes. Your individual budget will be subject to review on an annual basis.
The information on contributions explains the financial assessment process.
Step 5 - Planning your Support
You have the right to a plan for how you will be supported. During the planning process, you will choose how you want your support to be provided. You can decide if you need to do this, for example from a carer, a friend or someone from a support organisation.
Your practitioner should talk to you about the four options available to you Self Directed Support: The 4 Options.
A carers support plan will then be completed by you and your practitioner which will focus on what outcomes you want to achieve and how you hope to achieve them. As part of the support planning process, your practitioner will advise you how much your individual budget is, as it should be very clear as to what monies are available and how these can be spent to meet your agreed outcomes.
As the carer's support plan can also affect the assessment of the person who is being looked after, some of the carers needs may need to be included in the support plan of the person they are caring for. In other words, help may be provided for the person being cared for to support the carer in their caring role instead of being given directly to the carer.
For example, if a carer is are having difficulties lifting the person they look after, they could be provided with lifting equipment and training on how to lift someone safely. The equipment will be mentioned in the support plan of the person who is looked after. If a carer doesn't want this information to be written in the support plan of the person they are looking after, then they can ask for your own separate carers' plan to be written.
Self-directed support options
Everyone who needs support will be offered the same four options for how the support will be given to them. Self Directed Support: The 4 Options
Step 6 - Putting your Support in Place
You and your social worker will follow the plan, and ensure that the support you need is put in place for you.
Everyone wants to have some level of control and everyone is different. So, in self-directed support, the way people organise their support can be as individual as they are. You can take on the job of organising your support yourself or get someone else to organise it all or do something in between.
The options you can choose from are:
- Do it yourself.
- Use a support provider.
- Use a broker.
- Use an agency.
- Use the local authority.
- Use paid and unpaid support.
You can mix and match these options. There is no formula. It's a question of what suits you.
Step 7 - Four Week Review
After the first 4 weeks of these option arrangements being in place, a review will be facilitated by your practitioner. The purpose of the four week review is to check on your carers support plan and to give you the opportunity to talk about what is working, what is not working so well and what you may want done differently. You can discuss with your practitioner and anyone else who you have invited to the review what changes to your support plan or to the delivery of it by your chosen provider.
The self-directed support option you have chosen can be changed at any time if you think that another option arrangements will be more effective in meeting your needs and delivering your outcomes. You should speak to your practitioner about the available alternatives.
Step 8 - Annual Support Review
You and your practitioner will review your support plan annually to ensure that your outcomes are being met and what changes to your arrangements, if any, need to be agreed. In addition, your financial assessment will also be reviewed annually to determine any changes to the client contribution.
A review is not as formal as a full assessment, but it will take into account the original assessment that you had and any other changes to your circumstances.
If you are caring for someone and their support is being reviewed, this will also look at whether the care you are providing has changed or is going to change in the future so that the support they get can complement this.
