Adult Social Care

Who can get support through the council?

Adult social care is about providing personal and practical advice and support to adults who need help to live an enjoyable life as independently as possible.

Adults who may need extra care and support include:

older people
people with learning disabilities
people with physical disabilities or long term health conditions
people with mental health problems
people with drug and/or alcohol issues
carers

In order to get support from City of York Council, you must –

be aged 18 or over
be living within the City of York Council Local Authority area
have needs which are eligible for support based on the National Care Act eligibility criteria (2014)

What is care and support?

Care and support is the term used to describe the help you need to live as well as possible with any illness or disability you may have. It’s about supporting you to be as independent as possible and can include assistance to help you to -

maintain and develop relationships with family and friends.
make use of the local community, including public transport, and leisure activities, facilities or services.
access and engage in work, training, education or volunteering.
move around the home safely (also see Help Around Your Home).
care for a child (please see Raise York website for more information and advice).
access food, and prepare and eat meals.
wash and support to launder clothes.
get dressed and be appropriately dressed.
maintain and clean the home.

Care and support includes the help given by family and friends, as well as any provided within the community or by other organisations. It also includes any help provided by City of York Council, where other options are not available.

You may have to pay towards some social care or support services. We follow Government guidelines to complete an assessment of your finances.

Starting with a good conversation (assessment)

The process of assessing and planning your support begins with a good conversation. This conversation can take place anywhere which is suitable and this could be at a community venue (such as a café or community hub), in your own home, in hospital or somewhere else.

You are welcome to have someone with you when you talk with us if you would like to – this could be a carer, friend or member of your family. If you don’t know someone who could support you, and wish to do so, either you or adult social care can arrange access to an independent advocate who can support you to fully engage in the conversation.

During this conversation, we would like to talk with you about how you would like your situation to change, what you would like to achieve and how this might happen. We would like to understand the things that are most important to you, what works well for you as well as the difficulties you may have.

We would also like to know how your care and support needs affect your wellbeing. This may include –

relationships with family or friends.
physical and mental health.
keeping safe.
having enough money.
being able to control your daily life and make decisions.
having a good place to live.
anything else which is important to you.

Talking Points

Talking Points give you the opportunity to have informal face-to-face conversations with adult social care staff. They can help you talk through options and get advice and support in a more personal way: Talking Points – City of York Council

Planning your care and support

If you are eligible for care and support to be organised through the council, we will work with you (and anyone you would like to be involved) to plan this together.

Your support plan should include –

what you want to achieve and how you want to achieve this.
the things that are important to you.
what you would like to happen – now and in the future.
your strengths and who you have around you.
the local resources, groups and organisations available in the community that could support you. These could be voluntary, health or other services.
the support you need which you will arrange and pay for yourself.
the support you need which the local authority may arrange and which you may pay towards.
how you will arrange your support and pay for it (e.g. a direct payment).
how you will manage if something unexpected happens and your situation changes suddenly.

The support you will receive depends on what you need as a person.

You may wish to arrange and pay for your care and support privately. Adult social care can offer information and advice about how to do this. Further information is available in the arranging your own care and support section.

You could look to see what community groups or activities are available that may meet some of your needs. Local Area Co-ordinators can support you to think about some of this, as can Social Prescribing.

If you require personal support you could look to see what is available that may meet your needs through the Service & Products Directory.

Support for carers

If you are caring for someone, we can talk with you about what support is available for you in your caring role. Please see the support for carers for more information.