Family Carer Support Service, Hft

The Family Carer Support Service is part of Hft, a national charity supporting adults with learning disabilities, autism or both. At FCSS, we support family carers to understand and exercise their rights, and to navigate statutory services including social care, health and welfare. Some of our team are family carers themselves, with extensive knowledge and personal experience of the issues affecting family carers. We offer information and support on a wide range of topics, including but not limited to; how to get a break from caring, how to plan for the future and how to prepare for an upcoming assessment or review with your local authority. If we aren’t the right charity to support you, we will signpost you to other useful organisations. We provide information and support to family carers in a variety of ways: One-to-one support by telephone, letter or email Family Carer workshops. At our workshops you can meet other family carers, share your experiences and find out more about your rights as a family carer, local housing and support for people with learning disabilities and/or autism, money matters and personal budgets We develop resources focused on family carer issues, explaining how legislation such as the Mental Capacity Act affects you, holiday options for people with learning disabilities, and changes to the benefits system We provide monthly e-news which highlights the current issues and legislation affecting family carers We work in partnership with a range of organisations and government bodies to provide support and resources for family carers, and to ensure family carers have a voice in national care policies