A family experienced significant upheaval when the father had to leave full time career-based work to become a full-time carer for his adult sister with complex learning disabilities, and the primary care giver to his new born baby. Their situation became even more complex when they took in their baby nephew through kinship care. The rapid changes in their household structure and financial situation left the father feeling overwhelmed and struggling to manage his own health (ADHD, alopecia and depression).
This family consists of Dad, Mum, three children and an adult with complex learning disabilities. The family had to move into the paternal family home when dad’s mother, who was a full-time carer for his adult sister died and it was becoming clear that the sister could no longer sustain independent and unsupported living conditions (house became unclean, bills not being paid, reduced engagement with social group etc). At this point the family we supported consisted of Mum, Dad, a 7-year-old and a 1-month-old baby. After 3 months of settling into their new home and taking on the care responsibilities for Dad’s adult sister, the family were approached by social work to ask if they would consider taking on kinship care of Dad’s nephew. The baby, who had been born prematurely, had parents with active addiction and was placed on the at-risk register. The family agreed instantly to take on the care and responsibility for the child, meaning they now had two children under 1 years old in the home and a 7-year-old alongside care responsibilities for Dad’s adult sister. Understandably, the significant changes left the father feeling overwhelmed by the complexity of managing multiple responsibilities.
The family decided that Dad would give up his job as a mechanic to be the primary carer for the two young children and his sister. Mum was a higher earner, and the family had financial commitments based on a two-person working household, so required advice and support to navigate the changes to their income and budget. During this process it was also noted that the sister had not been managing her finances or the household costs since the death of her mother (rent, council tax, utility bills), and this inability to manage finances had also led to her benefits being reduced and suspended leading to debts accruing. It was also becoming evident to Dad that his sisters’ needs were more varied and complex than he had accounted for when agreeing to undertake her care provision.
The SAFE Team provided vital support that required two advisers, one to manage the family referral and one to manage the sister’s needs. The advisers worked in tandem assisting with multiple benefit applications, including Universal Credit, Child Benefit, and the Scottish Child Payment, to help stabilise the family’s income and financial obligations. Additionally, the team worked with the local authority to coordinate debt management support. Further to this, the family assigned adviser worked with Dad to get an adult support and protection social work referral completed to help coordinate his sister’s care and support needs. This was a complex process as his sister does not have a diagnosed mental health condition and did not meet the criteria for severe learning disabilities support. However, it was agreed that a Social Work would be assigned for a period of time to help the sister manage her assessment for independent living and further work alongside the adviser to support with managing the ongoing benefit matters and referrals for debts. Most of the sister’s debt was associated with local authority i.e rent arrears and council tax, the adviser sent an overview of the family circumstances to the benefits team at ACC, and she was assigned an adviser who with consent from the family coordinated with the adviser to reduce the impact of stress and management of the debt on dad.
The adviser from local authority gave an outline of the accounts in the sister’s name and supported with setting up repayment plans and accessing the rent assistance fund to reduce historical rent arrears. Recognising the family’s immediate needs, the Team advisers also secured essential items such as food, nappies, and winter clothing. Through Cash for Kids funding, they provided toys for Christmas and warm jackets for winter, ensuring the children were cared for during a challenging period and this type of helped built rapport and trust with the family while we navigated the challenges with income and budgeting.
The family adviser focused on supporting dad to claim Universal credit, child benefit and Scottish child payment all of which the family were entitled to claim but were not aware of this prior to receiving advice from our team. They were also able to make a referral for a family support volunteer through a local organisation to support Dad with a range of family activities such as taking both babies to the park with his 7-year-old or help with managing the washing and household chores and navigating the changes to his social contact with other adults. The family were also supported with infant feeding cash vouchers, sponsored membership for 1 year to the food pantry and given information about family related groups in their local community.
To date, there is now much improvement to the family circumstances in relation to their finances and debt repayment plans are in place. The family are being supported by social work, local community support and team and Dad is managing this with more independence. All claim for financial support were successful and have allowed for Dad and Mum to create a new working budget for the household. The family are currently looking at applying for more appropriate housing and considering options for independent but supported living for dad’s sister. Dad also now feels confident accessing help and will call the office if any new matters arise and get ahead with these changes before, they become overwhelming in nature.
Due to the pressure and stress the family was under, traditional office-based appointments with multiple services would have been difficult to manage. To reduce this burden, advice and support was provided through home visits and in local to the family home community settings, ensuring the father could receive help in a way that was accessible and manageable. Having one trusted service—the Team—coordinate communication with different agencies significantly reduced stress, avoided duplication, and allowed dad to focus on his caregiving role. By delivering a person-centred, relationship-based approach, the team built trust and provided meaningful, tailored support. Their coordinated intervention not only improved the family’s financial stability but also helped reduce stress and improve overall well-being, allowing the Dad to adapt to his new responsibilities with greater confidence and security.
* Different family name and stock photo used to protect the identity of the family used in this case study.
Image credit: Katie Emslie on Unsplash
