Shared Lives Carer Recruitment

Yes, you can work and be a shared lives carer.  Shared lives carers are self employed, so they can work other jobs or have other commitments alongside their shared lives responsibilities.  The amount of time dedicated to shared lives care can be flexible, allowing individuals to balance it with other work or commitments.

No.  Carers can work part-time.  We will work with you to match you with the right person.  Your availability will always be respected

No, you don’t need to own your home but you do need to have a spare room for respite or to offer longer term support

Many shared lives carers start by offering day support or short breaks, which give you a chance to find out what being a shared lives carer is like.  Short break carers may support someone for single overnight stays, a regular weekend a month, or a couple of weeks at a time.  Whatever works best for the shared lives carer and the person staying with them.  Shared lives carers who have started with short breaks often say it is the ideal introduction for a new carer, and that it was an easy decision from there to open their home to someone long term.  If you don’t have a spare room suitable for someone to live in you can support someone just during the day.  Day support offers lots of flexibility and variety and shared lives carers who provide day support often become an extension of the supported person’s family?

Yes.  We will be with you every step of the way and are always on hand to offer advice and support.  You will receive training and we offer ongoing training in lots of different areas to support you

Shared Lives carers are self employed, which is why you will receive a fee, rather than being paid a wage or salary.  The weekly fee for supporting someone who lives with you can be between £80-£620 per week. This fee is for the care and support you provide .  You will also receive payments for rent and contributions to general living costs and household expenses.  Fees for short break carers are either set on a nightly rate and if you offer day support you will receive a fee for the hours.

Far from getting in the way of being a shared lives carer, pets can be an asset and help people to grow in confidence.

Every animal is different, and your pets will be included in your carer assessment – looking at things like their temperament and behaviour.  As a pet owner, you also need to think about how your pet will respond to a new person in your home.

Anyone over 18 can apply to become a shared lives carer whether you are single, in a relationship, have children or live alone.  And as long as you are fit and healthy enough, there is no upper age limit for shared lives carers.  

Your shared lives social worker is your first line of support.  They’re there to provide you with advice and guidance as well as arranging ongoing training for the role.

We have a carers support group where you can meet other carers in your area.  It meets regularly and can be a great source of strength it can be somewhere carers can support each other when you need it and celebrate their successes.  And of course if you join Shared Lives Plus you will join a network of over 6000 shared lives carers, bringing with it different benefits and support.

The scheme will want to make sure you have the right qualities to become a shared lives carer, and want to know more about you.  Why do you want to work with people who need support? Do you have the ability to nurture, communicate, advocate on behalf of people and include them as part of your family?  Are you willing to work as part of a team, develop your skills and qualities through training and learning and have the resilience to stay strong in times of difficulty?

Yes.  This is one of the best parts of Shared lives, everyone involved has to agree to the match and be happy with who they are going to support, visit, or live with, it’s totally unlike any other caring role.

As part of the carer assessment you’ll talk to your shared lives social worker about the kind of people you’d like to support – their age range and needs, the number of people you will be approved to care for, and any other considerations.

Only if you want to.

Personal care can include helping someone with washing or dressing.  But many people supported by shared lives have no personal care needs.

You and your shared lives social worker will talk about the level of support you are comfortable providing during the assessment process, and the scheme will be clear about the personal care needs of any potential matches before you start the matching process.

People living in shared lives arrangements are provided with a licence agreement which does not offer the same rights as an assured tenancy.  So, although shared lives arrangements can be long lasting, people living in shared lives arrangements have no claim on the carers property and should not affect your mortgage.  In the case of short term breaks, the individual is a temporary guest, and the carers house is not considered to be their permanent home.