Factsheet: Who qualifies for our support?

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Summary

April 2026

This factsheet explains how we assess your social care needs and decide if you are eligible for support from Adult Social Care.

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Care Act needs assessment

Anyone can ask us for information, advice or an assessment of their social care needs. We will do a Care Act needs assessment to look in detail at your needs, strengths and what you would like to achieve. When we do a needs assessment, we’ll think about things like:

your care and support needs (for example, if you need help getting dressed or going to work)
your wellbeing (such as, if you feel lonely or isolated)
your situation (if you live alone or if someone supports you)
how urgently you need support

After we complete your assessment, we use national criteria to work out if you are eligible for support from Adult Social Care.

This ensures that our limited resources are used fairly and that everyone has equal access.

If you are not eligible for support from Adult Social Care, we will still give you information and advice about your options and other support that could help.

Eligibility criteria: what these say in full

For people with care and support needs

You will be eligible for support from Adult Social Care if all 3 of these criteria are met:

1. You have care and support needs due to a physical or mental impairment or illness, and

2. Because of those needs, you cannot achieve 2 or more of the following outcomes:

eating and drinking properly
maintaining personal hygiene
managing your toilet needs
dressing yourself appropriately
using your home safely
maintaining a liveable home environment
developing and maintaining personal relationships
getting and maintaining work, training, education or volunteering
making use of important facilities or services in the local community, including public transport and recreational facilities
carrying out caring responsibilities for a child, and

3. Being unable to achieve 2 or more of the above has (or is likely to have) a significant impact on your wellbeing. This includes:

personal dignity
physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing
being protected from abuse and neglect
having control over your day-to-day life
taking part in work, training and recreation activities
your social and economic wellbeing
family and personal relationships
suitable living accommodation
your individual contribution to society

If you are eligible

If your assessment shows that you have eligible needs, we will help you plan your care and support. This will include support that you get from family and friends, like help going out or cooking meals.

For more information on planning your support, see our factsheet Assessment, support planning and review

Paying for care

We’ll do a financial assessment to work out how much you will pay for your care.

Most people pay some or all of the costs of their care.

For more information, see our leaflet What you will need to pay.

If you are not eligible

If your assessment shows that you are not eligible for help from us, we’ll write to you to explain why. We’ll provide you with information relevant to your situation.

If you feel things have changed, you can always contact us again. You may need another assessment.

You can find information on community support and services in East Sussex:

by contacting Adult Social Care
on our directory of care, support and wellbeing services, East Sussex 1Space
on our listings of community clubs, societies and events, East Sussex Community Information Service (ESCIS)

Help for people who look after someone (carers)

If you look after someone, you may be a carer and could be eligible for support. You can ask us for a carer's assessment or do an online carer’s assessment

We use government rules to find out how caring affects your life. These ‘eligibility criteria’ are listed below.

Young carers

You might be a young carer if you’re under 18 and helping someone in your family who cannot look after themselves, because they:

are ill
have a physical or mental health condition
are dependent on alcohol or drugs

If you want to have an assessment, we will consider the needs of everyone in your family. We will work with Children’s Services to understand your situation and what support you may need. We will also look at what help the person you look after may need.

More information is in our leaflet: Do you look after someone?

Eligibility criteria for carers

You will be eligible for support if you meet these 3 criteria because of providing necessary care for an adult:

Your physical or mental health is at risk of deteriorating, and
You are unable to achieve one or more of the following outcomes:

carrying out caring responsibilities for a child
providing care to other people that you are responsible for
maintaining a liveable home environment
eating and drinking properly
developing and maintaining personal relationships
working, training, education or volunteering
making use of facilities or services in the local community
engaging in recreational activities, and

3. As a result, there is (or is likely to be) a significant impact on your wellbeing.

A note on what ‘necessary’ care is

To get support from us, you must be providing ‘necessary’ care to someone. If the person you look after could do this themselves, it may not be ‘necessary’ care. In these cases, we will offer you information and advice.

If you don't agree with our decision

If you feel that your assessment or review did not properly consider your care and support needs, you can appeal. Contact your social care worker within 10 working days of your assessment or review. They will explain how to appeal.

If you feel you may need someone to help you speak up, you can ask your social care worker how to get in touch with an independent advocate.