Factsheet: Who qualifies for our support?

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Summary

April 2025 (FS1)

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 desired outcomes. When we carry out a needs assessment, we will think about things like:

your care and support needs (for example, if you need help getting dressed or going to work)
your wellbeing (if you feel lonely or isolated)
your circumstances (if you live alone or if someone supports you)
the urgency of your support

After we complete your assessment, we use the Government’s ‘eligibility criteria’ (which is part of the Care Act), to work out if you qualify for support from Adult Social Care.

The eligibility criteria ensures that our limited resources are used for the people who most need care and support, and that everyone has equal access. We take into account the demand, what is already being provided and available resources.

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 you.

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 and mental health
physical, mental and emotional wellbeing
being protected from abuse and neglect
having control over your day-to-day life
participating in work, training and recreation
your social and economic wellbeing
your domestic, 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 find care that supports you. We will look at support that you already get from a partner, family member or friend, like help going out or cooking.

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

We’ll do a financial assessment to see how much you can afford to pay.

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

For more information, see our leaflet: What you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support.

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 and give you other options.

Support might be available in your local community, which may help

prevent or delay your need for assistance in the future.
You can contact us again at any time to discuss your needs and an assessment if you feel things have changed. We’ll tailor information to your individual situation.

To get more information on community support and services in East Sussex:

you can contact Adult Social Care
find out about support and wellbeing services on East Sussex 1Space directory
find community clubs, societies and events on 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 may be eligible for support. The Care Act sets national eligibility criteria for carers. You can do an online carer’s assessment or ask us for one.

Even if the person you are caring for does not meet the eligibility criteria, or does not want an assessment, you may still be entitled to an assessment and support.

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 impairment
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 care for may need.

More information and support for carers 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 consequence, 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 what you’re doing themselves, it may not be considered ‘necessary’ care.

In these cases, we will advise you (and the person you look after, if appropriate) how they could use their own resources or community support to meet their needs. This helps delay the need for care and support services for you and the person you look after.