What is social care?

Social care is practical, professional support for people who need extra support with everyday life. This might be help with cooking, shopping, personal care or support with managing money or getting a job.

More on Social Care
Two men standing next to each other. One is showing the other a piece of paper

Social care is help for people who need extra support with everyday life

Two men and a woman stand together speaking to each other

Lots of people with a learning disability and their family get social care help which is funded by the government

Who can get social care?

Tens of thousands of people with a learning disability and their family members currently get social care support which is funded by the government. This ranges from a few hours of support a week for some people to round-the-clock care for others.

What is the Care Act?

The Care Act tells local councils across England what they need to do if someone needs social care support.It also tells councils what they have to do if they know someone is caring for a family member or friends and needs support as a carer.

A support worker is sitting next to someone he cares for at a table smiling.

What is the Local Offer?

Every council must have a Local Offer of support that it expects to be available in the local area for children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

A young child in a harness holds her hands up and smiles

Join the Why We Care campaign

Show your support by joining our call for more funding and better pay for workers in social care.

Sign the petition

Special thanks to Irwin Mitchell Solicitors for helping us write this information.

Donate to Mencap

£7

could answer a call from someone in crisis who reaches out to our Learning Disability Helpline for support.

£25

could help a trained caseworker stop a parent’s loved one from being wrongfully locked away in a mental health hospital.

£50

could help pay for urgent legal support for a family in desperate need of advice to prevent their loved one being admitted to an in-patient unit.

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