Can I get social care support?

If you need support to live your life, there are lots of different types of support you can get.

Local authorities (councils) provide certain types of support. Each council in Scotland sets their own rules for who can access this support. This is known as their eligibility criteria.

When you contact your council to ask about social care support, they will ask you questions to find out what you need support with – this is known as an assessment.

You can find out more about the assessment and how to prepare for it in the next article: Assessment of needs

After they have done the assessment, the council will decide if you meet their criteria to get support through them.

Each council has different rules, but as a guide, they may look something like this:

Critical risk or urgent need

• If you are at critical risk or in urgent need, this means there may be an immediate risk to your safety.

• You may not be able to look after yourself without support, or do things like go to work or college, which limits your independence.

• You might rely on a family member or carer for help, but this is putting their health and wellbeing at risk.

• If you are at critical risk or in urgent need, you are likely to be eligible for formal social care support through your council.

Substantial risk or high level of need

• If you are at substantial risk, this means there may be a significant risk to your safety.

• You might be able to do some things to look after yourself, but not everything you need to be able to do.

• If you are at substantial risk, you are likely be eligible for formal social care support through your council, but it might take longer to put in place.

Moderate risk or moderate level of need

• If you are at moderate risk, this means there is probably not any risk to your safety.

• You may struggle to do some things to look after yourself, but can manage other things.

• If you are at this level, it is unlikely you will be eligible for formal social care support through your council.

Low risk or low level of need

• If you are at low risk, there may be one or two things you cannot do to look after yourself, or that you find difficult to manage.

• If you are at this level, it is very unlikely you will be eligible for formal social care support through your council.

Most councils publish their eligibility criteria for adult social care support on their website.

You can find contact details and the website for your local council here.

What if I am not eligible?

If your council thinks you are not eligible for social care support through them, they should still tell you about other types of support you could get, for example from community groups or charities.

Next steps

It is important to understand more about the assessment process, and how to prepare for it.

Read the next article to find out more: Assessment of needs

Your local Independent Support Organisation can help you understand if you are likely to meet the eligibility criteria in your area. They can also help you to find out about what other support you can get if you do not meet the eligibility criteria to get formal support through your council.

You can look for a local Independent Support Organisation using the Find Help search tool.