Apply to be a Shared Lives carer

The first step to applying to become a carer is to contact us. We’ll meet you or have a chat on the phone and find out more about your skills and knowledge. We’ll see what skills you’ve already got to do the job and where we might need to help you develop them. Contact us to get the ball rolling and let’s have a chin wag!

It’s time to fill out your application form.
We’ll also ask you to tell us the details of some people who can give you a reference.

We’ll get to know you better. We’ll look at what training you already have, what type of training you’ll need and plan how you’ll complete it. We’ll need you to have a DBS check, which costs £40 (you’ll need to pay for this yourself) and we’ll follow up on those references.
At this stage we’ll also come and have a look at your house, to see what type of support you might be able to provide at home. We’ll look at things like accessibility and safety. We’ll need to write to your landlord or your mortgage provider to get their approval as part of our checks. If you’re becoming a carer in Wales, we’ll do some electricity checks, too, and you’ll also need to join Social Care Wales, which will have an additional cost.

All of our carers have a panel interview, so in this step of the process, we’ll help you get prepared. We’ll put a thorough personal pro le and assessment report together for you that shows off all of your lovely skills and experiences.
So we can write this up in lots of detail, we’ll come to meet you a couple more times and ask you about special skills or experiences you’ve had. We’ll talk to you about examples of when you’ve done some of the things you might need to do as a carer, like communicate really well or keep records. It’ll be quite in-depth, but don’t worry – you’re the expert on you, so it’ll be easy.
Around now we’ll also introduce you to some of our current Shared Lives carers and some people we support. They’ll talk to you all about what it’s like to be a carer or be supported by Shared Lives.

You’ll come along to a panel interview where experienced Shared Lives carers, people who use Shared Lives and people who work at PSS will chat to you about the role.
It’s an interview, but a really friendly one, and we’ll be rooting for you and supporting you the whole time.

This is the time we’ve all been waiting for, when you’ll hopefully find out that the process has been a success and you’ve been approved as a Shared Lives carer. If you’re successful, now’s the time we’ll get the ball rolling on any legal requirements, like gas safety, re safety and other safety stuff around your home. We’ll also put you in touch with some experienced carers who can offer you some top tips and guidance over a brew.

Yay! Welcome to the team. Once you’re approved, you’ll be part of our database of people we can call on when someone who needs support matches with you and your home.
Now’s the exciting time when we start the matching process and introduce you to your very own member of the PSS Shared Lives team, who will support you every step of the way on your journey as a carer.