Travis is a young carer and the primary carer for his mother,Trudi, whose condition has begun to deteriorate over the past fewmonths. Some of Trudi’s friends also provide assistance by cookingmeals and doing some of the housework. Her friends have come toknow her food preferences well and together have developed a menulist for each week to ensure she eats a balanced diet, based aroundher preferred foods. Travis provides constant supervision andguidance for Trudi, and has an almost intuitive awareness of heremotional and physical needs.
Travis is finding it hard to maintain his social network andkeep up with his schoolwork and is thinking about dropping out ofschool completely. Bethany provides ongoing support to Travis andhis mum, and they have begun talking about longer term options forTrudi to move into an out-of-home care situation and how Travisfeels about no longer taking on the full time caringresponsibilities for her. Travis often comments that he feels a bitlike someone who has grown up before his time and that many of hisformer friendship group simply don’t understand why he can’t comedown to the beach with them at a moment’s notice. They simply don’trealise how demanding caregiving is, and why it is important thatTravis spend the bulk of his time at home, in case he is needed.Lately, he has noticed that his friends have simply stopped ringingor texting him at all. Travis says that one of his friends has toldhim it’s just not normal for a young person to be caring for hismother. Bethany listens carefully to Travis and then makes somecomments to check she has understood him correctly. They then beginto talk about what he might decide to do in the future.
Bethany shows Travis some information, application forms andeligibility criteria guidelines about an out-of-home residentialsetting near his home, where his mother might be able to move andwhich would still allow Travis to visit frequently and be involvedin her care. She explains that the service has clear guidelinesabout eligibility and a strong set of policies and guidelines aswell as a code of conduct for workers so that Travis would knowthat she was being well cared for. There is an open door policy,which means Travis could visit any time, and a strong commitment toencouraging community-based activities to maintain links withfriends, family members and the wider community. Travis decides toencourage his mother to consider the option of out-of-homeresidential care, so he meets with Trudi, Bethany and a managerfrom the setting to begin discussing the options.
Question:
What are Travis’s rights, role and responsibilities in thissituation?
