Hi all,
just looking for some advice on a situation that may be putting someone vulnerable in a difficult position. A family member has a severely autistic child and her other grown up daughter, also autistic and living at home, has just got herself a paid position looking after her but she has to give a different address in order to do the job. She also has a different surname as she only shares a mother with her sister. She's done some training and been successfully appraised and the wider family have been told by the mother of both children that it's all perfectly fine and it was suggested by an NHS professional that her other daughter take up the role as long as a different address was used...but it doesn't sound right to me if you're having to give a different address and not strictly telling the truth. The address she has given is her grandmother's and I am concerned if this is as dodgy as it appears, then the grandmother, who just wants to help, will be complicit if they get caught, with whatever ramifications may come from it. I don't know my way around the system at all so am clueless as to whether this sort of thing goes on generally, but I always thought that family carers could only claim carer's allowance, which is what the mother already does. The job entails night shifts in case her sister needs anything, but to all intents and purposes she's not doing any looking after at all, because her mother is always on hand. Can anyone shed any light on whether this is absolutely above board, sharp practice, or worse?