DSD, 13, is increasingly unwell. She's had an afterschool carer for almost a year, paid for by Direct Payments, but that carer is now off to other things. DSD has physical needs, including a catheter, but her primary problem at the moment is dementia. She is very, very anxious and her behaviour is quite demanding. We've had two agency carers recently for holiday cover and while both were perfectly competent at helping her bathe, dress etc., neither engaged with her much as a person and were much older, whereas her soon-to-be-ex-carer was recruited without much caring experience but is young and connects with her more.
When we recruited the carer, SDS had far fewer needs and was a much jollier person to be around. We now need to find someone comfortable with her physical needs, able to cope with her personality issues but still able to chat to her and interact with her as a teenager.
I'm going to see if any TAs at her school might be interested but it would make a long day for them so I'm not sure what success we'll have. Does anyone, by any chance at all, have experience of recruiting a carer for a child with behavioural problems and tips to share on where to advertise or agencies that might be good? We're in London.