Hi everyone, I am new on here - although I may have visited in the distant past but not posted. Anyway, I used to be my daughters full time carer between 2015 and 2020. My daughter is 23 autistic and not independent. She needs a high level of care, cannot leave the house on her own, cannot travel independently, cannot talk to strangers, suffers from selective mutism and social anxiety along with a number of other problems. In 2020 I was her full-time carer and in receipt of carers allowance. Then my relationship with her dad broke down. I immediately returned to work and it never occurred to me that I could continue as her carer, even though me returning to work has had an impact on her mental health. She misses me as I have to work and misses her dad as we no longer live with him. She is on her own a lot of the time although we have recently employed a PA to visit her for 2 hours twice a week.
I work as a teaching assistant but am finding it a struggle to work and care. My question is can I leave my job and care for my daughter full time as I have done in the past? Could I claim carers allowance and income support. Or will the job centre say NO you chose to give up your job and therefore you are not entitled to anything? How do other people manage? I know nothing about claiming benefits. I have not given in my notice at work, nor mentioned this to my daughter, as I would not be able to deal with her disappointment if this is not possible.
Any advice would be gratefully received. Thank you.