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Any child or young person with a recognised disability (as in Equality Act 2010) is entitled to an assessment of need (as children in need s17 Children Act 1989). Where disabled children or young people and their families can meet their own support needs or directly access (every day and additional) services, they are encouraged to do so. When a child or young person or family requests an assessment, it is carried out by talking and listening to the child or young person and their family. In addition, information is gathered, with the family's consent, from professionals who know the child, such as the GP, school and health visitor. The assessment will also consider the specific needs of parents and other family members in their role as carers.

Needs can be identified by a Social Work Assessment or an Early Help Assessment. The presenting need, known history of need and any existing or historical assessment will help inform the appropriate pathway for assessment at the point of contact/request.

The outcome of an assessment will enable us to make a judgement about the level of need and most appropriate pathway of services to meet that need. This could be Social Care (Level 4) Targeted Family Support (Level 3) or universal (every day) services (Level 2). The child or young person and their family will be given a copy of the completed assessment and be able to comment on it. Where social care support is needed, the assessment may lead to a 'child in need' or 'short
breaks' plan.

This will set out what social care, other professionals and the family itself, agree to do to address the identified needs. This will include what care and support is to be made available to the child/young person and the family. In the event of significant harm being found, the safeguarding procedures will be applied.

Following the assessment access to services is dependent on the level of need the child or young person has and the amount of support which has been identified.

It is hoped that parents and the extended family will provide care for their children and young people, but sometimes some children and young people with disabilities may have needs that cannot be met by just the family, communities or universal (every day) services. When this is the case, to be eligible for a service from the Children with Disabilities Team, a child must be regarded as disabled for the purposes of an 'assessment of need' under the Children Act 1989 and Equality Act. The definition used by the service is as follows:

The definition of disabled children and young people is set out in the Equality Act 2010:

'that is a child and young person who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-today activities.'

Wherever possible all children and young people, with or without disabilities, should be supported to have their individual needs met by their family and by universal (available to everyone) and targeted services which are available in their local community.

The Children with Disabilities Team provides a specialist service to those children and young people aged 0 to 16 and the Young Adults Team (YAT) for those young people aged 16 to 18, who have profound disabilities, that have a long term and substantial impact on their ability to perform day to day activities as an individual and/or impact on siblings or parent or carer(s).

Both teams are part of the All-age Disabilities Service.

Download: All-age Disabilities Eligibility Criteria (PDF)

There is support available for children with disabilities and their families across the county. There is lots of information and advice on the Local Offer website around services and support for your child and for you as a parent carer. Below are some key pages you may want to look at:

• childcare for children with SEND
• SEN support in schools and for younger children
• groups and activities for children and young people with SEND
• support groups for parent carers of children with SEND
• Short breaks

The Children with Disabilities Social Work Team provide services designed to meet the needs of children and young people who have complex disabilities.

The Children with Disabilities Social Work Team is one of a range of services that can provide support to children and young people with disabilities and their families. Other services available are those provided by health, education, play and youth services as well as community resources provided by voluntary agencies.

The Children with Disabilities team offer services to those children and young people requiring additional resources in respect of their disability, where the disability has a profound impact on the child or young person’s life.

Any assessment will consider the specific needs of parents and other family members in their role as carers (this is sometimes known as a parent carer needs assessment).