Social care assessments
Children and family assessments
A children and family assessment is for children aged 0-17. It looks at a child's needs and what support they may need.
It is also called a 'social work assessment'.
Each assessment is different. It's important that our social care teams understand what's happening for your child and your family, so they can do their best to meet your needs.
There are lots of ways we can help you if you have an assessment. We can:
- Give you advice and guidance
- Point you to services and organisations that can help you and your family
- Provide your child with social care support from children's services with a range of targeted specialist interventions
Your input
The professional carrying out the assessment will want to know what you think your family needs extra support with. It can help to think about these three questions:
- What are we worried about?
- What's working well?
- What needs to happen?
Family network
An important part an assessment will be looking at your family network. Family networking is about how your family and friends help you. It means involving these people who know and care about your family, when you need help.
Who can have a children and family assessment
All disabled children and young people are entitled to a level of assessment.
Not all families will need to have a social care assessment. You can access some services directly, such as Short Breaks and Early Help.
Request a children and family assessment
To request a children and family assessment, contact the Children and Families Duty Service (CADS) on 0344 800 8020. Follow the options for children's social care.
CADS will decide if an assessment should take place and which team will complete the assessment.
