The Children with Complex Needs Service work with children and young people with a permanent, severe disability which includes complex behavioural needs and autism where there is also associated severe learning disability.
Families will be able to access universal services and support in the community, however families of a child with a disability are also entitled to an assessment of need from our social care team.
The social work teams carry out assessments of need requested by parents/carers where their child has a disability. Most families who need support will have their needs met through Early Help Services, Aiming High or other services under the Local Offer but, in some cases, a social care assessment of need is requested.
This is an in-depth assessment which involves multiple home visits, contact being made with other professionals and agencies who work with or hold information about the child/young person, a multi-agency meeting and, where possible, a family meeting.
You can access this service by calling our Children's Help and Advice Team (CHAT) on 0151 934 4013.
Assessments
Assessments require the consent of the parents and will vary depending on the complexity of a child’s needs and circumstances and number of professionals involved. When assessing what support a child with a disability and their family may need the following factors will be discussed:
- The severity of the child’s disability and how it impacts on both the child’s life and the life of their family and parents/carers. This includes any challenges the child’s needs may pose to parents/carers that are considered attributable to their disability.
- The strengths and resilience of the family within their community
- The health, education, social and daily care and supervisory needs of the child.
- The context of a child’s chronological age and functional stage of development.
- If there is more than one disabled child in the family/household.
- The number of other children or caring responsibilities the parents/carers may have.
- If the parent/carer has a health need or disability.
- The degree of informal support within the child’s family and friend network.
- The child’s wishes and feelings.
- Whether there are concerns about a child’s safety and welfare, including whether there are child protection concerns.
- Dependent on the child’s age, preparation for transition to adult social care services.
The assessment will make recommendations about how a child’s needs can be met and may conclude this can be achieved without the need for more specialist support services or the social worker will work with the family and all the other professionals involved to identify what interventions might be effective and the services that might be useful to support the family.
Examples of Support Available
Direct Payments
A Direct Payment is a way to arrange support and can offer more flexibility, choice and control in the way support is provided.
The aim of a Direct Payment is to give more choice in how services are provided to individuals who are assessed as eligible for social care support. It allows you to organise care services yourself, enabling you to choose the services that are appropriate to your child’s needs as set out in your care plan. To find out more about Direct Payments, visit our dedicated SEND Support website
Child in Need Plan or a Early Help Plan
If it is thought that a child would benefit from a plan of support overseen by a social worker or Early Help worker this is formalised into a Child in Need Plan or a Early Help Plan where the outcomes to be achieved, and the responsibilities for action are clearly identified.
It is recognised that the needs of children with disabilities and their families may change over time. Therefore it is important any support provided is reviewed regularly to account for this and ensure services are meeting needs and achieving agreed outcomes.
Other Outcomes
You can find full details of the social care assessment process on our dedicated SEND Support website
Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO)
The Designated Social Care Officer (DSCO) for SEND is Rufus Beer.
If you would like to contact him about a SEND social care matter, please use the following e-mail address rufus.beer@sefton.gov.uk