The team works with children who have severe and permanent disabilities and or health conditions. They support families who may require additional help to meet their children's needs.
Not all Disabled children will require a service from the Disabled Children's Team and may receive support by a different social work team or from non-statutory services, such as the short breaks team.
Who can the Disabled Children's Team support?
In order to be eligible for access to the Disabled Children's Team, children need to:
- be under 18 years old
- be resident in H&F
- have a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on their ability to do everyday activities.
The team typically support children and young people with:
- Severe learning disabilities
- Severe physical disabilities
- Severe and profound autistic spectrum disorders
- Disability arising out of service or chronic illness
- Complex health needs
- Severe vision or hearing impairment
To understand if a child is eligible the team considers the impact on a child's level of functioning, rather than only on a medical diagnosis. In order to do this the team uses the information detailed within the short breaks statement and the pathways to assessment document to establish the most appropriate route for a child to access support.
How can the team help?
The team may:
- complete statutory child in need assessments to identify the child and families needs and if require propose support to need these
- complete and review care plans with families under a child in need framework
- provide support and review of care plans for children cared for by the local authority through the Looked After Children's processes
- undertake safeguarding investigations for disabled children eligible for the team
- contribute to education, health and care needs assessments and reviews for children open to team
- request agreement from funding panels for packages of support
- undertake parent, carers needs assessments
- undertake transition assessments where required
- seek authorisations for deprivation of liberty orders from the High Court and or the Court of Protection when required.
All assessments are holistic, which means they will include feedback from the family and any services involved with them. All assessments are individual, and person centred.
The team is a small specialist team of social workers who work closely with the short breaks team and children's social care occupational therapists and Stephen Wiltshire Centre. The team works alongside other professionals from health and education to provide an integrated an efficient service.
Referral process
Referrals to the team are by the family services Initial Consultation and Advice team (ICAT) who can be contacted on 0208 753 6600. This will help the referral process so that when the Disabled Children's Team contacts you they already have the information they need.
The disabled children's team can be contacted by families or professionals on 0208 753 3321. Enquires can be taken for children already known to the service and for those not known seeking advice about support.
For children over 18 years
If a child is open to the disabled children's team when they turn 18 they will often transition to adult social care service. This transition will be supported by the different teams with the full involvement of the child and their family.
If a young person is over the age of 18 and social care support is needed a referral to adult social care will be required and will be responded to by the transition team.