Social workers for disabled children and their families

How we support disabled children and their families.

Seaside View children walking with mum

The social work team at Wellington House manage specialist support services for disabled children and their families. For example, a family may be referred to us for an assessment if they wish to access a service like short breaks or direct payments.

We also work with families when someone has raised a concern about child protection.

You can find out more about the support we offer by clicking on the links below:

Social care support services for disabled children and their families

Accessing specialist support services

Families are referred to the team at Wellington House for an assessment when they wish to access a social care support service, such as short breaks or direct payments.

Who can get social care support services

The following children can access social care support services:

  • children with a severe learning and/or physical disability
  • children with a moderate learning disability, where it's assessed that their needs (in terms of challenging behaviour/mental health issues) can only be met through the input of specialist services

We can work with children from 0 to 24.

At 18 years old, some young people move on to adult services if appropriate. You can find out more about our Transitions team. This happens when they have an ongoing need and meet the criteria for help from adult services

How you can be referred for social care support services

If you have a child, or children, that meet our criteria (see above) you can be referred to the social work team within the Specialist Children's Disability Service (SCDS).

You can refer yourself by contacting the numbers below, or you can ask to be referred by a professional that knows your family.

In some circumstances, professionals directly refer families. Whenever possible we encourage this to be discussed with you first.

Initial screening

The referral will first be screened by the Duty Pod Manager, who will read the information and decide if the young person meets the criteria for our service.

If the Duty Pod Manager is unsure if they meet the criteria for support, they will discuss the case with the Head of Service or may contact the referrer or family for more information.

In some circumstances, an initial visit may take place to establish if the criteria are met. The family and the referrer will be informed of the outcome of the initial screening. If you're unhappy with the outcome, you can contact the Duty Pod Manager to discuss why the young person didn't meet the criteria.

Allocation to Social Worker / Early Help Worker for assessment

If the young person meets the criteria for our service, they will be allocated to a Social Worker or Early Help Worker who will open a Strengthening Families Assessment. Once allocated for assessment this should be completed within 45 days. However, in some situations, this may take longer given the capacity of the service.

They will arrange to visit the family and the child to collect information to inform the assessment. This will look at all the needs, behaviours and well-being of the child and family. The worker may contact professionals working with the family, but you will be informed, and permission sought before this happens.

If the decision is made that a resource is required, the request will be referred to the Resource Panel.  

Resource Panel

A multi-disciplinary resource panel meets once per month and consists of managers from the services available within Brighton and Hove and a representative from Amaze. The Social Worker or Early Help Worker will attend this meeting and represent the young person and family and request services. The panel will consider the needs of the child and make recommendations about ongoing work or support.

You'll be contacted after the panel by the Team Administrator and the Social Worker or Early Help Worker with an outcome. If a resource is allocated to you then the Social Worker will explain the process of how this is set up.

Child Protection

seaside view three children smiling

What happens if there's a child protection concern

For most of the families we work with, parents are putting their children’s needs first and providing a positive family environment. Any family can struggle to cope at times, and we recognise that caring for a disabled child can be difficult and challenging.

Occasionally we receive a referral because there's concern that families are struggling to cope or because there's a child protection concern. The family may even be concerned themselves about how their ability to cope is affecting their child’s welfare.

If someone has raised a child protection concern, you'll always be told from the outset that this is the reason for contact from the team.

We have a statutory (required by law) duty to investigate when someone raises a concern that a child may be being harmed in some way. In these situations, a social worker will carry out an assessment and this may involve consultation or joint work with the police child protection team.

We'll need to:

  • see your child
  • speak with professionals that know you and your child, such as school or health staff
  • talk to you

We'll usually seek your agreement but if there's a possibility that your child is at risk of significant harm those enquiries will always be made. The team also has a responsibility to consider whether any siblings may be at risk.

Often concerns are resolved at the investigation stage, but sometimes there will be ongoing assessment and a child protection conference to consider whether a multi-agency child protection plan is needed to work with you to improve things for your child or children.

About the social work service

Who’s who

The social work team works closely with our other colleagues in the Children's Disability Service team. The team is made up of qualified social workers and social work resource officers (SWROs). SWROs are not social work qualified but have a range of other skills and training.

The team are managed and supported by 2 Pod Managers, who are qualified and experienced children and family social workers. There's an overall head of service who also has responsibility for other parts of the service.

What a family can expect from the service

If your family receives a service from the social work team at Wellington House, your child will become ‘open’ to the team. This means that your child will either be one of several children whose case is managed within the duty system, or a specific social worker or social work resource officer will be allocated to you.

This worker, or the duty team, will be your point of contact and will have responsibility for coordinating and reviewing the services that your child and family receive. This may be a range of short break services and, very occasionally, families need additional support which could include shared care or full-time placement.

Your child will have a Child in Need (CIN) plan which will set out the aims and desired outcomes of the service(s) provided.

The allocated worker or duty team will also offer support and advice to you and your child as appropriate. They'll need to meet with your child on a regular basis, depending on the level of service provided, to get to know them and to keep their needs central to our planning.

There will need to be regular review meetings and discussions, as we need to review our services to see how they're meeting the needs of children and families.

Comments or complaints

We're always keen to hear suggestions and comments regarding your experience of the service and any ideas about how we could improve things. It's also good to hear if we're getting something right.

If you have a complaint, in the first instance it's always helpful to raise your concern or disagreement directly with your social worker, or the duty social worker. One of the Pod Managers or the Head of Service will also be happy to speak with you if you feel the matter is not resolved.

If you're still unhappy with an aspect of the service, contact the complaints team:

How to contact us

To contact us:

  • write to: Specialist Community Disability Service (SCDS), Families Children and Learning, Wellington House, Wellington Street, Brighton, BN2 3AX
  • phone 01273 295 550
  • send an email to SCDS@brighton-hove.gov.uk

A duty social worker is available Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.