Social care advice

Social care advice does:

• Contain relevant and proportionate information on a child or young adult’s social care needs that relate to a learning difficulty or disability and requires local authority social care or early intervention
• Relate to life in the community and at home and describe the impact of the child or young adult’s learning difficulties and disabilities on themselves and their family. For example, “Amira has behaviour which challenges behaviour which makes it difficult for the family to do activities together. This can lead to family tensions.”
• For young people in or beyond Year 9, refer to their preparation for adulthood. For example, “Joseph is not able to take part in social activities with other teenagers or go out on his own. He currently relies on his parents to take him out and provide support.”
• Specify provision which is necessary for a disabled child under Section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, including practical assistance in the home, provision or assistance in obtaining recreational and educational facilities at home and outside the home, assistance in travelling to facilities, adaptations to the home, facilitating the taking of holidays, provision of meals at home or elsewhere, provision or assistance in obtaining a telephone and any special equipment necessary, non-residential short breaks.
• Specify any other social care or early intervention required from the local authority, including residential short breaks, social care direct payments, adult social care provision under the Care Act 2014 and social care provision which is not linked to the child or young adult’s learning difficulties or disabilities but could be sensibly coordinated with other provision in the EHCP.

Social care advice does not:

• Describe the child or young adult’s needs that do not require local authority social care or early intervention. Many disabled children and young adult’s social care needs are met via their parents and carers with the support of universal services.
• Specify education or health provision that the child or young adult may required. Education and health provisions are specified in education or health advice respectively.

Social care advice is one part of the picture. Understanding the child or young adult’s social care needs alongside their special educational and health needs enables the local authority to create a holistic plan tailored to meet their needs.

The pathway for determining who will provide social care advice is determined as follows:

• Where Children’s and/or Adult’s Services are actively involved, the child or young adult’s lead professional will provide social care advice
• Where Children’s or Adult’s Services are not actively involved (although there might be care and support in place), the request for social care advice is triaged by the appropriate front door team:
  • Children and Families Contact Swindon  
  • Adult Services’ Contact Centre

The front door team will consider whether an early help or social worker assessment is required.

If an assessment is required, the responsibility for providing advice is transferred to the assessing team. This is likely to be one of the following teams:

• Early Intervention Youth and Communities
• Assessment and Child Protection
• Disabled Children’s team
• Bridge to Adulthood team

Social care advice will be provided upon completion of the assessment.

If an assessment is not required, the front door team will provide social care advice.

Where Children’s or Adult’s Services are not involved, requests for social care advice are triaged through Children’s and Adult’s front doors.

A member of the front door team will read through information that is available on the child or young adult’s file or provided as part of an EHC needs assessment or annual review.

They will arrange to speak with parents, carers, the young person (aged 16 and above) or their advocate to explore the impact of the child or young adult’s developmental needs, on themselves and others, at home and in the community.

They may ask:

• what does caring for the child or young adult look like on a day-to-day basis?
• how significant is the impact of the child or young adult’s developmental needs on their life and others?
• how well are they coping?
• is the family willing and able to continue caring?
• what would happen if no support is provided?
• what support is likely to be needed to enable the family to continue caring, promote welfare and avoid preventable crisis?

Where care and support is already in place (for example, short breaks or an SGO Support Plan), the front door will ask how well the provision is meeting need and achieving its intended outcome. 

They may speak to other professionals to gather their understanding of the child or young adult’s needs and details of any provision made to meet those needs.

Where appropriate, alongside providing social care advice, the front door may signpost to services that are available in the community to support the child or young adult’s needs.