For those children or young people who meet the Children with Disabilities Team criteria, the Front Door will request for the assessment of need to be completed by this team.
Members of the Children with Disabilities Team work with an extensive range of specialist partners and a child’s personal network to understand the child’s needs and the support required to meet these needs. We will talk to the child and their family about their situation and find out what they are worried about or what changes they would like to make in their life.
After the assessment, we'll agree what kind of care and support a child and their family needs. This could include:
- services that can offer you or your child support
- parenting programmes
- local support groups so you have people to talk to
- connecting with carer services and Parent Carer Forums
- The Local Offer
- Universal short break activities, targeted service activities, specialist short breaks, and staycation foster schemes.
- Direct Payments.
If we can't offer any support because the assessment shows a child is not eligible for our specialist disability services, we will tell families about other organisations that could help.
We promote and maximise opportunities for young people to be as independent as possible and to be part of local communities. This is achieved via a range of appropriate pathways that support individuals to have choice, control and to achieve their individual aspirations. Our goal is to promote independence and choice for children with disabilities.
Request an Assessment
Dudley Children’s Front Door is a multi-agency team of staff providing a single point of contact for professionals and members of the public requesting support or raising concerns about a child. Our Front Door Advisors and Social Workers use restorative principles to understand concerns and explore what help has already been provided to children and families. Understanding the experiences of parents and carers helps us to understand which services will help to meet their needs and by working closely with our partners across Dudley, we strive to ensure that children and families receive the right kind of help at the right time.
Understanding an individual’s needs is the first step to getting the right decision about the care and support a child and their family may need.
The Front Door will determine the most appropriate pathway for assessment that the child or young person needs. Those needs can be identified by a Social Work Assessment or an Early Help Assessment. The presenting need, known history of need and any existing or historical assessment will help inform the appropriate pathway for assessment at the point of contact/request.
Children with Disabilities Service Criteria
Wherever possible all children and young people, with or without disabilities, should be supported to have their individual needs met by their family and by universal (available to everyone) and targeted services which are available in their local community.
Where the young person is 14 years or older, where consent is given for a referral to Preparing for Adulthood (PFA), Childrens and Adults Social Services will work together to support the young person on their transition from children’s to adult services.