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Social services support for children and families
Bromley Council's Children and Young People Department provides help and advice to families with children aged under 18 who are residents of the borough and who are having problems within their family life.
Eligibility
As required by the Children Act 1989, priority for the provision of social services support is given to children who are assessed as being ‘in need’ and their families. To ensure that services go to those in the greatest need, the Council has eligibility criteria for those who are seeking help from social services. The criteria are set at three different levels of need:
Children’s needs can be met through the provision of universal services, available to all children living in Bromley, such as access to a school or health visitor.
In these situations a social worker would only provide advice and information and direct the service user to an appropriate agency.
- Level 2 - Medium Priority
Children and families who have specific problems affecting their well-being and whose needs are not adequately met by general services.
In these situations, a social worker would visit and complete an initial assessment, usually involving all family members, and would seek information and views from other involved agencies. This may lead to further short-term contact with a social worker or the provision of short-term practical help.
Children who will be suffering likely or actual significant harm or who may need to be ‘looked after’ by social services.
In these situations, the child and family are likely to have intense, complex and urgent needs that require a high level of social work involvement. A very detailed ‘core’ assessment would be carried out by the social worker on each child in the family. This would usually lead to the provision of a range of support services. In extreme situations, social services may place the child on the Child Protection Register or take legal action.
If you have a child who has been assessed as being ‘in need’ this in itself does not entitle you to specific services. These will depend on the results of the initial or core assessment, the availability of help within the family network and the eligibility criteria outlined above.
Many children can be ‘in need’ at different periods of their lives and their needs may be long term or for a short period only. Families with children who are not assessed as being ‘in need’ are unlikely to receive help from social services.
Details
If the duty social worker thinks that social services may be able to help you, he/she will need to discuss with you the problems you are facing and initially try to resolve them by providing appropriate advice and information.
If a family requires more than advice and information and agrees to have an initial assessment, then this should be carried out within seven working days of the referral to social services. The social worker would normally try to visit the home, and where appropriate, involve the children in the interview. Contact with other involved agencies such as the school or health visitor may be part of this assessment.
Where family difficulties are complex, intense or long-standing, then a more detailed assessment would also be completed. This is called a ‘core’ assessment and would involve a number of interviews with family members and in-depth discussions about family life and the children’s needs. The social worker should complete this work within 35 working days. He or she will fully share the results of this assessment with the family.
Costs
If a child or young person is ‘looked after’ by social services a financial assessment would be completed by the social worker. This may mean the family has to pay some of care costs.
Next Steps
Contact your local social services office at either Penge or Orpington and ask to speak to the duty social worker in the Children and Families Referral and Assessment Team.
or
For problems relating to the following: -
- If your child has severe learning or physical disabilities and you require a social work service, please contact the Children’s Disability Social Work Team and ask to speak to the duty social worker.
- For enquiries about day care services, such as childminders, nurseries and pre-schools (playgroups), contact the Bromley Childcare Information Service.
- For general advice about welfare benefits, debt management & housing issues, please contact your local Citizens Advice Bureaux or other specialist advisory agency.
- If difficulties arise outside of normal office hours, contact Bromley Council’s Emergency Out-of-Hours Service. There is a social worker on duty to provide a service in emergency situations or on behalf of someone else, if they are concerned about the welfare of children. Social services staff have to follow legislation protecting the confidentiality of information about service users and will not normally be allowed to share this without the consent of the individual service user involved in the referral.
Contact Details
Children and Families Referral and Assessment Teams
Monday to Friday : 8.45 to 5.00pm
Children’s Disability Team
If this is your first contact with Social Services OR you are already in receipt of services and your circumstances change OR there is an emergency then your first point of contact will be through the front line contact service (Bromley Social Services) on 020 8461 7777. Minicom: 020 8464 7350. Assistance is available on this number from 8.30 to 5.30pm:Monday to Friday.
Bromley Childcare Information Service
Address: Children's Information Service, Bromley Central Library 3rd Floor, High Street, Bromley BR1 1EX
Telephone: 020 8464 0276
Fax: 020 8464 0664
e-mail: childcare.information@bromley.gov.uk
Bromley Council’s Emergency Out-of-Hours service.
Telephone: 020 8464 4848