Help and support for families in
crisis.
The Children's Services Team Service offers help and
support at an early stage to families who are experiencing
difficulties. We offer a range of services to families in the City
which may include practical help, counselling, support, family
therapy, day care and where appropriate financial help.
Parentline
Plus is a UK registered charity which offers support to anyone
parenting a child – the child's parents, stepparents, grand parents
and foster parents. Parentline Plus runs a freephone helpline,
courses for parents, develops innovative projects and provides a
range of information.
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Child
protection
- The child protection scheme takes measures to safeguard
vulnerable children and young people at risk or suffering from
physical, emotional or sexual abuse. This involves investigating
reports of suspected abuse and where appropriate applying for a
Child Assessment Order, Care Order, Supervision Order or Emergency
Protection Order.
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Common
assessment framework
- The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) for Children and Young
People is a key part of the strategy to shift the focus from
dealing with the consequences of difficulties in children's lives
to preventing things from going wrong in the first place. It is a
nationally standardised approach to conducting an assessment of the
needs of a child or young person and deciding how those needs
should be met.
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Out
of hours social services support
- Social Services will have an 'out of hours' team who will deal
with emergencies (child protection issues, homelessness, mental
health assessment etc.) which occur outside normal working hours.
Details of how to contact the out of hours team should be
published.
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Safeguarding
children and family support
- The Secretary of State for Education and Skills, through the
Safeguarding Children and Supporting Families Grants Scheme
(section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 as
amended), has power to make grants to voluntary organisations in
England whose activities support the DfES's policy priorities for
children's social care. Grants may be paid for up to three years.
LAs do not administer these grants, but may choose to provide
information on them via their website. In Scotland similar grants
may be provided under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act
1978.
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Support
groups for children, young people and families
- Information and advice about organisations in the local area
who may be able to provide support to children and their
families.