Welcome To Wirral

Social Care

The Children and Young People’s Department provide services for children with complex disabilities which include the:

• Specialist social work and family support services for children with complex disabilities
• Residential short breaks provision for children with complex disabilities
• Occupational Therapy assessments for adaptations and equipment
• Specialist play schemes – for children with complex autism
• Home and community based support via private providers/agencies
• Direct payments – for parents to pay their own personal assistants
• Information about carer services and or parent support groups

 Where there is a need for an assessment parents or professional should initially contact the Central Advice and Duty Team, on Tel 0151 606 2006.

The Central Advice and Duty Team will take basic information from you and pass the information to the appropriate team who will accept the referral.

Children with a complex learning, physical disabilities or sensory impairments or acute medical and health needs will usually be assessed by the Children with Disability team based at Willow Tree Resource Centre. Children with moderate or mild disabilities will be assessed by an Assessment Team.

Under Section 17 (11) of the Children Act 1989, the Department has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. The Department has a responsibility to establish whether a child is in need and providing for an assessment of their needs. Children with a disability are classified by the Act as children in need.

The Carers (Recognition and Services Act) 1995 gives a right to an assessment of their own needs to carers who provide a substantial amount of care on a regular basis. This includes young carers (young people under 18) and parents of disabled children. The Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 also allows for parent carers and disabled young people who have been assessed to receive Direct Payments in lieu of service provision. The Carers Equal Opportunities Act provides a duty to ensure parent carers are made aware of their right to a carer’s assessment.

The Department uses the Framework for Assessment as the tool by which the Social Worker will assess the needs of the child and their family. Where young people have more complex needs a Core assessment will be done to which the young person and the parent/carer of the child will be asked to contribute. The assessment will look at the developmental needs of the child, the capacity of the parent to meet those needs and the family and environmental needs. Social Workers will seek information from other professionals to ensure that different assessments are brought together and planning is co-ordinated. Leaflets are available to explain how an assessment is undertaken.

Once the assessment is complete the Social Worker will draw up a care plan, which sets out the objectives and outcomes to meet the needs; and identifies who will do what in meeting the needs. The needs identified will not solely be met by the Department, and we work closely with health services to provide for the most effective support in relation to services offered and funding arrangements. Services may be arranged on an interim basis whilst the assessment is being done.

With regards to the provision of services we have to ensure that parents and young people are treated fairly, and we have set out the following priorities for services.

• critical – child and family experiencing immediate and major difficulties which may be life threatening/pose significant risks of injury.
• substantial – child and family would experience significant pressures which may unless supported adequately result in need for long term provision.
• moderate – child and family experiencing difficulties which significantly impair their ability to lead an independent life.

Independent advice is available from Wirral Information Resource for Equality and Disability.

Schools

Under the Disability Discrimination Act it is unlawful for schools to discriminate against disabled pupils, either current or prospective, for a reason related to their disability.

The Authority has an Accessibility Strategy which describes how we will help schools become more accessible to children with disabilities and every school has its own Accessibility Plan.

Wirral has eight primary schools and three secondary schools that are additionally resourced to meet the needs of pupils with physical difficulties. One primary and three secondary schools are additionally resourced to meet the needs of pupils with visual needs and one primary school provides specialist support for pupils with hearing needs.

The Special Education Support Service provides a pre-school service through the Pre-School/Portage Service and specialist support for pupils with hearing or visual impairment through the Hearing Support Service and Vision Support Service respectively. The Service also has a Physical and Medical Needs Team.

The Wirral Hospitals’ School and Home Teaching Service provides home tuition and a supportive school base for pupils with medical difficulties who would otherwise be unable to attend school. You can get information about the Hospitals’ School by contacting the school directly Tel: 0151 488 7680.

You can get information about additionally resourced schools from the Special Educational Needs pages.

Parents of disabled pupils who believe that discrimination has taken place may take action through the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). We hope that in the first instance parents will seek advice from the Special Education and Transport Section in the Department Tel: 0151 666 4224 or Wirral SEN Parent Partnership.