Social Care Provision
Some children and young people with SEND may have disabilities or other needs which may require support form social care services
Why might you have a social worker and how do referrals work?
Coming Soon
Assessments
Coming Soon
Early Help
What is ‘Early Help’ in Hartlepool?
It is really important to us that you can get help at the time that you and your family need it, when you are trying hard to manage but not knowing what to do, or who to go to.
Some organisations, like schools and health visitors, for example, call support ‘early help’ and this is because this is the support that you and your family may have when your worries or problems first start.
This help is not only when your child is young, but at any point in your child’s life when you all need help. We want, like you, to help your family, before problems or worries get bigger and then harder to manage and where they may become hurt, struggle to learn, feel sad, angry or frightened.
Help can come in different ways and for lots of different reasons. You might need some extra support from someone that you already know or from someone you haven’t met yet, heard of or see much of, like:
- Doctor, midwife, health visitor, school nurse
- Family Support Worker from a Family Hub or a Locality Team.
- Teacher, Youth Worker, CAMHS, Harbour, Nursery, Changing Futures North East or Hartlepool Carers etc
If you have something you feel that you need help with, the best people to speak to are those people that you already know, like your child’s school/teacher or health visitor etc. They may say they can help you themselves, and that’s great, or that they need to talk to someone else who can help, that’s also great. When this happens, they will talk to you about the things that worry you, and what you think might help. They could ask you if it’s ok to talk to others who know you, like a teacher, mental health support worker or health visitor and add this to an Early Help Assessment (EHA, we’ll explain more on that later).
You can ring the Children’s Hub or a Family Hub to ask for help with any of the above. However, if you have already spoken to a professional, please talk to them about starting your Early Help Assessment with you. If you haven’t, please call….
Children’s Hub Telephone:
Civic Centre: – 01429 284284
Family Hubs Telephone:
Rossmere Family Hub – 01429 292444
Hindpool Family Hub – 01429 292444
The Early Help Assessment (EHA) and Family Plan start…what is missing?
The person who is writing your information down on the EHA will talk to you about all the things that are good in your family and all of the things that are not so good that you are worried about. Once you have done this with the worker you and your family will end up with a Family Plan – which means, who is going to do what, when this will happen and that people do what they say they are going to do, including you. Our joint goal will be that things will get better for you all. When the EHA and family plan are agreed, the people who are working with you, might meet with you as a group so that you can all share how things are going.
Team Around the Child Meeting
If the Early Help Assessment and family plan has something in it that the other people are stuck with and can’t do on their own, they will ask you if they can send your EHA to a Locality Team. When this happens, a Family Support Worker may be introduced to you and your family, they will come to your home, see your children in school or home, and work closely with you to help you with your family plan.
When a Family Support Worker is working with you, they will set up meetings where everyone gets together to talk about how things are going or if people needs to try something different, maybe because something isn’t working so well. These meetings happen every 6 weeks until you no longer need a Family Support Worker. At the last meeting, everyone might agree that the meetings will continue, and someone will agree to arrange them in the future, like the teacher or the health visitor.
Locality Teams
There are 2 Locality Teams in Hartlepool that can offer help and advice to you and your family.
We hear you say…What types of things can you help us with?…here goes, pretty much anything, things like…
- Your relationship with your children of all ages.
- Help to manage your money better or help to come to arrangements with people that you might have borrowed money from, even loan sharks!
- Your relationship with your partner or ex-partner, family members or even professionals.
- Ideas about how to put rules and boundaries in place for you and your children that are fair.
- Help you to get the help from the right services that you might not know are there, like help with emotional support or groups that you and your children can go to.
- We talk to other professionals who know you, we meet with them too.
- If your child is running away from home often and ideas to help stop would help.
- Times when your child is struggling with your rules, they might be disruptive in school, try alcohol or drugs and become cheeky or try to hurt you.
- If you are unwell and don’t have many close people that can help you and your family.
- If you have a partner or close family member in prison and don’t know whether to visit or let your children visit.
- Help you to build your confidence with your children and your family.
- Settle into Hartlepool if you are from another town/country.
- Apply to charities for help with furniture and other equipment (if this is available to you).
- You are worried about your child’s development/wellbeing.
- If you have little or no family or friends to support you.
- We also, where you have asked for support yourself, can write the Early Help Assessment with you.
Family Hubs
These are where Family Support Workers, Family Hub Workers, Health Visitors and Community Nursery Nurses are based.
The Family Hubs offer groups, parenting support, health visitor clinics, development reviews when your child is aged 9-12 months and 2-2.5 years old and advice and guidance on things like feeding your baby/child, toilet training, routines, safe sleeping, weaning and breastfeeding.
Groups that are offered for anyone who cares for a child or teenager and are called:
Being A Parent & Talking Teens
Please call Hindpool or Rossmere Family Hub to take part. You do not need to have a Family Support Worker to join us but you will need to let us know how old your child is so that we can involve you in the right group.
We are on Facebook: Hartlepool Family Hubs. Join us.
Children’s Disability Team
The Children with Disability team works with those children and young people aged between 0-18 years of age who have a disability and may require specialist services as a result of their additional needs.
There are two key areas to the function of the team. Firstly, it is to assess the needs of the children, young people and their family and secondly it is to ensure that where needs have been identified, the appropriate services are in place and meeting the needs which have been identified.
This could involve specific pieces of work being carried out with the child/young person or family by the social worker or a family support worker or a more specialist or bespoke service being put in place.
The Social Worker has up to 45 days to complete the CIN assessment which looks carefully at the child’s development needs, the parents’/carers’ specific needs, any parenting issues and the wider family circumstances and environment. They will also gather relevant information from professionals involved with your child.
A support plan is devised following the assessment which includes the services and short breaks that may be appropriate to be provided and how this will meet the child’s/families’ needs. The plan is considered by a panel before the short break is approved.
All plans are reviewed at least 6 monthly to make sure they respond to the needs of a child and family. Examples of a specialist short breaks package may include: day placements/ overnight stays within a residential or foster placement, the provision of a Direct Payment in order to fund specific activities to meet the identified needs of your child such as accessing a specialist group or club or to fund 1:1 support to enable attendance and participation at a specific activity.
Fostering and Adoption
What is fostering?
Fostering is a way of providing family life for children who cannot live with their own parents.
Fostering is often used to provide temporary care while parents receive help to sort out problems, or to help distressed and troubled children and young people through a difficult period in their lives.
Most fostered children remain in contact with their families and eventually return to their own homes. In some cases this cannot happen and the foster carer will help the child or young person prepare for their next move, maybe to move to a permanent foster care placement, or to be adopted, or to begin life as an independent young adult.
There are many reasons why a child or young person may need foster care. These can include:
- Their parents are unable to look after them because of physical or mental health problems.
- A member of the family may have a drug or alcohol related problem that seriously affects the safety and care of the child.
- The child may have been neglected or abused and a decision has been made that it is not safe for the child to stay with the family.
- A young person may be remanded into foster care by the court.
- There are major problems and tensions in the family and regular, brief periods of care for the child or children enable the family to remain together in the long-term.
Families of a disabled child or children may benefit from short breaks, where the child enjoys time in a new environment and the parents have some time to themselves.
For further information in relation to fostering, visit the Hartlepool Borough Council website
Adoption Tees Valley
In Tees Valley, the 5 Council adoption teams of Hartlepool, Darlington, Redcar and Cleveland, Middlesbrough and Stockton, have joined forces to become Adoption Tees Valley. By pooling these teams, we create more opportunities for children to be matched more quickly, and prospective adopters are then available to a larger number of children.
Why choose Adoption Tees Valley?
- We are THE adoption agency for Tees Valley and beyond (within 100 miles).
- We provide a direct match with our adopters and the children of Tees Valley which means we can move more quickly than other agencies.
- We provide outstanding lifelong support including groups, events, training and therapeutic support.
- We have the expertise of 5 local authorities all under one roof and we specialise in adoption only.
- We’re a community and we’ll make you feel at home. We pride ourselves on our friendly, approachable and supportive service.
If you think you could adopt, we’d love to hear from you.
Service Details
Location: Adoption Tees Valley, Oxbridge Avenue, Stockton, TS18 4LE
Phone: 01642 526400
Email: info@adoptionteesvalley.org.uk
Website: Adoption Tees Valley North East – Home
Care Leavers
The local offer is information for care leavers about what support they can receive from services. In Hartlepool, we want to make sure that as a care leaver you feel safe and supported and know how to get the advice and services you need. The support covers a range of areas including accommodation, money, health and wellbeing, housing, leisure, education, training and employment.
The information given in the offer details how a care leaver may be entitled to support which may be statutory (meaning it is provided to all care leavers throughout the country) or information around further support they can receive which is an addition to statutory support.
This is something that Hartlepool offer their care leavers and unique to being a care leaver in or from the town. There are various ways to access the local offer including an app, leaflets, charter and posters.
Search Hartlepool CiCC IAG in your play store.
Short Breaks
What are short breaks?
The Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Duty 2010 places a legal obligation on the Local Authority to provide breaks for carers of disabled children.
A short break is an opportunity for children and young people to spend time away from their parents and carers to take part in enjoyable activities and meet up with friends while being appropriately cared for. It provides a break for parents and carers from their caring responsibilities, using the time to enjoy leisure or learning activities, catch up with tasks to help with the day-to-day running of their home, spend time with other family members or to simply relax and recharge their batteries. A short break could be a couple of hours each week to an overnight stay in a residential setting or with a carer
This might look like:
- Day/Evening/Overnight placements/packages of support in a family home for children and young people with complex needs
- Day/Evening/Overnight placements/packages of support arranged in the homes of carers
- Short term overnight placements lasting anything from one night to several weeks, enabling both the Children and Young Person and their parents or carers to have a break
- Long term placements providing the opportunity for the person receiving support to live as part of the family
- Residential respite
Local Authorities arrange for and commission most of the short break provision for Children or Young People with special educational needs, additional needs and/or disability.
Baysdale provides short break respite care to children and young people with learning disabilities and associated healthcare needs. The service covers Teesside, both North and South of the Tees, and the length of the respite can vary, according to the individual needs of the young person and their carers.
More information can be found at: https://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/info/20015/social_care_and_health/352/short_break_service_statement
Or by contacting Hartlepool Hub on 01429 284284
Short Break Activity Programme
Please visit Hartlepool Families First and Hartlepool Special Needs Support Group for more information.
Short Break Activities
Visit Hartlepool Now for more information
Short Break Service Statement
Coming Soon
Introduction and Background
This information is for families living in Hartlepool who have a disabled child aged 0 – 18 years. It describes the process agreed with the Parent Led Forum, 1 Hart 1 Mind 1 Future to prepare and publish our statement of short break services.
It is important to note that whilst we know that both local and national research demonstrates that short breaks are a priority for families with disabled children they should be delivered as part of a broader package of family support services. All recent research indicates the need for early ‘timely intervention’ so that families should not be kept waiting with no knowledge of what services are available, or how they can access them.
Paragraph 6 of schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 requires local authorities to provide a short break service designed to assist individuals who provide care for disabled children. This duty and the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2010 came into force on 1st April 2011. The regulations require each local authority to produce a Short Break Services Statement so that families know what services are available, the eligibility criteria for these services, and how the range of short breaks is designed to meet the local needs of families with disabled children. Regulations are detailed in Appendix A of the Short Break Services Statement (see link below)
Who prepared this Statement?
A working group was also established to oversee the review of the statement which was circulated for wider consultation before its final sign off in the Local Authorities Children’s Services Committee in June 2017. This group consisted of parents and local authority officers who lead and support the development of short breaks for families of disabled children.
Who is responsible for this Statement?
The Officer responsible for the preparation of the statement is the Short Break and Parent Participation Officer. Overall responsibility for this statement lies with the Director of Child and Adult Services and the Children’s Services Committee for Hartlepool.
How will this Statement be published?
Hartlepool Borough Council’s Short Breaks Statement will be published on the local authority’s website and the Parent Led Forum (1 Hart 1 Mind 1 Future) website and the local offer webpage. Paper copies will be available on request, and will also be made available through the Parent Led Forum, including links to the identified websites. In addition it will be made available in all of our special schools and our additionally resourced bases in mainstream schools and a copy will also be given to the Special Educational Need Coordinators (SENDCOS) in all of Hartlepool’s schools.
Short Break Service Statement.
For more information please contact Hayley Wrigley/ Tracy Richardson on 01429 292444
Money Matters
There is some financial information specific to social care. In addition, further information can be found here
Personal Budgets (under 18)
Coming Soon
Personal Budgets – Adults
A personal budget is an amount of money the local authority will pay towards any social care support for an individual need. The amount of money in the personal budget is decided after a needs assessment, to work out:
- What kind of care and support is needed by the individual
- How much it will cost
- How much the individual can afford themselves
Carers may also be entitled to receive a personal budget after having a carer’s assessment to see what might help make their life easier. A carer’s assessment is free and anyone over the age of 18 can ask for one.
If an individual is eligible for a personal budget they can choose to ask the local authority to either:
- Manage the budget for them
- Pay the money to another organisation such as a care provider
- Pay the money directly to the individual or someone they choose – this is known as a direct payment
- Arrange a combination of the above
For further information on Personal Budgets and Direct Payments, visit NHS England.
Transitions
Once a child reaches age 18 and they are an adult their services would be provided through adult social care link.
Residential care: Home From Home Care: Autism, Epilepsy & Special Needs
Support for Families
There are various support services available specific to social care, details can be found here.
