Social care (early years)

Families may be referred by a professional, or refer themselves through the integrated children's services telephone service 0300 456 0108 which includes all referrals for SEND.

They will be asked to provide basic information on this call, including:

• name and address
• the people who are living in the house
• the nature of the child or young person's needs
• any diagnosis the child has 
• other support services they are receiving
• whether the child has a EHCP or ESA
• support networks available to the child

Further information about Early Support Assessment.

If families are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Short Breaks payment, we will ask how this is being used to support the child, as well as what use is being made of community or targeted services. If it is determined that a child has an outstanding need that cannot be met by universal or targeted services, or by what other members of the family or community are able to do to provide support, then a qualified social worker will be assigned to carry out a Single assessment. Ideally this will take place within 5 working days.

The social worker will visit the child at home and talk to them about their life. This is to help us build a fuller picture of the child's needs and how they are being managed. The social worker will then talk to any other professionals already involved in supporting the child, so we can co-ordinate any support with them.

After the initial assessment, a decision is made about whether a child meets our criteria:

• a child or young person and their family whose main need for services arises out of the young person's disabilities or intrinsic condition
• these conditions have a substantial or critical impact on the quality of the child or young person's life and/or their family
• their needs cannot be met by universal or targeted services alone

A family may be directed to more appropriate services or, if necessary, they will be assigned a social worker. The social worker will work with them to develop a plan on how to meet the child or young person's needs. This is called a Child in Need Plan. If a child has a EHCP, this information will be used to inform the Child in Need Plan. How these two plans work together will depend on individual circumstances and how a child's needs are prioritised. If a child has a SEND Lead Worker, their social worker will work closely with them to support the child. The social worker will also capture a carer's needs alongside the child's assessment.

If the social worker decides the child or young person needs a service provided by Wiltshire Council, they will make a referral to the Family Support Panel. This panel meets fortnightly and considers all recommendations for disabled children across the county. A direct payment could be offered at this stage. The social worker will set up the support agreed and will make sure that the family remain informed.

Dynamic support registers (DSRs) and Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews (C(E)TRs) are essential elements of the pathway providing people with a learning disability and autistic people with appropriate support and care at the right time - so that they can lead the lives they want to and meet their ambitions and aspirations; and can stay safely and healthily in the community or return to this as soon as possible.

The purpose of the Dynamic Support Register (DSR) is to identify people who with appropriate, proactive intervention and support can be prevented from unnecessary or inappropriate admission to mental health or specialist hospitals.

The DSR process enables an opportunity for communication where a person's support needs can be reviewed, and issues escalated where appropriate.

To find out more visit:

Dynamic Support Register

Social worker responsibilities include safeguarding, looked after children and those with complex needs where a risk to wellbeing exists. When working with young people with SEND, a social worker's role is primarily to make sure that child or young person can remain with their families with minimum intervention. It also involves overseeing the support they receive and working with them to build independence and resilience.

Where our family support panel decide to provide a Wiltshire Council service, a social worker will remain involved. They will review the package of support every 6 months to make sure it is meeting the child or young person's needs and achieving the outcomes the family are looking for.

When a service is no longer needed the social worker's involvement will end. At this point our team will make sure a family has access to the universal and targeted sources of support that they need.

Will social workers use EHCPs?

Social workers need to work across lots of areas of need and co-ordinate their support with multiple agencies. This means they have specific forms of assessment that need to be followed. They will still pay close attention to the kind of information in a EHCP. At the moment social workers will be most likely to use a EHCP to support a young person during transition.

If a child or young person meets our assessment criteria, a package of support may be offered through partner agencies or as a direct payment, including:

• support at home (personal care, getting up and ready for the day, support during a time of crisis)
• personal care (for individuals with substantial moving and handling needs)
• day care (through Family Link Care, nursery care or child minders)
• overnight care (through Family Link or Canon's House (opens new window))
• NHS: Carers' breaks and respite care (opens new window)

If you already have a social worker they should assess and discuss with you the appropriate support. If you feel you need support and would like have your needs assessed you can contact Wiltshire MASH via the phone on 0300 456 0108 or on email at mash@wiltshire.gov.uk (opens new window).

You can visit the following page for further support information:

Carer support

A direct payment is a way of paying for a personal budget. A personal budget is the amount that their support plan comes to. This option is available for children and young people with a disability who have an assessed need. How this is used is up to the child or young person and their families. Read more on Using direct payment.

Some families do not wish to receive a direct payment. In these circumstances a direct service may be something families wish to explore further. A direct service is where the council pays an agency directly to provide support in line with assessed need. A completed support plan is sent to all accredited providers within Wiltshire and they will tender for agreement to provide the support.

Personal Budget

A personal budget is the money Wiltshire Council allocates to an individual to meet their assessed support needs.

An outcome based assessment will be carried out to establish an approximate figure for how much the council would need to spend to meet an individual's needs.

A personal social care budget is the money that can be made available if a child or young person is assessed as needing additional support at home or in their community. This assessment is carried out by a social care team.

The Community Connecting team will assist you to find our more about support available in your local community. Read more on Community Connecting.

Our Early Support Hub aims to build effective support within our communities for children and families where there is not a safeguarding risk to ensure that children and families receive the right support at the right time for them. We have strong multi agency partnerships with Police, health, education, domestic abuse services, substance misuse services and child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) who are co-located within the Front Door services. The ESH also works with several virtual partners including probation, army welfare service and adult mental health.

Our Early Support Hub also has lead roles for young people, midwifery, early years, domestic abuse and education liaison who sit within the early support hub who can offer advice and guidance to professionals and families.

Access to the service and more information can be found by visiting:

EHC assessments

If a family we are working with moves out of Wiltshire, we can refer them directly to their new authority and share the results of the assessment and plan developed in Wiltshire.

When a family moves into Wiltshire, we will generally request information from their previous authority and this will be used to inform our own assessment, once the family has arrived in Wiltshire. If we have enough notice, our team are able to plan for their support before they arrive.

For more information on moving in, out and admissions visit:

Moving in or out of Wiltshire with an EHCP