Social care (adulthood)

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.

If you have an EHCP or a My Support Plan you will be able to request a Care Act Assessment, your allocated worker will be able to make a referral through the transitions meeting to request this. Alternatively, you can phone Advice and Contact on 0300 4560111 and make the request yourself

If you have received support from Wiltshire Council via the Children and Young People's Disability Team (known as CYPDT) this may continue until you are 25 years old or until you are ready to transfer to adult social care

Between the ages of 18 and 25, your social worker will continue to help support you to prepare for adult life and when you are ready, and if your support is going to move from Children's services to adult services you will be transferred by going through the transitions meeting.

At age 18, if you are not eligible for support from adult social care, you will be supported to find alternative services. You will then close to children's social care without a transfer to adult social care.

In the future, if you feel that you do need support from adult social care you can make a referral through the Advice and Contact service on 0300 4560111 and request a Care Act Assessment.

For more information check back on the previous years sections for helpful link reminders or visit: 

Advice and support

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 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 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 an EHCP. At the moment social workers will be most likely to use a EHCP to support a young person during transition.

The Hearing and Vision team provide a range of services to people who are blind, have limited or impaired sight, are deaf or have an acquired hearing loss. They also help people who are deafblind, which is also known as dual sensory impairment (a person who has a significant combination of hearing and sight loss). If you are experiencing problems with day-to-day living such as using a telephone, preparing meals or being active in the community, the Hearing and Vision team can help.

Hearing and Vision Team

The Hearing and Vision Team work closely with Children Services. Any person who is transitioning over to adult services with a hearing loss or vision impairment is entitled to an assessment if ongoing needs. Support is then given to help achieve those needs and case closed when completed. Once in the Adult system new referrals can be raised should needs change at any point in the future.

Further information can be found on the adult care website, visit:

Help for people with hearing and vision impairment

Hearing and Vision Team leaflet 2022 (PDF) [277KB] (opens new window)

Respite care means taking a break from caring, while the person you care for is looked after by someone else. It lets you take time out to look after yourself and helps stop you becoming exhausted and run down.

There are three respite services within the council, which young adults with a diagnosed learning disability can choose to access. The respite services are in Devizes, Chippenham and Salisbury. The number of nights offered to a young person is based on need, so varies from person to person. If a young people chooses not to access one of the respite services, they can request a direct payment instead. This option is available for young people with a disability who have an assessed need.

If a 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 or child minders)
• Overnight care (through Family Link or Canon's House)
• Carer breaks and respite care

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.

You can visit the following page for further support information:

Carer support

This service supports children and young people with a disability/multiple disabilities. They provide assessment for specialist services and overnight short breaks. 

To contact the team use the 'Integrated Front Door' phone number 0300 456 0108 or email mash@wiltshire.gov.uk.

For more information visit:

Disabled Children's Social Work Team (CYPDT)

The Learning Disability and Autism Service (LDAS) is an adult social care service.

They work with adults (aged 18 and over) who have a diagnosed learning disability and/or an Autistic Spectrum Condition who have social care needs.

Their work includes: Care Act Assessments, Information, Advice, Signposting and Support Planning.

For more information visit their page: Learning Disability and Autism Service

The council provides day opportunities across Wiltshire for young adults who have a learning disability. All day opportunities provide a variety of activities, including hydro, ice skating, swimming and bowling. These services are in Devizes Chippenham Trowbridge and Salisbury.

For young people where day opportunities are not appropriate, or are not a preferred choice, a direct payment can be requested instead. 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 young people with a disability who have an assessed need. How this is used is up to the young person and their families but can be used for private day opportunities or a PA.

Some young people and their 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.

Community Connecting and WEST are both still available as a young adult.

The Community Connecting team helps you find out more about services and facilities within your local community.

The Wiltshire Employment Support Team (WEST) assists young people in finding and sustaining varying levels of paid employment with local employers.

Wiltshire Youth Justice Service works with children and young people, their families, victims and the wider community to prevent and reduce offending. The service is made up of multi-disciplined professionals who work together to provide support for young people involved in, or at risk of contact with the criminal justice system. Wiltshire YJS includes social workers, youth justice officers, young people's support workers, a speech and language therapist, specialist school nurse, police, parenting worker, substance misuse worker and education workers. We work closely with other services such as education to support holistic planning with a child first, offender second approach. 

For more information visit:

Youth Justice Service

Most of the young people our team work with have long-term needs that are identified at an early age. These young people are likely to require support for the rest of their lives. The Children and Young Peoples Disabilities Team (CYPDT) social workers continue to work with young people who have been eligible for services as children, until they have achieved stability in their lives.

At this point, individuals will be transferred to our adult Learning disabilities and Autism services( LDAS). They may also be transferred to Adult Care. We expect this to happen when individuals are aged between 18 and 25. This is done on a case by case basis, depending on the circumstance of the individual. During this time, we communicate closely with other health and care professionals, as well as individuals and their families, to keep them informed of relevant developments and processes.

Social workers and SEND lead workers will continue to work with young people and families in a person-centred way using the EHCP. Parents and young people will contribute to and have a copy of the EHCP.

More information about Adult Social Care in Wiltshire.

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:

County movers and admissions information