Hi can any one tell me what criteria a child has to meet to get a social worker. My daughter who is 11 has one because she has 4 hours with a weekenders group that is run by social services. A CAF has just been completed for my son and we are waiting for a multi team meeting . The person who did the CAF said he would be allocated a social worker who would come to the meeting but today we were told he cant have one as he does not meet the criteria. He is 13 months and has complex needs. He is registered blind has learning difficulties he cannot roll or sit up yet and we have now been told he will never walk. He has choking fits and is waiting for a feeding tube putting into his bowel via his stomach to be continuously tube fed. Our current home is not suitable for us due to equipment we have now. Any help would be appreciated as we are out of our minds with worry. [/size][size=medium]H

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Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but learning to dance in the rain .....

Oooohhhhh the elusive eligibility criteria, every LA has it own and no one ever seems to fit it to get into Children with Disabilities team (CDW).

Basically it brakes down into three or four categories: Mild, Moderate and Severe ( & profound some LA don’t have this category).

Mild – your getting nothing from a Children with Disability team
Moderate – Your probably getting nothing from a Children with Disability team unless your willing to fight
Severe – you may actually get a service unless you have added health needs
Profound – Your getting a service

My local area brakes down into:

MILD:
Older child – some limitations present but able to function independently
Younger Child – Functioning slightly behind the level of expected age.

MODERATE:
Older child – some aids / or assistance may be required to perform tasks.
Younger Child – Functioning at 2/3 of the level of expected age.

SEVERE:
Older child – unable to perform tasks without the use of aids / or assistance most of the time
Younger Child – Functioning at 1/2 of the level of expected age.

PROFOUND:
Older child completely dependent on carer to perform tasks

If your are lucky to fall into the Severe category you may get a service unless it is due behavioural issues or the condition has a behaviour element to it.

We have recently moved from one LA (where we had a child in need plan (CIN) with 6 hours per week direct payments for respite) to another LA. The case was transferred to our new LA CWD team who promptly closed the case, as we didn’t meet their criteria. I have argued the toss with them but they're not for moving.

The sad thing is I am employed by the as LA social worker / manager who specialises in CIN / Child Protection & Looked After Children. I know the law inside and out and have argued the Children Act, National Assistance Act and Community Care Act and Lord Justice Black’s ruling against LA’s Eligibility Criteria for CWD to receive support / services with their manager to no avail; they have not even offered us another team or to open a CAF.

They think I should contact Aiming Higher as they can offer groups; however they don’t deal with children until they reach the age of 8 years – my son is just 5 years old. But Aiming Higher is going next year anyway. My son's Physio, Neurology Consultant, Pead Consultant, SaLT, Vi teacher, Senco, Psychologist, ASCC nurse and OT are up in arms but as thier services are provided by our old LA they have no say in what the new LA offer

I have been told I cannot make a formal complaint!!! Which is rubbish every LA must have a complaints procedure so I’m in the process of contacting my local MP.

I would advise anyone to go through their MP if they are refused a service.
I know from work - if an MP contacts our Assistant Director I normally get a phone call wanting to know why a service is not being provided?
My service manager then agrees to provide the support that was originally requested and denied.

Hi Debbie,
What area are you in and ill dig up some information for your local area

where i live they dont tend to use mild moderate or severe anymore
them are the old fashioned terms

they go on what the child needs

lol groovy, i definitely wouldnt say i was 'lucky' to have a severely disabled child!

debbie, i really cant see why they would say your son doesnt meet the criteria, with the exception of blindness my son has all the issues you have listed about and we had a social worker from around 18months, (he'd never left hospital before this so it wasnt an issue). it did take a fair bit of fighting though!
as for adaptations, do you have an OT? our OT works for social services and its her who sorts our our adaptations rather than the social worker so maybe this would be the best place to start. also if you are needing respite many communty nursing teams are able to arrange short term daytime respite for a few hours a week, this is what we used while permanent respite was sorted out.
carrie x