Education & growing up · England
Help for a disabled child and their family
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This guide is about children’s social care in England.
You can ask for help for your child and family.
Ask for an assessment
Contact your council’s children’s services team.
Ask for a needs assessment.
This looks at the help your child and family need.
Asking for help does not mean you are a bad parent.
Explain what is difficult and what would help.
Ask about a parent carer assessment too.
This looks at the support you need as a carer.
Explain your family’s needs
Explain the help needed in the day and at night.
Include weekends and school holidays.
Your child’s wishes matter.
Ask for support to understand their views.
Ask for information you can understand.
You can ask someone you trust to help.
Plan practical support
Ask about short breaks and support at home.
Discuss what would work for your child and family.
Tell the assessor about other children in your family.
Explain how everyone is affected.
Decisions, reviews and urgent help
Ask for the assessment and decision in writing.
Ask why any help has been refused.
Agree who will help and when support will start.
Ask about any costs before agreeing to pay.
You can ask for a review or make a complaint.
The links below explain how to get help.
Tell children’s services if essential care cannot wait.
Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger.
Ask for another review when things change.
Start planning adult support before your child turns 18.
What you can do next
Contact has information and letters you can use.
Choose the information for England.
Read about asking for an assessment Web pageFuller informationThis link opens another website.
It may use harder words.
More useful links
- Contact: assessment guidance and template letters Web pageFuller information
Fuller information for families. Use the letters marked England.
- GOV.UK: support for a disabled child Web pageFuller information
An overview of council help, equipment and direct payments.
- Find your council Web pageFuller information
Find children’s services, the Local Offer and short breaks information.
- Ombudsman: children’s social-care complaints Web pageFuller information
Explains the complaints process and when the Ombudsman may help.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Social care for disabled children and support for parent carers
Ask for a child and family assessment, parent carer support and short breaks, and challenge missing help.
Disabled children under 18 and their parent carers · England
Ask children’s services for an assessment
Contact your council’s children’s services or disabled children’s team. Explain that you want an assessment of your child’s social-care needs and the family’s support needs. A disabled child is a “child in need” under the Children Act 1989. Asking for disability support does not itself mean that there is a child-protection concern.
Describe life beyond school
Include washing, dressing, eating, communication, sleep, supervision, relationships, getting out and taking part. Explain the support needed during holidays and at night, as well as school days. An EHC plan is not required before you can ask for social-care help. Education, health and social-care assessments have different purposes and should inform each other.
Ask about a parent carer needs assessment
This route concerns an adult with parental responsibility who provides or intends to provide care for a disabled child. The council must assess where the statutory conditions are met, including a request or an apparent need for support. It must consider the parent’s wellbeing, needs and wishes, and the welfare of the disabled child and other children.
Make sure your own needs are recorded
Explain the effect of caring on health, sleep, work, study, relationships and time with other children. Say what you can sustain and what help you need. Assessments can be combined, but the parent carer’s needs should still be identified. Ask for a written copy. If circumstances change, request a review or reassessment.
Help the child take part
Use the child’s preferred communication, familiar people and suitable surroundings. Ask what the child enjoys, finds difficult and wants changed. Pictures, objects, signing or communication aids may help. Record their own views separately from adults’ interpretations. Ask for accessible information, interpreting or other adjustments for a parent who needs them too.
Prepare useful examples
Keep a short record of the support given, what happens without it and changes across days. Include existing plans and relevant professional information, with permission where needed. You can ask someone you trust to join the discussion. Ask who is leading the assessment, when you will hear back and what help can be arranged sooner.
Explore short breaks and other support
Support may include help at home, activities, holiday schemes, overnight breaks, equipment or support to get out. Check the council’s Local Offer and published short breaks statement. Some activities can be accessed directly; others require assessment. Discuss the child’s enjoyment, communication, safety and gradual introductions, alongside the parent’s need for a break.
Ask how the decision was made
Ask for the needs identified, support agreed, reasons for any refusal and the legal basis used. Some necessary disability services carry a specific duty under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. A list of existing services is not a substitute for considering individual needs. Seek advice if the explanation is unclear.
Agree the practical arrangements
Record who will provide each part of the support, how often, when it will start and who to contact if it fails. Ask about direct payments where appropriate, any lawful charges and the relevant rules before committing to costs. Agree a review date. Tell services if arrangements are unsuitable or agreed support is not being delivered.
If help is refused or delayed
Request written reasons and ask for a review. Contact provides England-specific letters for requesting an assessment and challenging refusal. Ask which council complaints procedure applies; children’s social-care complaints can use a statutory process. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman explains when it can help. Seek prompt specialist advice about urgent legal action where necessary.
Urgent needs and planning for adulthood
Tell children’s services immediately if essential care is missing or the family cannot safely continue; explain what is needed now. Use the council’s emergency out-of-hours service where necessary. Call 999 for immediate danger. Plan the move to adult services before 18 through the relevant transition assessments; children’s and adult assessment rules differ.
Words you could use
“Please assess my child’s social-care needs and my needs as a parent carer. Please record the support we need, the decision, any urgent help and the next steps in writing.”
More useful links
- Contact: assessment guidance and template letters Web pageFuller information
Fuller information for families. Use the letters marked England.
- GOV.UK: support for a disabled child Web pageFuller information
An overview of council help, equipment and direct payments.
- Find your council Web pageFuller information
Find children’s services, the Local Offer and short breaks information.
- Ombudsman: children’s social-care complaints Web pageFuller information
Explains the complaints process and when the Ombudsman may help.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
Where the information comes from
Links checked 1 November 2026.
These links open other websites.
They may use harder words.
- Children Act 1989, section 17 Web page
Children in need, including disabled children, and family support.
- Children Act 1989, section 17ZD Web page
Parent carer assessment conditions, involvement, wellbeing and a written record.
- Children Act 1989, sections 17ZE–17ZF Web page
Combined assessments and related statutory provisions.
- Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, section 2 Web page
Duties concerning specified necessary disability services.
- Department for Education: short breaks Web pageFuller information
Guidance on a range of short breaks and local information.
- GOV.UK: help for a disabled child Web pageFuller information
Examples of social-care support and arranging services.
- NHS: children and young people’s care services Web page
Requesting assessment and working with the family.
- Contact: needs assessments Web pageFuller information
Practical preparation and England-specific request and refusal letters.
- Ombudsman: children’s statutory complaints Web pageFuller information
The scope of the statutory process and how to escalate a complaint.
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