Contacting children's social services
Our Contact and Referral Team is the "front door" to accessing services from our children's services division. We take calls from members of the public as well as partner agencies and organisations.
When you contact us, we will help you to identify whether your request for service or assistance is something that social services can deal with. If it is, then we will provide you with information about how we can help and the steps you will need to go through.
We may be able to resolve the matter there and then, refer you to the appropriate team, or we can put the arrangements in place for you to receive our services at an agreed time/date. If we feel it may be more suitable, we will put you in contact with another approved service provider/agency.
If the situation is more complex, we can arrange for you to visit us at our offices to discuss your concerns.
Examples we can help with can be:
- a young person may be at risk of becoming homeless
- you may have concerns about a child
- parents may be experiencing difficulties managing a child's behaviour
- if a child has a special need or disability
Where necessary, we aim to carry out an assessment of a child's needs in their own home. The Contact and Referral Team will refer the matter to one of our locality teams located across the county borough, in the North, South and Eastern areas.
What to do if you are worried about a child
If you are unsure that a child may be suffering but are worried, or if you are concerned that a child has suffered harm, neglect or abuse, please tell us about it straight away.
In an emergency outside normal office hours, contact our Emergency Duty Team or the Police by dialling 999.