Request social care support for your child or young person

We help 0 to 18 year olds with:

• severe and profound learning disabilities
• physical and sensory disabilities
• a combination of disabilities.

We ask you to follow these steps if you feel that your child or young person may need extra help.

For children without disabilities, contact one of our Early Help services. For young adults over 18, contact adult social services.

1. Request social care support

To find out what care and support you need, contact us by phone or email:

• call: 03000 41 11 11 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
• call: 03000 41 91 91 (outside of office hours - for emergencies only)
• email: social.services@kent.gov.uk
• text relay: 18001 03000 41 11 11.

Let us know what your concerns are, and how you need support from either our Disabled Children's Team or Young People's Team.

Professional referral

If you are a professional working with a disabled child or young person, and you need to make a referral and either the child or young person is either known or not known to us complete our child referral form.

2. We will assess your request

A member of our Disabled Children's or Young People's Team will assess your child's and family's needs. This means we will talk to you about your situation and learn about your worries, and what changes you would like.

After the assessment, we'll agree what kind of care and help you need. This can include:

• services that can offer you or your child support
• direct payments
• help at home
• local support groups so you have people to talk to
• short breaks, including specialised social activities, play schemes and overnight residential short breaks.

If we can't help you because your assessment shows you're not eligible, we will discuss which organisations can.