How to get social care help
If you think you have any care and support needs, you can contact us to ask for a free assessment.
The assessment is a discussion between you (or the person you look after) and a trained person either from the council or another organisation that the council works with. We'll talk about your situation and what changes you would like to make in your life to find out how your needs could be met.
Contact us
- call: 03000 41 11 11 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
- call: 03000 41 91 91 (outside of office hours - for emergencies only)
- text relay: 18001 03000 41 11 11
- email: social.services@kent.gov.uk
If you are a professional working with a disabled child or young person, and need to make a new referral, please complete our child referral form.
Who can get help
We can offer help to 0-18 year olds with:
- severe and profound learning disabilities
- physical and sensory disabilities
- a combination of disabilities.
Finding out what care and support you need
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 find out what you are worried about or what changes you would like to make in your life.
After the assessment, we'll agree what kind of care and support you need. This could 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 offer you any support because your assessment shows you're not eligible for our specialist disability services, we will always tell you about other organisations that could help you.
Find out the other ways we support families with disabled children.
There are 2 different ways to request help and support, and it is really important that you use the right one for your circumstances.
Using the wrong referral process may delay any support we can offer.
Refer yourself, a friend, or family member
Finding out what care and support you need
We will do a needs assessment, which means we will talk to you about your situation and find out what changes you would like to make in your life. We can do this either in person or by telephone. You can read our guide to preparing for a needs assessment (PDF, 35.3 KB).
After the assessment, we'll agree what kind of care and support you need, and how much it's likely to cost. If you need services you have to pay for, we'll also do a financial assessment. There are many ways to pay for care and support and we'll talk to you about your options after the assessment.
If we can't help you because your assessment shows you're not eligible for our support, we will always tell you about other organisations that could help you.
Read our full guide to social care for adults (PDF, 701.7 KB)
If you care for someone who needs care and support you can ask for a carer's assessment to find out what help we can offer you.