Torbay Children’s Services have a specialist team comprising social workers and community care workers, to support children with disabilities up to the age of eighteen and their families across a range of thresholds, including Targeted Help, Child in Need and Child Protection planning and Cared For planning. They work in close connection with the Placements, Day Care Services and Short Break team, who oversee the management and support of holiday play schemes, Saturday clubs and enabling services as well as Direct Payments.

• Children who are under the age of 18 and who have a disability will usually have their needs assessed under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.
• If the child is approaching adulthood and it appears to social workers that the child is likely to have needs for care and support after becoming 18, a transition assessment may be undertaken under section 58 Care Act 2014.
• An adult will be assessed under section 9 Care Act 2014.

Needs assessments will be used to gather information to determine needs, whether the threshold for the CWD Team is met and to identify the level and type of resource provision needed. The definition of disabled children and young people is set out in the Equality Act 2010: that is a child and young person who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on normal day-to-day activities.

The Children with Disabilities Team will usually only provide services to children and young people who have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial long term adverse effect at a severe or profound level as further explained within the Torbay Children with Disabilities Eligibility Criteria. 

All referrals are made via Torbay’s Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) referral system.