Children & Families

Fostering
Making the decision to foster a child is one of the biggest, but one of the most rewarding decisions anyone can make.

Adoption Adoption is one of the most challenging as well as the most rewarding ways of making a difference to a child’s life. Private Fostering Private Fostering is different from public fostering, where a child is accommodated by the local authority, and is usually arranged by the parent and carer.

Looked After Children
Most children who are looked after stay with foster families, carers who have been approved and trained by us to look after children in their own home. For other children staying in a residential children's home is the preferred option.

Children with Disabilities
While many services work with children with disabilities and their families this page gives details of the specialist services provided within Children's services see who do we help below.

Child Protection
This information explains about Child Protection work in Worcestershire.

Assessment in Children's Services
Children's Services provide a range of services for Children in Need and their families. Our publication about the Children and Families work of the Directorate "A Guide to Services", explains these services in more detail.

Youth Offending Service
The Youth Offending Service is a multi-agency partnership formed as a statutory requirement by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Direct Payments
Worcestershire County Council can offer Direct Payments as an alternative to traditional social care services.

Vulnerable Children

Anti Bullying Children’s Services’ Anti-Bullying policy was launched at County Hall in October 2006. Since then, a range of activities and initiatives to support the policy have been put into place. Education Welfare Service The Education Welfare service provides a range of services relating to school attendance and child employment, which currently include consultancy, advice, training and direct intervention through casework. School Uniform Is there an allowance for essential school uniform?

Children in Entertainment
A Child Performance Licence must be obtained for all children, from babies until they cease to be of compulsory school age, from Children's Services in which they live, to take part in a performance

Child Employment
The law requires that every child of compulsory school age who undertakes part time employment must be registered with Children's Services.

Travelling Children
The West Midlands Consortium Education Service for Travelling Children has peripatetic Advisory/Support Teachers and provides welfare and administrative services, as well as teaching aids and materials, for West Midlands schools.

School Attendance
Research shows that children who attend school regularly are likely to be more successful. A pupil who misses a day of school a week misses an equivalent of two whole years in their school life.

Behaviour
The Team operates its behaviour support and its Key Stage 1 /2 and Key Stage 3 PRUs and Key Stage 4 PRUs in three broad areas of the county.

Reintegration & Exclusion Service
To offer advice, guidance and support to all parties (including parents/carers) with an interest in the exclusion and reintegration process.

Positive Handling

The Vulnerable Children’s Service, through the “Team-Teach” Positive Handling Strategies approach provides courses that are specifically designed for a wide range of service settings.

Common Assessment Framework

The Common Assessment will ensure that a child or young person with additional needs only has to tell their story once. The lead professional will be one point of contact and co-ordinate a family support plan. An information sharing protocol will ensure that information is shared appropriately and safely

Integrated Service for Looked After Children

Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire NHS are fully committed to improving the life chances of our Looked After Children.

Other Links

• Early Years & Childcare
• Extended Services
• Common Assessment Framework
• Parents Matter
• Parent Partnership
• Worcestershire Play Partnership