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2.1 CDT Eligibility Criteria

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Establishing that a Child is Disabled
  3. Children who are Eligible for a Service from the Children's Disability Team
  4. Children who are not Eligible for a Service
  5. Access to Services


1. Introduction

The Children’s Disability Team works with children aged 0 – 18 years who have a substantial and permanent disability and who are normally resident in the London Borough of Bromley.

For a child to meet the criteria for the Children’s Disability Team it will be necessary to establish that:

  1. He or she is disabled and
  2. The disability is substantial and permanent


2. Establishing that a Child is Disabled

The Children's Disability Team does not assess a child’s specific medical, physical or learning disability.  As a guide an assessment of disability will be accepted from the following professional groups in relation to each disability type:

DISABILITY TYPE PROFESSIONAL
Severe Learning Disability The child will have been educationally assessed as having SLD and have a Statement of Special Educational Needs
Severe Physical Disability Paediatrician
Autistic Spectrum Disorder Psychologist or Psychiatrist
Disability arising out of a serious chronic illness Child Health Professional including General Practitioner, Community Paediatrician or hospital based Paediatric Consultant
Visual Impairment Ophthalmologist or General Practitioner
Hearing Impairment Audiologist or General Practitioner


3. Children who are Eligible for a Service from the Children's Disability Team

1. Severe Learning Disability

The child must have a Statement of Special Educational Needs that specifies severe learning disability.  If the statement is not yet complete it is likely that the relevant children attend Early Year provisions at the Phoenix Centre, are receiving support in pre-school settings,  or known to the Early Support Programme

2. Severe Physical Disability

This applies to children who are unable to walk without aids or assistance.  They will be unable to manage aspects of daily living, such as personal care, due to complex physical disabilities.  (This may also include children who are severely visually impaired.)

3. Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children

Deaf children are an exception in terms of the criteria.  The Specialist Social Worker for Deaf Children in the team will work with those defined as having severe or profound hearing impairment and those with dual sensory loss.

4.a Autistic Spectrum Disorder

The child should have a confirmed diagnosis of ASD and generally also a full Statement of Special Educational Needs.  Their challenging behaviours will have an impact on most aspects of the child’s functioning.  The child will need a high level of supervision to ensure safety.

4.b Asperger Syndrome

The Children's Disability Team accepts referrals of children with a firm diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome where there is no perceived learning disability but where behavioural and possibly mental health issues are impacting on most aspects of the child’s functioning.

5. Chronic / Terminal Illness

Those children with a known health condition that leads to frequent or daily interruptions of normal activities and causes significant interference with their development or learning.

NB: Children with oncology needs are usually provided with social work support via the hospital providing their treatment.


4. Children who are not Eligible for a Service

The following groups of children do not meet the eligibility criteria of the Children's Disability Team.

  1. Children who have a mild or moderate learning disability, where this is the only disability.
  2. Children with ADHD, ADD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder or similar behavioural diagnosis unless this is secondary to a substantial and permanent disability.
  3. Children with mental health difficulties unless this is secondary to a substantial and permanent disability.
  4. Children who are deemed to be ‘at risk’ and in need of investigation under Section 47.  (Children who are the subject of a Child Protection Plan will have an allocated key worker from either of the area teams and social workers from the Children's Disability Team will co-work on cases involving disabled children.)


5. Access to Services

The Children's Disability Team offers a service in line with the groups of need already set out.  Within these groups, professional judgements will be taken to ensure that services are provided to those children and families most in need.  This will ensure that those children assessed as being in high need  will receive a higher level of intervention than those assessed as being of medium and low need.(See E.C.tool)

The team provides a referral and assessment service, family support services and works with Looked After Children.

A multi-agency approach to integrated service provision continues to be developed.

In cases where a child has suffered or is suffering significant harm and has a protection plan in place, and also meets the team’s disability criteria, the key worker responsibility will be held by a social worker within the Safeguarding and Care Planning Team, whilst the social worker within the Children's Disability Team contributes to the Child Protection Plan by co-working.

In situations where the Children's Disability Team is already actively working with a disabled child and is of the opinion the child has suffered significant harm, a referral should be made to the appropriate Referral and Assessment Team (RAT).  The group manager of the RAT will make a decision as to whether the threshold for a Section 47 Investigation has been met

In all situations the provision of services to disabled children will be agreed by a multi-agency Children’s Disability Resource Panel that will agree and review care packages for children to ensure that these are allocated clearly and in line with child’s individual needs.

(See Disability Resource Panel Procedure)

Specific services available may include:

  • Access to residential short break care
  • Access to family based short break care
  • Access to home nursing and palliative care support
  • Access to outreach support
  • Access to other multi-agency panels that consider residential care
  • Access to direct payments
  • Access to carers breaks

In the event of a crisis or emergency situation agencies will be expected to assess and provide short-term service provision until the child’s needs can be looked at in more detail at the Disability Resource Panel or other relevant agency panels.


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