Child Care Services

If you are worried that a child may be harmed or neglected, you can contact the numbers below:

Duty Social Worker, Tel: 01259 225000 (Monday - Friday 9.00 am - 5.00 pm)
- When you phone, you can make an appointment to see a Duty Social Worker.
Emergency Duty Team, Tel: 01786 470500 (Out of Hours)

Child Care, Social Services has a statutory responsibility for the protection and promotion of welfare and well being of children in need, and their families. It covers

Standards

The service works to standards set down in the

Children's Charter,
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Customer Charter,
Carers' Charter,
Scottish Government's National Standards for
- Foster Care and Family Placement Servicesand
- Community Engagement

The National Care Standards (Scottish Government 2007) recommends that all staff ensure children and young people, parents and colleagues are treated with respect and in a fair and just way.

Key considerations for establishing respect include

valuing diversity, in language, ethnic background, faith and family circumstances,
respecting children's values and social experiences,
being sensitive to and understanding differences, ensuring fairness, equality and opportunity,
having a sound knowledge and understanding of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Standards are also set for the production of information to the Children's Hearing System. You can view the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration's statisticsto see how we perform in comparison to other local authorities.

Service Information

The Child Care Service is committed to promoting the upbringing of children by their own families, whenever this is safe and practical. We believe that children and young people should only be looked after by the Council when it is completely necessary, and for no longer than necessary.

Child Care services are provided through a combination of direct and purchased provision. These services are provided either directly by Social Services staff or in partnership with other agencies such as the Police, Forth Valley NHS, Education or the Voluntary/Third Sector.

We monitor our performance and work to a Child Care Service plan, and Social Services Business Plan. See our Social Services Plans web page.

Together with our partner organisations we produce an integrated Children's Services Plan.

Comments/Complaints

If you would like to comment on the services you receive either good or bad that is provided directly by Child Care services or purchased by them from voluntary/third sector organisations.

You can do this by referring to the Social Services Comments and Complaints page and completing our online Comments and Complaints form.

If your issue is to do with a Childrens Hearing you can find out who to contact from the Children's Hearings website.

You can find out information on how to get support to make your voice heard by visiting our Children's Rights page.

Together with our partner organisations we produce an integrated Children's Services Plan and Corporate Parenting Strategy.

If you want to know more about other plans and performance relevant to our service please refer to our Social Services page for details.

Staff

The Child Care Service consists of

Social Workers
Social Work Assistants
Senior Practitioners
Residential Workers
Family Support Workers
Early Years and Family Workers
Administration Support Workers
Substance misuse workers (for children and parents)
Disability specific social work staff
Staff who assist young people and families with offending related behaviour

Supporting children and families in the community

When a child or young person is referred to the service, we will provide appropriate supports/services to assist children/young people and their families to overcome their difficulties.

Social Workers, often in partnership with the police, will undertake a skilled and thorough child centred enquiry/investigation and assessment of risk. A child protection register records those children where a specific child protection action plan is felt to be necessary. The aim of such services/monitoring is to reduce and prevent risk.

Services to look after and support children in the community include

Recruitment, training and support to foster carers and carers offering short breaks to children with a disability,
Arranging counselling, support and placement in relation to adoption,
Post adoption advice/support,
Family support and aftercare services,
Provision of residential accommodation for children,
Services for children with disabilities and their carers including assessment of the child and the carer's needs including assessment for special equipment,
Future Provision Assessments carried out in conjunction with Psychological Services.
Support and assistance is also provided by our Voluntary/Third Sector partners.