Getting a Social Care Assessment for Your Child

You manage the appointments, the medication, the meltdowns, the school, the nights with no sleep. You’ve heard there might be help from social care, but the word “social care” makes you uneasy. You worry that asking will put your family under a microscope.

Here’s the reassurance you need first. In England, your disabled child is presumptively a “child in need” under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, which is a support route, not safeguarding. Asking for help is not the same as being investigated. You can ask your council’s disabled children’s team for an assessment, and you don’t need a diagnosis to do it.

This guide explains who the assessment is for, why your child qualifies, how to request one, how long it should take, and what to do if the council says no. Throughout, “you” means any parent or carer with caring responsibility. Everything here applies to England only; Scotland and Wales use different children’s social care law.

What is a section 17 assessment and who is it for?

A section 17 assessment, often called a child and family assessment or a child in need assessment, is the social care assessment that opens the door to support for a disabled child and their family. It looks at your child’s needs, your family’s situation, and what services would help.

It sits inside the Local Authority (LA), specifically the part of children’s services usually called the disabled children’s team or children with disabilities team. The starting point is section 17(1) of the Children Act 1989, which places a general duty on every LA to “safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need” and to support their families.

The assessment is for any disabled child who lives in England, from birth up to 18. There’s no minimum age and no requirement that the child has a formal diagnosis. If your child is disabled and caring for them affects your family, this is your route in.

One point on the language. “Child in need” is a legal status, not a judgement about your parenting. It doesn’t mean your child is at risk or that the council thinks you’re failing. It’s simply the legal gateway that triggers the council’s duty to assess and consider support.

Is a child in need assessment the same as safeguarding?

No. A child in need assessment under section 17 is a support route, and it is a completely different process from a safeguarding investigation. People mix the two up because both sit in children’s services, but they’re triggered by different things and they do different jobs.

Safeguarding investigations run under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. A section 47 enquiry only starts where the council has “reasonable cause to suspect” that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. That is about protecting a child. A section 17 assessment is about providing services to a child in need and their family. Asking for support does not start a section 47 enquiry.

This distinction matters because fear of being judged stops so many families from asking. You are not inviting scrutiny by requesting help. You are using a legal right designed to give your family practical support.

If an assessor ever treats your support request as a safeguarding matter, say so plainly and ask them to confirm in writing that this is a child in need assessment under section 17. Keeping the distinction clear keeps the focus where it belongs, on the help your family needs.

Why is your disabled child a child in need?

Your disabled child is a child in need because the law says so directly, without you having to prove anything else. The definition of “child in need” has three limbs, and being disabled is a limb on its own.

Section 17(10) of the Children Act 1989 sets out that a child is in need if (a) they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development without LA services, or (b) their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired without such services, or (c) they are disabled. Limb (c) stands alone. A disabled child meets the definition automatically, so you never have to argue limbs (a) or (b).

The Act then defines disability in section 17(11). The wording is old and uses language no parent would choose today: a child is disabled if they are “blind, deaf or dumb or suffers from mental disorder of any kind or is substantially and permanently handicapped by illness, injury or congenital deformity or such other disability as may be prescribed.” That dated phrasing is wide. “Mental disorder of any kind” is generally understood to include conditions such as autism and learning disability.

Because the law works this way, several common council refusals are simply wrong. You don’t need a finished diagnosis, your child isn’t “too young”, and autism without a learning disability still counts. The council’s duty to disabled children doesn’t stop at assessment, either. Under Schedule 2, paragraph 6 of the Children Act 1989, the LA must provide services designed to minimise the effect of children’s disabilities and to give carers breaks from caring.

When you write to the council, name your child’s disability and reference section 17(11). You aren’t asking the council to decide whether your child is “disabled enough”. You’re pointing to a definition your child already meets.

How do you ask the disabled children’s team for an assessment?

You ask in writing, addressed to your council’s disabled children’s team or children’s services, and you name the legal basis. You don’t need a special form. A clear email or letter is enough to trigger the council’s duty to respond.

Find the right team through your council’s Local Offer or website. Then put your request in writing so there’s a dated record. State that you’re requesting a child in need assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, that your child is disabled within the meaning of section 17(11), and briefly describe the impact on your child and your family. Keep a copy of everything you send.

The more concrete you are about daily life, the stronger your request. Describe what your child needs that a child of the same age without their condition would not, and quantify it where you can: minutes spent on personal care, nights of broken sleep, hours of supervision, trips you can’t take.

• What to ask for - a child in need assessment under section 17 of the Children Act 1989
• Who your child is - their name, age, and disability, referencing section 17(11)
• A typical day - the extra care, supervision and support your child needs
• The impact - on your child, on you, on siblings, on work and sleep
• What would help - short breaks, direct payments, activities, equipment
• A request to confirm - ask them to confirm in writing they are proceeding

If you already have evidence, mention it. A Disability Living Allowance (DLA) award letter, medical or therapy reports, an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), or a school report all help show your child’s needs are real and documented. Flagging that it exists strengthens your request.

It’s also worth asking for a parent carer assessment at the same time. That’s a separate legal right under section 97 of the Children and Families Act 2014, and it looks at the impact of caring on you rather than on your child. The two can run alongside each other. There’s more in our guide to parent carer assessments and your rights.

How long should a social care assessment take?

A child and family assessment should be completed within a maximum of 45 working days from the point of referral. The council should also decide how to respond to your referral within one working day. These are timescales set in the government’s statutory guidance, Working Together to Safeguard Children, not deadlines written into the Children Act itself.

So the clock has two parts. First, the council should decide its response, including whether to assess, within one working day. Then, if an assessment goes ahead, it should be concluded within 45 working days, with a manager reviewing progress part-way through.

1. 1
   Referral received

   The council decides how to respond to your request

   Within 1 working day
2. 2
   Assessment underway

   A social worker looks at your child’s needs and your family’s situation
3. 3
   Manager review

   Progress on the assessment is checked part-way through

   Part-way point
4. 4
   Assessment completed

   The findings are written up and a plan considered

   Maximum 45 working days

If the council agrees services are needed, the usual next step is a child in need plan that sets out what will be provided and when.

In reality, many families wait far longer than 45 working days. If your assessment is dragging on, the delay itself can be challenged, which the next section covers. One useful point to remember: the council can start providing services during an assessment. It doesn’t have to wait until the assessment is finished.

What can a section 17 assessment get for your family?

A section 17 assessment can lead to practical, everyday support, from short breaks and direct payments to help in the home, activities, travel, equipment and adaptations. What’s offered depends on your child’s assessed needs and what’s available locally, but the council’s duties are real and named in law.

The duty to give carers breaks sits in Schedule 2, paragraph 6 of the Children Act 1989, and there’s a specific short breaks duty under the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011. Those regulations also require your council to publish a Short Breaks Services Statement setting out what’s available and who qualifies. Our short breaks and respite guide explains how to access them.

A second important duty comes from section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (CSDPA). Once the council is satisfied that a listed service is necessary, such as practical help in the home, adaptations, holidays, or equipment, it must arrange it. That’s an individually enforceable duty, stronger than the general section 17 duty.

Direct payments are another common outcome. They let you arrange your child’s support yourself with council funding, and for children there’s no financial assessment. If a personal assistant or a particular activity would work better than what the council offers off the shelf, direct payments are the route. Our guide to direct payments for a disabled child walks through how they work.

If your child has an EHCP, social care provision can also appear in the plan. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice is the statutory guidance for the SEND system. It explains that social care provision sits in Sections H1 and H2 of an EHCP. A section 17 assessment is often what populates a blank Section H, so the two work together rather than in separate silos.

What if the council refuses to assess your child?

If the council refuses to assess, push back, because many refusals rest on reasons that aren’t lawful. The council’s duty to disabled children is set in statute, and “no budget” or “not severe enough” are not lawful answers to a clear request.

You’ll often hear refusals like the ones below. None of them is a good reason to turn down a disabled child’s request for an assessment.

One legal nuance shapes what you can enforce. Section 17 is what lawyers call a “target duty”: a general duty to children in need as a group, so on its own it doesn’t give your child an automatic right to a specific named service (confirmed in R (G) v Barnet [2003] UKHL 57). The stronger right comes from CSDPA section 2. Once the council accepts that a listed service is necessary, the duty to provide it is individually enforceable. So the assessment is the gateway, and a CSDPA-necessary service is the part with real teeth.

If you’ve been refused an assessment or services, the first step is the council’s own statutory complaints procedure for children’s social care, which runs through stages with set response times.

If the complaints process doesn’t fix it, you can take the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), normally within 12 months of becoming aware of the problem. For a breach of an absolute duty or a serious unreasonable delay, judicial review may be the right route instead.

One thing on the horizon doesn’t change your rights today. The Law Commission published a final report in September 2025 recommending a single, simpler legal framework for disabled children’s social care. It is a set of recommendations, not law, and it does not change the duties described here.

Getting help

You don’t have to do this alone. Several charities specialise in exactly this situation and can help you request an assessment, challenge a refusal, or simply understand what to expect.

Council for Disabled Children publishes factsheets on disabled children’s social care and a template letter you can adapt if the council refuses to assess.

Contact runs a free helpline (0808 808 3555) and has clear guides on social care assessments for disabled children and what they should cover.

Cerebra offers a problem-solving service and detailed guides on social care law for families of children with brain conditions and complex needs.

IPSEA gives free legal advice on the law where social care and education overlap, including EHCPs and Section H.

Mencap has advice and a helpline for families of children with a learning disability, including support with social care.

How our free tool can help

The free assistant at SEND Parents Help can help you understand whether your child qualifies for a section 17 assessment, draft a clear written request that names the right legislation, and work out what services to ask for based on your situation. If you’ve been refused, it can help you put your challenge into words.

Asking is your right

Asking for a social care assessment is not an admission that you can’t cope. It’s using a right the law gives every disabled child in England. Your child is a child in need under section 17 because they’re disabled, full stop, and the council has a duty to assess and to consider providing support.

Put your request in writing. Name the law. Be specific about daily life. And if you get a refusal that doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t. Challenge it.

Sources and further reading

Legislation and official guidance

• Children Act 1989, section 17 (duty to children in need; definitions of child in need and disability)
• Children Act 1989, section 47 (duty to investigate where there is reasonable cause to suspect significant harm)
• Children Act 1989, Schedule 2 (services for disabled children, including breaks for carers)
• Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, section 2 (individually enforceable welfare services)
• Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011 (short breaks duty and services statement)
• Children and Families Act 2014, section 97 (parent carer’s needs assessments)
• Working Together to Safeguard Children (assessment timescales)
• SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (social care in EHCP Sections H1 and H2)