The care needs of children under the age of 18, or of those over 18 who are
leaving care, may be the responsibility of Social Services under the Children
Act 1989. The Children Act provides for a range of services and support to be
made available to the children and their families.
Community Care services are also available to children. In some cases, the
services required are so specialist that Social Services are unable or unwilling
to provide them because they should really be provided by the National Health
Service. For example, even where an assessment shows that all of a child’s
needs are for personal care which may be provided by Social Services, some
Social Services staff are unwilling to take on caring duties which they may feel
should be taken on by trained health care staff. In such a case, the carers or
parents of the child should ask for a Community Care assessment, which would
need to involve health services staff. It might be that provision of care
services is actually the responsibility of the National Health Service.
Parents who are the Carers of disabled and sick children are also entitled to
services, both in their own right as carers and also on behalf of the children.
They can receive direct payments to pay for services to be provided to the
child.