How to get an assessment for your child from child disability social care (Wales)
Many parents know long before any service becomes involved that their child’s disability is affecting daily life. What is often unclear is how to access child disability social care, what triggers an assessment, what support it can and cannot provide, and how long things are supposed to take.
This guide explains how the system works in Wales, who can ask for an assessment, what ages are covered, how adaptations and support are arranged, and what happens as children approach adulthood.
The aim is clarity. Clear information early can prevent crisis later.
What is child disability social care?
Child disability social care sits within your local authority’s children’s services. Its role is to assess whether a disabled child and their family need care and support under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014.
It does not diagnose conditions and it does not replace education provision. Social care focuses on how disability impacts everyday life, family wellbeing, safety, and the sustainability of care.
Support may include:
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short breaks or respite
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practical help in the home
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direct payments or a personal budget
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family support services
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planning for the transition to adulthood
Who can ask for an assessment?
In Wales, any of the following can request a child disability assessment:
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a parent or carer
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a young person themselves, where appropriate
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another professional already involved
You do not need a diagnosis first.
You do not need school permission.
You do not need to wait until things fall apart.
If disability is affecting your child’s wellbeing or your family’s ability to cope, you are entitled to ask.
How to request an assessment
Contact your local authority children’s services and ask for:
a care and support assessment for a disabled child under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act.
You can do this by phone, online form, or email. If writing, keep it factual and focus on impact, not labels.
Helpful examples include:
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constant supervision needed for safety
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inability to leave the house safely
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severe sleep disruption affecting the family
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distress at school spilling into home life
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significant impact on siblings
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parental exhaustion affecting wellbeing
This is not the moment to minimise or put on a brave face.
What happens next?
The local authority may:
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carry out initial screening
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ask follow-up questions
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request reports
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speak to school or health professionals
If needs appear significant, this should move to a full assessment.
A full assessment usually involves:
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discussing daily routines
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understanding what is hard and why
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identifying what support is already in place
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exploring what would reduce risk or pressure
Outcomes may include:
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no further action with signposting
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short-term support
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ongoing services
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direct payments or a personal budget
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transition planning
Timescales: what parents should realistically expect
Waiting is often the hardest part.
In Wales, there are no fixed statutory deadlines for child disability social care assessments. The law requires local authorities to act promptly, proportionately, and within a reasonable timescale, based on the level of need and risk.
This flexibility exists so that urgent situations can be addressed quickly and more complex situations can be assessed properly.
In practice, many local authorities work to internal benchmarks such as:
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initial screening within a few weeks
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full assessment completed over several further weeks once accepted
These are practice expectations, not legal guarantees. What matters is whether the authority is:
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actively progressing the assessment
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communicating with you
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able to explain any delay
Where needs are urgent or family wellbeing is deteriorating, support can be put in place before a full assessment is completed.
Personal budgets and direct payments: managing expectations
A personal budget is not compensation and not an open-ended fund. It exists to meet assessed care and support needs.
It may cover:
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short breaks or respite
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support workers for care needs
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activities linked to wellbeing or safety
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support that helps sustain family life
It will not usually cover:
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education costs
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private therapy replacing NHS provision
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school tuition or tutors
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general household costs
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support unrelated to assessed need
Social care must be able to show that any funded support meets identified need and represents appropriate use of public funds. Clear expectations early help prevent disappointment later.
What social care cannot do (and why this matters)
Being clear about limits can prevent frustration and conflict later on.
Child disability social care cannot:
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diagnose medical or developmental conditions
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replace NHS health services
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fund education, tuition, or school-based provision
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provide private therapy in place of NHS pathways
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resolve disputes with schools
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act as an enforcement body for other services
Social care’s role is to assess care and support needs and consider what support may reduce risk, sustain family life, and promote wellbeing.
When expectations are aligned early, assessments are usually more constructive and less emotionally draining for everyone involved.
_______________________________________________________Home adaptations and specialist equipment
Home adaptations and specialist equipment are arranged through a joint health and social care process.
Children’s Occupational Therapy (OT) assesses the child and identifies what adaptations or equipment are needed and why, based on safety, access, and daily functioning.
Once OT recommendations are made, social care is responsible for funding and arranging the equipment, adaptations, or building work.
Parents can usually self-refer to children’s OT via their local health board website. OT determines need. Social care delivers the practical provision.
Education and transport: where responsibility sits
Transport is a common source of confusion.
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Up to age 16, school transport is usually managed by the local authority education department.
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Post-16, arrangements vary.
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Where a young person has ongoing care needs, adult social care may become responsible for transport as part of a care and support plan.
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College transport is often assessed separately and is not automatic.
As your child approaches 16, it is reasonable to ask:
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who is responsible for transport
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when responsibility changes
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how arrangements will be reviewed during transition
Do not assume provision will roll over without reassessment.
Ages and transition to adult social care
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Child disability social care generally covers birth to 18
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Transition planning should begin around age 14
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Adult social care assessments usually happen between 16 and 18
Adult services:
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focus more on the individual than the family
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apply different eligibility criteria
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often feel more functional and less relational
Early planning helps prevent gaps.
Team Around the Family (TAF): what parents should know
A Team Around the Family meeting is intended to coordinate support and prevent escalation. It is not automatically a child protection process.
However, it is a point where parents should be attentive.
Parents are entitled to:
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know why a TAF is being called
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see the agenda
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understand what concerns are being addressed
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ask what would escalate involvement and what would close it
If the focus remains on support and unmet need, TAF is working as intended. If language shifts towards monitoring or parental blame, it is reasonable to ask for clarity and to keep records.
If things stall: what parents can do
If progress feels slow, follow up calmly. Delays often reflect workload pressures rather than decisions about your child.
You can ask:
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what stage the assessment is at
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what information is outstanding
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who the allocated worker or team is
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when the situation will be reviewed
A brief written follow-up is often helpful. For example:
I am checking in to understand where we are in the assessment process and what the next steps and likely timescales are. Our child’s needs remain significant and we want to ensure matters continue to move forward.
Seeking clarity is not being difficult. It is part of working constructively with services.
Who does what? A quick guide for parents (Wales)
| Area | Who is responsible | What they do | What they do not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Child disability assessment | Children’s social care | Assesses need for care and support | Diagnose conditions or provide education |
| Diagnosis | NHS health services | Assess and diagnose | Decide social care eligibility |
| Occupational Therapy | NHS OT service | Identifies needed adaptations and equipment | Fund or install adaptations |
| Home adaptations and equipment | Social care | Funds and arranges provision following OT advice | Decide clinical need |
| Personal budgets | Social care | Funds assessed care and support needs | Cover education or unrelated costs |
| School transport under 16 | Education department | Assesses and provides transport | Continue provision post-16 |
| Post-16 transport (where care needs exist) | Adult social care | May fund transport as part of care plan | Automatically roll over school transport |
| Transition planning | Children’s and adult social care | Plan transition from around 14 | Guarantee identical support post-18 |
| TAF meetings | Multi-agency | Coordinate support | Act as child protection without clarity |
A note on carers’ assessments
When a child has significant additional needs, parents and carers are often carrying far more than they realise.
Under Welsh law, parents and carers are also entitled to an assessment in their own right if caring is affecting their wellbeing. This is known as a carer’s assessment.
A carer’s assessment looks at:
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physical and mental health
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exhaustion and sleep
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ability to work or study
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impact on relationships
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sustainability of the caring role
You do not need to be at breaking point to ask. In fact, asking earlier can help prevent crisis.
Carer support may overlap with child support, but it can also stand alone. It is reasonable to ask whether a carer’s assessment would be appropriate alongside your child’s assessment.
______________________________________________________Final reassurance
Requesting a child disability social care assessment is not a failure and not an accusation. It is about recognising when disability affects family life to the point where early support can prevent crisis later on.
If you feel you are carrying too much, that feeling is usually valid.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Further reading and source guidance (Wales)
The links below are official Welsh Government and NHS guidance for parents who want to understand the legal and policy framework behind child disability social care.
Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (Law Wales hub)
https://law.gov.wales/social-services-and-well-being-wales-act-2014
Further legislation, codes and guidance made under the Act (Law Wales hub)
https://law.gov.wales/social-services-and-well-being-wales-act-2014-further-legislation-codes-and-guidance-made-under-act
Assessing care and support needs of individuals: Code of Practice (Gov.wales page)
https://www.gov.wales/assessing-care-and-support-needs-individuals-code-practice
Part 3 Code of Practice PDF (direct)
https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-05/part-3-code-of-practice-assessing-the-needs-of-individuals.pdf
School transport (Gov.wales topic hub)
https://www.gov.wales/school-transport
Home to school transport risk assessments guidance (PDF)
https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-03/guidance-on-home-to-school-transport-risk-assessments.pdf
Learner travel operational guidance 2025: consultation (Gov.wales)
https://www.gov.wales/learner-travel-operational-guidance-2025
National multi-agency practice framework for children’s services (Gov.wales HTML)
https://www.gov.wales/national-multi-agency-practice-framework-childrens-services-html
Families First: guidance for local authorities (PDF)
https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2019-07/families-first-guidance-for-local-authorities_0.pdf
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Learn Without Limits CIC provides general information and guidance only. We do not provide legal or medical advice. Families should seek advice from appropriate qualified professionals where needed
