Children in care council
Helping children and young people in care to have a better experience
Children in Need
Most children in Middlesbrough will grow up within their own families and have their needs met by their families and friends and from services within the community. However some children will have additional needs at some stage during their childhood and will need extra help. We refer to these children as 'children in need'. This section of the website gives a summary of how we help children in need and their families, and how to contact us if you need this type of help.
What do you mean by 'additional needs'?
Examples of additional needs could include:
- Special educational needs
- Disabilities
- Poor nutrition
- Poor school attendance or exclusion
- Ill-health
- Anti-social or disruptive behaviour
- Lack of parental support or boundaries
- Being a victim of bullying
- Housing difficulties
- Pregnancy/parenthood
What can the Children, Families & Learning department do to help?
Whether you come directly to us for help, or someone else asks us to help you, we will always;
- try to find out from you what the problems are;
- look at ways of helping you cope with the problems;
- work with the whole family to plan solutions.
It might sometimes be necessary for us to intervene if a child is at risk - however we will always try to work with you first, and always keep you informed of why actions are being taken. Help might include:
- Social work support and advice
- Family centres
- Parenting groups
- Community activities
- Home care
- Respite care
What will happen if I contact you?
Your first contact will be with an Access Officer who will take some details from you and give you advice about which service will be able to help you. If you have not been in contact with us before and the problems are at an early stage, we may refer you to another agency in Middlesbrough or we may arrange for an assessment to be carried out using the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) and presented to a Locality Panel. For details of what is involved in this process, please look at the CAF webpages using the link given in the External Links section.
If the problems are more complex, then your details will be passed on to one of our Social Work Locality Teams who are based in the north, south, east and west of Middlesbrough. A social worker from the team covering your area will be in touch and will carry out an initial assessment of the child's needs. The next step will depend on the outcome of this assessment and we will keep you informed at each stage.
Do you provide help to children with disabilities?
Yes, we have a specialist team whose aim is to support children and young people with disabilities in their own homes wherever possible. We also provide help and support for parents or other relatives who care for children and young people. We aim to provide services in a flexible way to meet individual needs. In order to receive services from this team, you need to contact us and your details will be passed to this team if appropriate.
The next issue of Disability Matters, the newsletter for children and young people with Disabilities and their families in Middlesbrough is now available, to view the newsletter click 
here [1Mb].
How do I get in touch?
Our contact details are given below. You can get in touch about your own child or about the child of a relative, friend or neighbour if you are worried about them. For details of what to do if you think a child is being harmed or is at risk of abuse or neglect go to the .
Contact details
Children Families and Learning Department
PO Box 69
Vancouver House
Gurney Street
Middlesbrough
TS1 1EL
Tel: 01642 - 726004
Useful links
Child protection - to find out more about reporting abuse visit the Reporting abuse section of this website.
The Common Assessment Framework is for parents, carers, children and young people who have additional needs