Working Effectively with Parents and Children's Services
Amendment
In August 2025, this new chapter was added to the Specialist Procedures section.
There are many circumstances when Children’s Services and Adult Social Care need to work effectively together, such as:
- When a parent (or expectant parent) has (or may have) a need for care and support;
- Domestic abuse where the adult victim or perpetrator is a parent (or expectant parent) that has (or may have) a need for care and support;
- When a young person is going through the transition to adult care and support;
- When a young carer is going through the transition to adult care and support;
- When a young person at risk of abuse or neglect is going through the transition to adult care and support (transitional safeguarding).
As set out in Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023, good coordination and inter-agency working is key to meeting the needs of the child and parents. If services fail to coordinate effectively, parents with care and support needs are at risk of falling through the gap between the provision of services for children and the provision of services for adults. Early help should be considered by both Adult and Children’s Services, to prevent future harm to the child and to identify what support the parent may need.
Parents with care and support needs may need help to develop the understanding, resources, skills and experience to meet the needs of the child. This will be particularly necessary if they are experiencing additional difficulties such as domestic abuse, poor physical or mental health, living with a disabled child, social isolation, discrimination, poor housing or poverty.
Neglect through acts of omission may be a concern when working with parents with care and support needs. Ultimately, it is the quality of care experienced by the child which determines whether the parenting capacity can be regarded as safe and appropriate and whether a referral should be made for an assessment by Children's Social Care.
Similarly, people with care and support needs may be vulnerable and considered targets for those who wish to gain access to children for various reasons such as sexual abuse.
Children may be young carers, taking increased responsibility for caring for themselves and at times, for their siblings, parents and other family members. Assessments must consider the implications for the child and the parent as the child develops throughout childhood and if the parent’s condition is likely to deteriorate or fluctuate. Contingency plans need to be in place.
When working with parents with learning disabilities or neurological issues, reasonable adjustments may need to be made to support parents in any assessment process and be reflected in the support offered.
Each assessment and support plan should look at both the strengths and needs of the adult as an individual and as a parent. Independent advocacy should also be offered at the earliest opportunity.
For further information, see:
Many parents who experience mental health problems may not need any support from Children’s Services because their needs are well managed. There may be a good support network around the family which helps to reduce risks. If this is not the case, support and contingency planning may be necessary. A parent’s mental health may not be static and can vary according to several factors. Their capacity to parent safely may also be variable, and therefore, an understanding of the factors which may increase risk is an important part of any child’s and adult’s assessment. There may be additional difficulties which have contributed to the parent’s poor mental health such as substance misuse, trauma or domestic violence which will need to be addressed as part of any assessment.
For further information, see:
RCPSYCH, Parental mental illness: the impact on children and adolescents: for parents and carers.
Not all children in a household where parents who misuse drugs and/or alcohol will experience significant harm, but they can be at greater risk of adverse outcomes. It is, however, important that the implications for the child are properly assessed by both Adult and Children’s Services having full regard to the parent’s ability to maintain consistent and adequate care.
Research for the National Serious Case Reviews for Children’s safeguarding and Domestic Homicide Reviews have identified domestic abuse, parental mental ill health and drug and alcohol misuse as significant factors in families where children have died or been seriously harmed.
For further information, see:
GOV.UK, Guidance: Parents with Alcohol and Drug Problems: Support Resources
GOV.UK, Guidance: Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: Health Needs Assessment
Where a parent appears unable to meet the needs of their child, a referral should be made to Children's Social Care. If in doubt, consult Children’s Services.
If Children’s Services accept a referral, Children's Social Care will undertake a timely, multi-disciplinary assessment using the Assessment Framework. See: Working Together to Safeguard Children.
This assessment may include what support is available and should be agreed with the parents. It may also include specialist assessments to determine whether the parent requires additional support to enable them to care for the child or whether the parent’s condition will, or is likely to, impair the health or development of the child.
It is important that services understand who should take the lead on assessments as both Adults and Children’s Services may have a role. Where there are no welfare concerns but the parent needs assistance with looking after their child due to their care and support needs, Adult Social Care should take the lead on assessment and care planning. This is an eligible care need under the Care Act 2014.
Where parents need support in the medium to long term, Adult Social Care and Children's Social Care will jointly co-ordinate assessment and care planning (as a requirement under the Care Act and Children’s Acts).
Where intervention is required to prevent a child from suffering impairment to their health or development or significant harm, Children's Social Care will lead the assessment and planning with input from Adult Social Care/Health Services where required.
Support needs should be recognised at the earliest opportunity. If possible, identification of needs should start when a pregnancy is confirmed.
It is important to avoid situations where poor standards of parental care, which do not meet the threshold of significant harm to a child, deteriorate due to a lack of support provided to the parent. It is vital to recognise low levels of need, which, if not addressed, are likely to lead to difficulties for parents and undermine children's welfare.
Where a children’s safeguarding concern concludes that there is no actual or likely significant harm, early help or support under the child in need provision (from children’s services) may be an option to prevent future problems arising.
Effective information sharing underpins integrated working and is a vital element of both early intervention and safeguarding and benefits both the child and parent. Consent is useful but the Data Protection Act 2018 does not prevent the sharing of information for the purposes of keeping children and young people safe. The welfare and protection of children must not be compromised due to fear of sharing information.
All agencies must promote the child's welfare, including their protection.
Safeguarding risks and social care needs do not simply disappear when a young person becomes 18. Transition processes between children and adult services are important if a smooth and effective transition is going to be achieved.
Children’s services should involve adult services (and relevant partner agencies) in individual cases where ongoing support or review is needed before the young person is 18 years old. This includes the sharing of information with the consent of the young person. See: Providing Information about a Person or Carer.
Adult services should contribute to those plans by sharing their knowledge of support and services that the young person may be able to access and consider who will need to be involved in ensuring this is effective.
Safeguarding professionals working in Children’s and Adult services share a common aim of protecting young people from harm, but are governed by distinct practice, policy and statutory frameworks. For young people under 18, safeguarding duties are intended to protect all those at risk of harm. Adult safeguarding focuses on people with care and support needs who are unable to protect themselves from abuse or neglect because of those care and support needs.
Young adults can experience a ‘cliff-edge’ due to different thresholds for access to services. Harm and its effects do not abruptly end at 18, and evidence from research and practice suggests that a more fluid approach is needed in order to help young people be safe during this transitional life stage. Transitional Safeguarding uses aspects from both adult and child approaches to offer a more tailored support as a young person moves into adulthood.
For further information, see:
Transition to Adult Care and Support
Local Government Association (LGA): Transitional safeguarding resources
Bridging the Gap: Transitional Safeguarding and the Role of Social Work with Adults
If you identify a young carer when completing a care and support assessment, it is important that the young carer is consulted as part of any Care Act assessment and has the same rights under the Act as any other carer. A young carer service may also be helpful.
If you identify that the young carer has needs, a referral should be made to Children’s Services.
There are also support services available, see:
The Children's Society - advice and support for young carers
Also see:
If a young parent needs support with parenting, then Children’s Services will usually take the lead unless the parent has care and support needs. Please see Section 3, When to Refer to Children’s Services of this chapter for when a referral to Children’s Services is necessary.
For further information, see;
Last Updated: August 11, 2025
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