Assessment of Need

The Council has a duty to assess the needs of children and young people and their parent carer who requests an assessment, or who appears to need support. This is a legal right and is regardless of the level of need.

What is an Assessment of Need

An assessment is usually a discussion between you and a trained person from the Council. This could be a social worker or an assessment worker.

The assessment of need looks in detail at these three areas:

• Child’s needs and development
• Parent/carer’s needs
• Family and environment

The holistic assessment of need gives a clearer picture of any support that may be needed.  Parent carers can also ask to have their own needs assessed if required.

Why would I ask for an assessment of Need

An assessment of need will help you, your family and anyone working with you, to identify:

• what you and/or your child’s needs are; for example own physical health and mental health, family factors (such as a single parent, any relationship difficulties)
• what support you may already have in place;
• what things you and/or your child may still need help and support with (these are called unmet needs);
• what you and/or your child feel will help make a difference for your family; and
• what extra support to organise that may help.