🧡 What Is Social Services and How Can They Help?
Social Services is a team of friendly professionals at Leeds City Council. Their job is to help keep children and families safe, healthy, and happy. They work with other services like:
- 🏠 Housing
- 🏥 Health
- 👩⚕️ GPs
- 🧑🏫 Teachers
Everything is organised by a social worker.
😟 Worried About Social Services?
Some people are scared that if social services visit, their child will be taken away. It’s normal to feel worried, but this only happens in very serious cases. Most of the time, social services work with families at home to make things better.
They will only take a child into care if:
- There is strong proof the child is in danger
- A court agrees and gives a special order ⚖️
🧑💼 Who Can Ask for Help?
You can:
- Ask for help yourself 🙋♀️
- Or a teacher, doctor, or other professional can ask for you (this is called a referral)
📋 After this, social services will do an assessment to understand what support your family needs.
🤝 What Help Can You Get?
Social services can help with many things, such as:
- 💔 Support during hard times or with a specific problem
- ♿ Helping parents with a disability to care for their child
- 🧒 Supporting children who take care of parents (young carers)
- 🚫 Helping families affected by drug or alcohol use
- 🛟 Helping children or adults stay safe from harm
They try to help early, before problems get worse ⏱️💡
🗣️ Working Together Is Important
It’s very important to listen to the social worker and try to work together. They want to help your children and your family. If they feel you are not listening or not working with them, they might get more concerned. If you don’t agree with something social services say, that’s okay. You can speak to a solicitor (legal advisor) for help.
🌐 Want to Know More?
You can learn more about Children’s Services and how they help families on the Leeds City Council website: Keeping Children Safe – Leeds City Council
