Children’s social care services

Children and families can find information and advice about our social care services in Sheffield.

Our services include:

• adoption 
• disabilities 
• residential care (looked after children)
• fostering
• family support
• children’s social work
• specialist Health
• Youth Offending
• Community Youth Teams

Our priorities:

• children needing help to maintain their health or development
• children with disabilities
• children who are in need of protection
• children living away from home (fostered, adopted or in residential care)

We provide practical advice and information that addresses the different needs of families. Sometimes families can experience problems that are complex, serious or require detailed assessment in order plan the services that are needed.

When a family is in crisis, our support service will help to:

• keep families together, preventing children from coming into care
• give practical advice and help
• call on other professionals to help such as health workers or psychologists
• keep children safe from harm

We can also provide signposts to other organisations that could help such as housing, the health service or voluntary/charity organisations.

Organisations will also contact social services to ask for help with a child, young person or family that may be experiencing problems.

Difficulties may arise from a crisis or complex needs of a child or family, such as disability, health or development.

When we become aware of families in these situations, we will involve the family and other agencies in order to understand the needs of the child and family. An assessment is made in order to decide which services are needed.

Reporting a concern to Children’s Social Care

To report a new concern when you feel  that a child is suffering or at risk of suffering harm please contact the Sheffield Safeguarding Hub. 

If the child/family already has an allocated social worker please contact the Social Worker in the North, East or West area social care team.

Interpreters and translations in social care

If English is not your first language and you need support when contacting us, please let one of our staff know.

We provide qualified interpreters who provide face to face and telephone interpretation in Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Somali and Urdu and other languages spoken in Sheffield.

We also provide support to communicate using British Sign Language.