Devon County Council

Children and Young People's Services and NHS Devon work together to plan and co-ordinate services for children and young people who have additional needs.

Additional needs means any child or young person with a physical, sensory, communication, behavioural or learning disability, or a long-term or life-limiting condition. This may also include children with emotional health and wellbeing needs where there is an impact on their daily life, including those with more significant mental health problems.

Our work is part of the national programme Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC): Better support for families Aiming High launched in May 2007 and is the national programme to transform services for disabled children.

In Devon, services for children and young people with additional needs and their families are delivered through Integrated Children’s Services (ICS). Integrated Children’s Services has offices in North, South and East Devon. Each area has an area manager and a range of staff from Devon County Council and NHS Devon.

Integrated Children’s Services includes:

• Early Response Service (ERS) Each area has an Early Response Service which uses the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) to assess children’s needs.
• Further Response Service (FRS) The Further Response Service manages the cases of children and young people with more complex additional needs.
• Family Support Service (FSS) This service is usually for children with the most profound needs who have regular short breaks as a key part of their service plan.

Stepping Stones guide to Integrated Children’s Services (136KB - pdf help)

Also on devon.gov.uk

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