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Make a referral to Children's Services

If you would like to make a referral into Children's Services, to help us get the right support at the right time, please consider the family's needs and risks so you can direct them to the most appropriate service. To help you decide what the most suitable service is, you may wish to read our threshold document to check their level of needs.

Connecting Families

Our Connecting Families Team supports families (with at least one member of the household being under 18 years old) living in Bath and North East Somerset with multiple needs to make positive change. We work with all family members who are ready to make positive changes by offering support and encouragement. The team will develop new ways of working by co-ordinating local services to work together with all family members to meet their individual needs.

All Connecting Families referrals will be processed by our Early Help Allocation Panel, which will be able to signpost your referral to the appropriate support service.

If you have concerns that do not meet the threshold for a social care intervention, and the primary need is for whole family support or mediation, you can refer to the Connecting Families team.

View a list of these support services, and complete a referral form, using the link below.

Connecting Families referral form

Children's Centre Services

Children's Centre Services offer family and home learning support, employment skills and a variety of groups for families with children aged pre-birth to 5 years (although some services may support children up to 10 years, depending on capacity and funding.)

If you have concerns that do not meet the threshold for a social care intervention, you can refer directly to the Bright Start Children Centre or Action for Children.

Use the link below to request support from our Children's Centre; we will use your form to help us decide what type of support is most appropriate.

Children's centre services - request for support

Compass (preventing youth offending)

Compass is our preventative service that works with young people aged between 8 and 17 years old, who may be at risk of becoming involved in offending behaviour. We work with young people and their families/carers on a voluntary basis.

Support will be tailored to the level of needs and can range from time-limited involvement of 3-months to 12-months plus.

This service is accessed through referrals from those that work with young people and self-referrals from families. Click here to find out more about Compass, or complete a referral form using the link below.

Compass referral form

Other services

We have commissioned these services to support the work that we as a council provide directly. You can refer to them by clicking on the links.

Reporting safeguarding concerns about a child or young person

We commissioned the above services to support the work that we as a council provide directly. In addition to the above services, you can refer directly to us using the link below.

If you have concerns about a child or young person who is in need of protection or at risk of significant harm, or you wish to make a referral to the Disabled Children Team (DCT), you can use the below link. You can also use this link to inform us of a Private Fostering Arrangement. 

If you are a member of the public or a designated safeguarding lead and would rather speak to someone, you can phone either 01225 396312 or 01225 396313.

Report a concern about a child or young person

Each of the above forms will require different information, but for all three you should ensure you have the following details ready before you start:

  • The name, address, and date of birth (or estimated date of delivery) for each child included in the referral
  • The name and contact details of each parent or carer
  • Information about what support has already been offered to the family