Children with additional needs

Social care services

A local council can provide various types of assistance to children and families to promote the health, development and wellbeing of children, and can take action to protect children who are at risk of neglect or harm.  

Types of interventions that a council can provide include: 

• Early help (or early intervention) to children, their parents or families to help improve outcomes for a child 
• Voluntary accommodation of a child (under section 20 of the Children Act 1989, in England)
• Child protection plans setting out how a child will be kept safe from harm and how their welfare will be promoted
• Care proceedings where a child is at serious risk of harm

Find a local council for more information about their services.  

Services provided by Early Help or Children’s Social Care are not classed as a public fund for immigration purposes and can be accessed by a child or parent regardless of their immigration status, including a person who is subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) condition.

Children’s Social Care can also provide accommodation and financial support to a family where this is necessary to meet the child’s needs, for example, when a child’s parents have no recourse to public funds and do not have enough income to meet the family’s living and housing costs. See our information about social services’ support for families.

Page updated: 11 June 2025