A short cut to what words mean.

Accommodated: When a child is looked after the Local Authority with the parent's agreement. The Local Authority does not have parental responsibility.

Adult Social Services: The local authority department that organises social care for adults.

Advocacy: Supporting someone to understand what is happening, and helping them to make their views known.

Assessment: A meeting, usually with a social worker, to talk about support needs and to find ways for you to manage more easily. A social worker can arrange for other people to make assessments, such as an occupational therapist (OT) who looks at what equipment or home adaptations can make it easier for you to manage. Other sorts of assessments might be needed to find out what support will work best for you.

Care Order: A court order that says a child cannot live with their parent. It places a child in the care of an Authority. It is always made to protect the child from being hurt.

Care plan: Written details of the support that is agreed between the disabled parent and the social worker.

CAFCASS: Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service. Looks after children's welfare in court proceedings, gives advice to the court and provides information, advice and support for children and their families. Children's Guardians, Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs), Children and Family Reporters and Guardians ad Litem are CAFCASS Officers. CAFCASS is a national organisation, independent of the courts, social services, education and health authorities and all similar agencies.  http://www.cafcass.gov.uk

CAHMS: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Child Protection: The process of protecting individual children who are either suffering, or at risk of suffering, significant harm as a result of abuse or neglect.

Child in need: Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 defines a child in need as a child who is unlikely to reach or maintain a satisfactory level of health or development, or their health or development will be significantly impaired, without the provision of services. It includes children who are disabled.

Children's Services: The local authority department that organises facilities and support for children, including education.

CRB Criminal Records Bureau: People who apply to work with children and vulnerable adults must have a CRB check before they can be employed to make sure they do not have a record of abusing children or vulnerable adults. http://www.crb.gov.uk/

CAF Common Assessment Framework: A way of recording information about a child so that authorised people like teachers, doctors and social workers can all have the same information. It needs the parent and child's permission. It is intended to make sure the child and family have all their needs supported and everybody knows what is being done and who is doing it. It includes a section on parental illness or disability.

Childrens Act 1989 and 2004: The law that all Councils must follow to keep children safe and free from harm.

Community Care: The system of providing social care. It comes from the NHS & Community Care Act 1990, a law that gives a local authority a duty and permission to spend tax money on care for people.

Direct Payments: Direct Payments can mean two things.

On this website, Direct Payments means money your Social Services can give you instead of a service. It is a different way of getting the support you need. You use it to buy the support you want. You must spend it on support that Social Services agree you need.

The other direct payment is to do with benefits. Instead of using an order book to get benefits, they get paid straight into a bank account or post office account.

Disability Rights Norfolk: - A service run by disabled people to advise on benefits and welfare rights. http://www.ncodp.org.uk/drn

ECM Every Child Matters: The main programme of services for children and young people. Everything that is done must aim to support every child to be healthy, to stay safe, to enjoy and achieve, to make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing.

FACS Fair Access to Care Services: Government guidance to local authorities about how to make decisions on who gets care and a fair share of services. It says services must be given based on the impact of a person's impairment (condition) on being independent and having choice and control over their lives.

Foster carer: A person that looks after children and young people who can't live with their own family for some reason.

Health visitor: A nurse who visits families at home to do health checks of very young children and advise parents. They usually work from GP surgeries.

Homestart: A voluntary group who work to support families where there are children under five years old.

Independent Living Norfolk: A service run by disabled people to support those using Direct Payments and Individual Budgets.  http://www.ncodp.org.uk/iln

Key worker:­ A person who has contact with all the different people involved in giving services.

LAC Looked after children: Children who are looked after by Children's Services.

Ofsted Office for Standards in Education: A government organisation which inspects schools.

OT Occupational therapist: A person who advises on equipment or home adaptations that make it easier to manage.

PCT Primary Care Trust: The organisation that runs hospitals.

PSA Parent Support Advisor: A person from school who works with parents to support their child's learning and development. They help parents work with schools to support their child's learning, school attendance or when children change schools. They can help parents find early help to stop problems getting worse.

SEN Special Educational Needs: Children have special educational needs if they have a specialist educational provision made for them.

SENCO: Special educational needs co-ordinator. A member of staff in a school or an early years setting who co-ordinates special educational needs provision.

Social worker: A person who works for social services or health who advises on support for daily living or child welfare.

Young Carers: Young people who support a disabled parent or other relative.