Children's Disability Team

Education & Children’s
Services Department
Children’s Disability Team

Contact details
Jobswell House
Jobswell Road
Carmarthen
SA31 3HG
Tel: (01267) 234987
Fax: (01267) 220963
4th Floor
Tŷ Elwyn
Llanelli
SA15 3HF
Tel: (01554) 742387
Fax: (01554) 774972
For further details of the services offered
by the team please see the FST handbook.
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Children’s Disability Team

Family Support Team
The Family Support Team provides assessment and care planning to children and young
people with severe and profound learning disabilities and physical disabilities,
children/young people with chronic illness, and children/young people with developmental
delay.
It is a multi-disciplinary team with bases in Carmarthen and Llanelli.
The aim of the team is to enable each child/young person to achieve his or her potential
and to have equal opportunities, choices and rights within their own community.
The Social Workers, Teachers, Nurse and Health Visitors that make up the team, operate as
Key Workers. The Key Worker is the professional who is responsible for bringing the
assessment and plan for a child together.
A Key Worker is allocated to a child according to the relevance of their profession to the
child/young person’s predominant need.
Eligibility criteria
1. Children with impairments of a substantial and permanent nature such as:
• Severe learning disability/developmental delay
• Severe physical disability
• Severe sensory disability
• Multiple disabilities
2. Children with complex health needs
3. Children who manifest impairment but for whom a formal diagnosis has yet to be
agreed.
Permanent: The condition is deemed life long or there is likelihood of further
deterioration.
Substantial: There is significant impairment or loss of functions (lasting more than 6
months) affecting the child’s ability to carry out the essential activities of everyday life,
i.e. personal care tasks, eating, drinking and dressing or taking part in activities outside
the home.
Children’s Disability Team 3

The Family Support Team uses a matrix to assess whether a child meets the eligibility
criteria. Please see Eligibility Criteria for further details.
How to make referrals
If a child/young person appears to meet the eligibility criteria, contact the duty officer in
the Family Support Team in Carmarthen or Llanelli
Service provision
Once an initial or core assessment has been completed, the Key Worker will make a
referral to the Disability Service Allocation Meeting where appropriate services can be
identified.
Disability Service Allocation Meeting
The aim of this meeting is to consider assessments of need and share ideas about the
best way of meeting those needs.
The meetings take place on alternate Thursday mornings.
The Family Support Team manager or a senior practitioner as well as service providers
such as Barnardo’s; family support coordinator; respite centres; attend SAM.
This mix of people means they can look at the referrals from a range of views and
contribute their knowledge and expertise.
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Children’s Disability Team