The Children's Resource Service

The aim of the Children’s Resource Service is to ensure that children and their families receive the right help at the right time.

If you are concerned about the immediate safety of a child

Please call the police on 999. Once you have done this, please share your concerns with the Children’s Resource Service by telephone. If you are a professional, you will need to follow this up by completing the online referral form.

If you are unsure about whether you wish to make a referral

Please refer to the Southampton Pathways Document. If you are a professional, we would also advise you to speak with the designated safeguarding lead within your organisation.

If you are looking for help

If you are looking for help for your own child or family, or for a family you know in a personal or professional capacity, we would encourage you to contact the service by telephone for a discussion. We will give you information about the local support that is available and offer you advice and guidance.

If you think a child, young person or family may benefit from support from the Early Help service (known in Southampton as Children and Families First) please consider undertaking an early help assessment. This will help you to be clear about the child and family’s needs and will support a referral if you decide this is needed.

To make a referral for Early Help (Children and Families First), or for Children’s Social Care support, please complete the online referral form.

Contact details

If you are a professional you can contact the Children’s Resource Service on 02380 83 2300 (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm) or 02380 23 3344 (weekends, Bank Holidays and outside of office hours)

If you are a young person, parent, carer or member of the public you can contact the Children’s Resource Service on 02380 83 3004 (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm and Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm) or 02380 23 3344 (weekends, Bank Holidays and outside of office hours)

If you are a child, young person, parent or carer, and you would like to discuss your worries or seek advice and support please get in touch! You can contact the Children’s Resource Service on 02380 83 3004 (office hours) or 02380 23 3344 (outside of office hours).

Next steps

In most instances when we are contacted about a child, young person or family we will decide what we need to do next within 24 hours.

We may:

• Provide advice and guidance
• Ask our Early Help Service (Children and Families First) to get involved
• Gathering more information to help us to decide what to do next to provide the help and protection that children young people and families need. We do this through our MASH (Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub)
• Passing a referral to Children’s Social Care to undertake an assessment. This includes children who need help from the Children with Disabilities team or the Young Person’s Service

To help us make the right decision we may contact you or different professionals for further information.

If you provide us with a secure e-mail address you will receive an acknowledgement of your contact and a copy of your request.

Consent

Unless seeking consent would place a child at risk of harm, a ‘Request for a Service’ referral must be discussed with the child and their family. Consent for the request should always be sought from those with parental responsibility. If you are unsure about this please get in touch with us to discuss.

If you are worried about a child and you are unable to contact the parents, this should not stop you from contacting the Children’s Resource Service.

Please have to hand:

• Details of the children, and their siblings if you know this
• Details of the parent or carer
• Any information about child or young person's needs or factors that are causing concern