The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) surveyed 141 children’s social care teams and found 49 per cent do not include deafness as a criteria for assessing a child’s care needs for council support.
This is despite deaf children being defined in the 1989 Children Act as “children in need” and having a legal right to be assessed by councils.
The study found that only 16 per cent of local authorities or social care teams had a dedicated worker for deaf children and 84 per cent of these workers combined duties relating to deaf children with other responsibilities.
"This survey has shown that local authority children’s social care teams have raised their eligibility criteria to access their services and retreated to a more reactive role responding to safeguarding concerns and only those with more complex and multiple disabilities," the report states.
"Legislation and statutory guidance clearly requires children’s services providers to work together to support children’s needs.
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