Guide to supporting deaf children

A recent investigation by the National Deaf Children's Society (NDCS) found half of English local authorities were failing in their duties to provide adequate social care services to deaf children and young people. So what are the key issues councils need to consider to ensure they provide deaf children with the right support?

Why do councils need to ensure deaf children are assessed as a child in need?

The impact of a hearing loss - whether mild, moderate, severe or profound - can have a significant impact on a child's development.

Research shows that deaf children are at far greater risk of abuse, mental health problems, falling behind at school and future unemployment. But these risks can be dramatically reduced if children receive the right support from the start, both at home and in the services they access.

Under the Children Act 1989, parents have a right to an assessment of their deaf child's needs, and a local authority has a duty to provide services if the child is eligible for social care support.

How should a child be assessed?

Deaf children and their families are all different, so there should not be a single, rigid way of assessing needs.

A deaf child may be assessed via early support (sometimes called the Common Assessment Framework) via a referral from an audiologist, teacher of the deaf or by the family themselves. If the child is deemed eligible, they will be entitled to such resources as funding for sign language classes.

However, because this provision usually lies outside children's social care, those carrying out the assessment may not have specialist social care training in deafness.

In addition, some children may need certain technologies that allow them to develop independence, stay safe and take part in social activities.

To qualify for devices such as a vibrating fire alarm or specialist equipment for using mobile phones, they would need to be assessed under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (CSDP) Act 1970.

Referral for assessment under this act frequently comes from children's disability social care teams who often require a child to have multiple or profound disabilities only. This excludes many deaf children - something that needs to change.

An automatic right for all deaf children to be assessed under the CSDP act is in line with Article 8 of the Human Rights Act 1998, which gives disabled children the right to "function socially" and therefore receive services that enable them to do so.

How can councils proactively find deaf children who need support?

Local authorities have a legal duty to provide support services for disabled children. Failure to do so will have serious long-term consequences for many children.

They also have a legal duty to keep registers of different disabled groups, including deaf children. NDCS believes that many local authorities are failing to fulfil this obligation.

The education arms of local authorities already receive information from health services about children diagnosed as deaf. This enables the local authority to provide education support as needed, such as a teacher of the deaf. Local authorities could do a better job of using this information to help inform parents of the social care support also available to them.

What is the minimum range of support services councils should be providing?

Important services for deaf children and families should include:

• sign language classes for parents and children;
• parenting courses designed for parents of deaf children;
• deaf awareness training for registered childcare providers;
• assessment for equipment support;
• travel training to promote independence; and
• support transitioning from children's to adult services.

It is also vital that children's social care has arrangements in place to ensure child protection investigations involving deaf children take place promptly. In addition, they should address these two vital questions:

• Where needed, can they readily get a sign language interpreter who has experience of safeguarding and working with deaf children?
• Will the investigating social worker be able to ensure the child's communication is understood and catered for when addressing them?

This can be achieved by offering deaf awareness/sign language training to an existing social care professional experienced in child protection, or buying in services from an external expert.

What training should children's social care professionals receive?

There is no mandatory deaf awareness or hearing loss training for social care professionals.

Ofsted states that councils and Local Safeguarding Children's Boards "must have an understanding of the safeguarding response to deaf and disabled children in all aspects of its functioning".

This does not go far enough. Professionals who will be working in a service that deaf children might access - whether in health, education, early years or social care - should have basic deaf awareness training.

Why is it important for local authorities to act early in providing support?

Until there is sufficient recognition within children's social care and more co-operation between children's services, deaf children will remain under the radar and the risks of abuse, mental health difficulties and underachieving at school will persist.

Deaf children should receive any necessary support before any problems become chronic or more serious, and not when it becomes too late to make a real difference.

More information about the report and NDCS's resources for social care practitioners can be found at: www.ndcs.org.uk/professional_support/our_resources/social_care.html

Chris Kang-Mullen is social care policy adviser at NDCS