Families call for radical reform of disabled children’s social care law

3 mins read

Wednesday 5 February 2025

This advice applies in England only.

Contact has called for a new legal framework for disabled children’s social care in our response to the Law Commission’s consultation on reforming support.

We have set out our backing for a new framework to strengthen the rights of disabled children and ensure that families get the support they need.

Our asks for social care law reform

Our submission, informed by parent carers’ experiences, also backed a proposal for national eligibility criteria for disabled children’s social care. This would bring it into line with adult social care law and end the postcode lottery of care for disabled children around the country.

During the consultation, we ran a series of focus groups with families of disabled children. In those, families shared depressing stories of struggling without support, local authority gatekeeping, and being made to feel guilty for asking for help. We also recruited parents for the Law Commission’s consultation events to ensure their voices were heard.

Our asks for social care law reform included:

  • A single express legal duty to assess the social care needs of disabled children.
  • A new legal framework for disabled children’s social care.
  • Disability training for all staff who assess disabled children for social care support.
  • A clear duty to assess the needs of carers and siblings that considers their wellbeing needs.
  • Direct payments that are ‘sufficient’ to secure the support a disabled child needs, not just a ‘reasonable’ amount.
  • And updated definition of disability in line with the Equality Act.
  • A right to independent advocacy for disabled children and families that need it, including for parents who are neurodiverse or disabled themselves.
  • More effective routes of remedy and redress for families to challenge decisions about their child’s care and support.
  • Legal changes to ensure transition planning starts at age 14.

A once in a lifetime opportunity to make the law work

Amanda Elliot, Contact’s health lead, said families were clear they wanted radical reform of a system currently failing their children.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make the law work for families of disabled children. Parent carers told us they want a fairer, more accessible, system of social care that delivers support when they need it. They want an end to punitive safeguarding assessments when there is no evidence of abuse or neglect.”

Read our full response to the Law Commission’s consultation and find out more about the commission’s proposals.