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Hampshire's Family Support Service

Hampshire County Council has a Family Support Service which aims to support families across the county.

The Family Support Service (FSS) is a single, joined up service for families with children aged 0 – 19 years. This service will also be offered for young adults with learning difficulties and / or a disability up to the age of 25.

The Family Support Service supports those families who are in need but who are not eligible for other statutory care services. The Family Support Service brings together the following services:

  • Early Help Hubs
  • Children’s Centre Services and
  • Youth Support Services

This service provides a single point of contact for families with children and young people who have multiple needs and more than one service involved in their child’s care. This enables services to be tailored to each family’s individual needs.

The FSS also offers information, advice and signposting on services that can be found in their local area. This service focuses on support offered by Children’s Centres on the families who need Early Help most.

The Family Help team coordinates the early help offering through multi-agency Early Help Hubs.

Hampshire Local Safeguarding Children Board and Hampshire Children's Trust have clearly defined thresholds for services. This threshold is used to decide which families need support and at what level.

Following on from the Hampshire Family Support Service, statutory support is also offered at Level 3 and Level 4.

Level 3: Targeted Early Help

Your family may need extra support from different services working together due to facing multiple challenging circumstances.

Family and Home

  • There may be challenges with housing or risk of losing your tenancy.
  • You might be experiencing harassment or discrimination in your community.
  • Family relationships could be under strain or breaking down.
  • There may be concerns about domestic abuse.
  • Your family may have moved frequently or be living in temporary accommodation.

Parents and Carers

  • You may have health needs (physical, learning, mental health) or be affected by substance use, which can make parenting harder.
  • Care arrangements for your child might feel inconsistent or unsettled.
  • Supervision of your child may be difficult at times.
  • It might be hard to respond to your child’s needs as quickly or fully as you’d like.
  • Past experiences from your own childhood may still be affecting you.

Level 4: Children with very high or complex needs, or who may need protection

Some children and young people may need extra help and support because they are facing serious challenges. These situations can affect their safety, health, and overall development. Below are examples of what this might look like:

Developmental Needs

  • Regularly missing school, permanently excluded, or without a school place – putting them at risk of entering care.
  • Often going missing from home, which can lead to self-neglect.
  • Feeling isolated or excluded from friends and community.
  • Struggling to form healthy attachments.
  • Living with complex or multiple disabilities.
  • Becoming a parent at a very young age (under 13).
  • Using drugs or alcohol in a way that seriously affects their development.
  • Involvement in offending or the criminal justice system.
  • Experiencing serious mental health difficulties, including self-harm.
  • Very low confidence or self-esteem.
  • Not growing or thriving as expected (without a medical reason).
  • Showing harmful or sexually inappropriate behaviour.
  • Experiencing sexual exploitation or abuse.
  • Breakdown of important relationships.
  • Arriving in the country alone without family.

Family and Environment

  • Concerns about physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect.
  • Experiencing harassment or discrimination in the community.
  • Living with domestic abuse that puts them at risk of harm.
  • Homeless or at risk of homelessness.
  • Family facing extreme poverty that affects the child’s wellbeing.
  • At risk of forced marriage, honour-based violence, or female genital mutilation.

Parents and Carers

  • Family is close to the point where the child may need to go into care.
  • Parents encouraging harmful or illegal behaviour.
  • Ongoing lack of supervision at home.
  • Parents not engaging with support or pretending to cooperate.
  • Inconsistent parenting that affects the child’s progress.
  • Child is privately fostered.

Following on from the Hampshire Family Support Service, statutory support is also offered at Level 3 and Level 4.

Level 3: Targeted Early Help

Your family may need extra support from different services working together due to facing multiple challenging circumstances.

Family and Home

  • There may be challenges with housing or risk of losing your tenancy.
  • You might be experiencing harassment or discrimination in your community.
  • Family relationships could be under strain or breaking down.
  • There may be concerns about domestic abuse.
  • Your family may have moved frequently or be living in temporary accommodation.

Parents and Carers

  • You may have health needs (physical, learning, mental health) or be affected by substance use, which can make parenting harder.
  • Care arrangements for your child might feel inconsistent or unsettled.
  • Supervision of your child may be difficult at times.
  • It might be hard to respond to your child’s needs as quickly or fully as you’d like.
  • Past experiences from your own childhood may still be affecting you.

Level 4: Children with very high or complex needs, or who may need protection

Some children and young people may need extra help and support because they are facing serious challenges. These situations can affect their safety, health, and overall development. Below are examples of what this might look like:

Developmental Needs

  • Regularly missing school, permanently excluded, or without a school place – putting them at risk of entering care.
  • Often going missing from home, which can lead to self-neglect.
  • Feeling isolated or excluded from friends and community.
  • Struggling to form healthy attachments.
  • Living with complex or multiple disabilities.
  • Becoming a parent at a very young age (under 13).
  • Using drugs or alcohol in a way that seriously affects their development.
  • Involvement in offending or the criminal justice system.
  • Experiencing serious mental health difficulties, including self-harm.
  • Very low confidence or self-esteem.
  • Not growing or thriving as expected (without a medical reason).
  • Showing harmful or sexually inappropriate behaviour.
  • Experiencing sexual exploitation or abuse.
  • Breakdown of important relationships.
  • Arriving in the country alone without family.

Family and Environment

  • Concerns about physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect.
  • Experiencing harassment or discrimination in the community.
  • Living with domestic abuse that puts them at risk of harm.
  • Homeless or at risk of homelessness.
  • Family facing extreme poverty that affects the child’s wellbeing.
  • At risk of forced marriage, honour-based violence, or female genital mutilation.

Parents and Carers

  • Family is close to the point where the child may need to go into care.
  • Parents encouraging harmful or illegal behaviour.
  • Ongoing lack of supervision at home.
  • Parents not engaging with support or pretending to cooperate.
  • Inconsistent parenting that affects the child’s progress.
  • Child is privately fostered.

You should have been given a copy of the eligibility criteria if a decision is made that your child is not eligible. If you feel they have not been applied fairly, or that important factors were not taken into account during the assessment, you should ask the social worker who assessed your child for a review of the decision.

This will mean that another team manager will review the decision to see whether the criteria have been consistently applied. You will receive a letter confirming the reviewing manager’s decision within 21 days of your request.

After this, should you still feel the decision is wrong, you may request a face to face meeting with a service manager from Children’s Services to discuss the decision.

If you still remain dissatisfied, you can complain in writing to the Children's Services Department Complaints Team. To find out the different ways you can submit your complaint please see our complaints webpage.

You should have been given a copy of the eligibility criteria if a decision is made that your child is not eligible. If you feel they have not been applied fairly, or that important factors were not taken into account during the assessment, you should ask the social worker who assessed your child for a review of the decision.

This will mean that another team manager will review the decision to see whether the criteria have been consistently applied. You will receive a letter confirming the reviewing manager’s decision within 21 days of your request.

After this, should you still feel the decision is wrong, you may request a face to face meeting with a service manager from Children’s Services to discuss the decision.

If you still remain dissatisfied, you can complain in writing to the Children's Services Department Complaints Team. To find out the different ways you can submit your complaint please see our complaints webpage.

An advocate is a person who supports you and helps you to explain and say what you want. They help you to ensure that your views are heard, so that your problems can be sorted out. They can: help you to put your views and feelings across about decisions that are being made about your life, speak on your behalf if that’s what you want, help you make a complaint and give you information and advice about your rights and any worries you have as well as help you make choices about what is best for you. All advocacy services are independent and are there to represent you. You can find advocacy groups on the Solent Minds, Voice Ability, Carers Together and Speakeasy websites. 

To find out about advocacy which can be paid for by us and which you need to self fund please see here. 

An advocate is a person who supports you and helps you to explain and say what you want. They help you to ensure that your views are heard, so that your problems can be sorted out. They can: help you to put your views and feelings across about decisions that are being made about your life, speak on your behalf if that’s what you want, help you make a complaint and give you information and advice about your rights and any worries you have as well as help you make choices about what is best for you. All advocacy services are independent and are there to represent you. You can find advocacy groups on the Solent Minds, Voice Ability, Carers Together and Speakeasy websites. 

To find out about advocacy which can be paid for by us and which you need to self fund please see here. 

There are many local and national charities. Some specialise in certain types of disability e.g. Autism, Down Syndrome and they often have very useful guidance for parents and carers. Others specialise in carers or disabled rights for both young people and adults. Often these charities have local support groups where parents and carers can share their experiences.

Some examples include:

You can also search this website for local support groups for carers and families with disabled children.

The Hampshire Parent Carer Network runs support groups around Hampshire and online for parents of children with additional needs 0-25 years old. These are free and tea, coffee and biscuits are provided. They are open to all parents, even if their child does not have a diagnosis yet. You can find a list of these groups here.

There are many local and national charities. Some specialise in certain types of disability e.g. Autism, Down Syndrome and they often have very useful guidance for parents and carers. Others specialise in carers or disabled rights for both young people and adults. Often these charities have local support groups where parents and carers can share their experiences.

Some examples include:

You can also search this website for local support groups for carers and families with disabled children.

The Hampshire Parent Carer Network runs support groups around Hampshire and online for parents of children with additional needs 0-25 years old. These are free and tea, coffee and biscuits are provided. They are open to all parents, even if their child does not have a diagnosis yet. You can find a list of these groups here.

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