Children's Advice and Duty Service (CADS)

Currently we are getting lots of calls come through to CADs that don't require safeguarding advice, and we need to make sure that the experienced social workers on that line are providing support to those that need it the most. We have several other ways to access support and all phone lines are open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, excluding bank holidays.

If you know a child already has a social worker or practitioner, you should call that worker and not one of our other numbers. If you do not know the worker or their contact details, then please contact Customer Services on 0344 800 8020 and they will help to make sure your call gets put through to the right person.

Family Hubs

Call the Family Hub for any child or family that needs prevention or early help advice or support, including community networking. Family Hubs bring services together to offer support to families from conception through childhood and into teenage years with access to a range of support including Start for Life Services, parenting support, debt and welfare advice, and housing advice.

Early Help Advisors provide professionals and families with information of appropriate universal and early help services available and make referrals to these services if required. They also provide partners with information and support on the Family Network Approach and the Early Help Assessment and Plan.

Great Yarmouth - 01493 448318
West Norfolk - 01553 669651
Norwich - 01603 303359
Breckland - 01362 654584
Broadland - 01603 303360
South Norfolk - 01603 307703
North Norfolk - 01263 739060

SEND & Inclusion Support Line (0333 313 7165)

Call the support line for children with special education needs or emerging needs, at risk of exclusion or when considering a request for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Early Help SEND Advisors provide guidance for professionals and families looking for support and advice for children with emerging SEN and can help with referrals to Schools & Communities, SEND and Inclusion Advisors and the Relocation, Ethnic Diversity and Integration (REDI) team.

You can also call the support line if you are seeking whole school support.

More information:

When to complete a Request for Support form

Professionals can now submit a Request for support via the Children's Services online portal. You can find guidance on this page on how to register for an online account and complete a request for support form.

Request support for universal, community based early help and Family Help

This approach is designed to ensure that children, young people, and families receive support at the lowest appropriate level, with a strong emphasis on early help and prevention of escalation. Universal services and community‑based early help provide preventative support for children and families of all ages, strengthening resilience, improving outcomes, and reducing the risk of needs escalating.

Universal services and community-based early help

Universal services and community‑based early help provide preventative support for children and families of all ages, strengthening resilience, improving outcomes, and reducing the risk of needs escalating. Delivered as a coordinated local system rather than a single service, this support is offered through universal provision such as education, health, and wider community services. It includes services like Best Start Family Hubs, youth and housing support, and after‑school provision.

For most families, needs can be met through Community Help, including services available via Best Start Family Hubs as this support is intended for early or emerging needs, where families may benefit from:

Advice and guidance
Signposting to services
Support through universal or single-agency provision

Family Help - targeted early help, safeguarding, and promoting the welfare of children

Family Help is offered where universal services and community‑based early help have not achieved sufficient or sustained improvement, or where a child and family present with multiple, complex, or escalating needs. Delivered through a coordinated, multi‑agency approach led by Children's Services and its partners, Family Help provides structured support to address identified risks and concerns. Family Help will only be initiated where there is an agreed Family Plan, or a Graded Care Profile (GCP) in cases of neglect, which has been shared with CADS.

Family Help is a voluntary, consent‑based approach that supports families to build capacity, improve outcomes, and reduce risks, including families in kinship arrangements and those requiring additional support during pregnancy, with the aim of preventing the need for statutory child protection intervention.

A request for Family Help should not be made where:

Needs can be safely met through Community Help, or
There is no evidence of escalating or complex need

When submitting a Request for Support for Family Help, professionals must include:

A clear, up-to-date chronology of involvement with the child and family, outlining key events, concerns, and interventions
Relevant assessments and plans, including Early Help Assessments, Family Plans, and any other supporting documentation

This information is essential to support informed and timely decision-making.

Calls to CADS will not usually lead to a consultation unless they involve safeguarding or child protection concerns. For all other cases, a Request for Support must first be submitted through the new professional portal.

After a request is submitted, a team member will contact you to discuss it. The information you provide, along with any supporting documents, will be reviewed before this discussion takes place.

In most cases, professionals will first be directed to suitable early help or community-based services, including support available through Best Start Family Hubs. If more targeted Family Help is needed, this will be considered following the discussion.

You can still contact CADS by phone for safeguarding and child protection concerns.

When to contact the Children's Advice & Duty Service (CADS)

Child Protection or Immediate Safeguarding concerns

Contact CADS if there are concerns that a child may be suffering significant harm, a child with unexplained injuries, domestic abuse in the household or a child at risk of exploitation. Please consult this Safeguarding CADS flowchart (PDF, 359 KB) for the full 10-step process.

If you are a professional, i.e. working with a child or young person in a formal or voluntary setting and not a family member or member of the public, you can contact the Children's Advice and Duty Service on their direct line: 0344 800 8021.

Please choose from the following options:

Press 1 - If the child or young person is currently being supported by a social worker or family practitioner
Press 2 - Your call relates to child exploitation
Press 3 - Your call relates to domestic abuse
Press 0 - For child protection and immediate safeguarding concerns

(Please note, during busy periods, if your call is not answered within 40 minutes, a call back option will be offered.)

If you have an emergency, please call 999.

Request a consultation

If you feel a consultation is necessary, an initial conversation should take place with your Designated Safeguarding Lead prior to completing a Request for Support form. Once received a member of the team will call you.

If you are a professional, i.e. working with a child or young person in a formal or voluntary setting and not a family member or member of the public, please visit the How to Raise a Concern (Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership) for further guidance.

The CADS team will ask all the details known to you and or your agency about the child, the family composition including siblings, and where possible extended family members and anyone important in the child's life, the nature of the concern and how immediate it is, any and what kind of work or support you have provided to the child or family to date. They will also need to know where the child is now and whether you have informed parents or carers of your concern.

In conversation with you the team member will decide the best course of action and whether this requires a more protective, preventative early help response.