Update to CADS Processes
Message from Phil Watson, Service Director (Help, Care and Protection)
Dear Partners
I hope this message finds you well.
As you will recall from our previous communications in July and September 2025, we have been working to refine our processes for contacting our Children's Advice and Duty Service (CADS). This was to ensure that sufficient information and evidence was provided when making a referral prior to a referral conversation with CADS. We also know that around 60% of calls to CADS do not require a statutory Family Help response, reinforcing the importance of making sure children, young people and families receive the right support through the right route at the right time.
The Norfolk Continuum of Need remains unchanged, including the principles of responding to need early through and Early Help Assessment and Plan (EHAP), Family Networking, and facilitating access to the right support at the right time. As a partnership, we would expect that before a request for Family Help is made, children, young people and families will have been supported through EHAP and the wider community early help offer, such as Family Hubs, School and Community Teams, Mental Health Support Teams and Health Child Programme, wherever appropriate. Unless a child is at immediate risk of harm, or likely to be in the very short term, all other requests for support should be accessed by completion of an online Request for support form with the plans and tools used, for example EHAP, Family Plan and Graded Care Profile.
However, we continue to see contacts lacking critical detail and demonstrating what prior support has been offered, which compromises decision making quality, leads to unnecessary statutory interventions, and delays timely assistance for children and families.
From 8 June, we are changing the routes available to get support through an amended Request for Support portal, which will help ensure the right response is provided, whether through Family Hubs, wider community early help services, or Family Help. Calls to CADS will not be progressed to a discussion, with the exception of safeguarding and child protection cases, unless a Request for Support has been submitted via our new professional portal. All requests for support made will be followed by a conversation with an advisor, whether from Early Help or Family Help. Once a request is received, contacts will be triaged alongside supporting documents, and professionals will then have a discussion with an Early Help Advisor or Consultant Social Worker. In the first instance, professionals will be signposted to appropriate early help, community-based services and support available through Best Start Family Hubs, unless Family Help is required. The route to CADS by phone for safeguarding and child protection remains in place.
The Portal will continue to be accessible via Norfolk County Council's website, Request for support. Further guidance about the Portal will follow.
Unless immediate or urgent child protection concerns, whereby partners will continue to call in, all referrals will now be accepted via this portal. Our conversational model within CADS will remain, however this approach ensures conversations take place with the relevant person, to reflect our shared commitment to providing the right help at the right time.
Thank you for your continued partnership in safeguarding children and supporting families.
Kind regards
Phil Watson, Service Director (Help, Care and Protection)
Dept: Children's Services
CADS Q&A session
Further to the above communication from Phil Watson, Service Director (Help, Care and Protection), Rosie Wilson (Team Manager: CADS) and Claire Gledhill-Haggith (Team Manager: Early Help) will hold a Q&A session to provide DSLs with an opportunity to ask questions. The session will be supported by members of the Education Safeguarding Team.
This Q&A session builds on the Early Help and CADS webinar January 2026 which can be accessed on the Education Safeguarding DSL webinar page.
If you have any questions for the Q&A session in advance, please email them to [email protected]. If there are questions that cannot be covered in the Q&A session, then a member of the Safeguarding Team will get in touch with delegates via email following the webinar.
The Q&A session will take place via Microsoft Teams; however, you do not need to have this application on your laptop. If you do not, then the webinar will open in an internet browser.
- Date: 22 June 2026
- Time: 1.30 - 2.15pm
- Booking: To join this Q&A session, please book via S4S on DSL Webinar: CADS Q&A session | Norfolk Services for Schools
The overview section of the session will be recorded and available to watch on the Education Safeguarding webinar webpage. Key themes and questions will be collated into a document to be shared with DSLs.
