Social Worker Assessment - complex needs team

[mompa]

Please can someone tell me what to expect from an assessment from Social worker. I am single mum with 4 yr old boy with ASD working full time and contacted contact centre asking for some help with getting a break and they are sending a social worker to assess

The Social Worker will have 'Eligibility' criteria for services (although it is unlikely that they will show you these). You will be assessed against these criteria to see if you qualify for any assistance.
They will look at you and your familiy's circumstances and how your child's condition affects day to day life. So for example, the will look at any behaviour problems your DS has and the impact of that, whether you have family who are able to help you out with childcare and support, if there are other children in the family, whether you work. From this information, they will measure the 'risk factor' against their criteria and decide which, if any, services you qualify for.
I use the word 'risk' as that is what they are looking for. My DD is very severely disabled with complex health needs and requires 24/7 care - but we were not high risk, as we are a middle class, 2 parent family who are considered to be 'coping'. That said, we do get some respite services but not at the level that someone whose child doesn't ever sleep and has severe behaviour problems, and no extended family support would get (which is fair enough).

Thanks very much bigbluebus - that makes sense - feeling quite anxious about it - how does the respite you get work and is it means tested?

We get a nurse who comes to our house to look after DD whilst I go out - due to her complex health needs. We also use a SN holiday club in the school holidays.
As far as I know there is no means testing for these children's services (not in this area anyway - but others may know differently) We do pay £15 per day for the holiday club - but people on low incomes can apply for a funded place.

Respite (or Short Breaks as they are sometimes known now) come in many different forms.
They can be by way of Direct Payments/Personal Budgets where you are given a set sum to buy in X no of hours care a week/month for your DS.
It may be that you are assessed for overnight provision, where your child goes and stays in a specialist respite home or at the family home of a short breaks carer or he may get to spend a day with a respite carer and their family.
You may get a support assistant to take your DS out to an activity or there may be holiday clubs/weekend activities similar to the one we use.
Those are just a few examples of the type of respite available - but whether you get them will depend on what is on offer in your area, and what the criteria is to qualify.
Try not to worry about the assessment too much - the Social Worker should be someone from the Disabled Childrens Team who is used to dealing with the sorts of issues that families like ours face. They are there to try and help - unfortunately the budget is not within their control - so often they are not able to offer anything.

Thanks for taking time to reply that's reassured me greatly!