How to contact our Children and Families team
Who you should contact if you need support, and how we’ll handle your request.
How to get in touch
If you have a question or concern about a child or a young person, the best point of contact is our Intake team.
How to contact our Intake team
Our Intake team works from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
During these hours, you can call them on 01786 404040.
For other ways to contact Stirling Council, see our general enquiries page.
How our Intake team can help you
The Intake team can provide information and guidance on a wide range of social work matters.
You can ask them for advice on:
- parenting or family issues
- school attendance or behaviour issues
- budgeting or financial problems
- child protection, from before birth to adolescence
- identifying and sharing information about children at risk
- support for families
- pre-school care and information
What happens when you contact the Intake team
The team will:
- assess your request, taking into account your needs and any risks involved
- decide whether to pass your request to a specialist team
If the team does not refer your request to a specialist team, they'll tell you about other ways you can get help. This might be how you can:
- contact another service in your local community
- find useful resources online
If you need to tell us about an emergency
If you want to raise a concern or report an emergency outside of normal office hours, you can contact our Emergency Duty team.
The Emergency Duty team covers Stirling, Clackmannanshire and Falkirk, and is available:
- after 5pm on weekdays
- all day during weekends and public holidays
The team handles calls for all social work departments, and not just the Children and Families team.
You can call them on 01786 470500.
Our specialist teams
When the Intake team assesses a request, they might refer it to one of these specialist teams.
Localities/Fieldwork team
Our Localities/Fieldwork team works with children, young people and families to:
- provide longer-term support and advice
- help in cases where there are more persistent needs
In most cases, the team will provide this support in the child or young person’s home. We only provide residential care in exceptional circumstances.
Children with Disabilities team
Our Children with Disabilities team provides support by:
- assessing children who have a diagnosed disability
- carrying out occupational health assessments
- assessing support for carers
- making sure children are moved to Adult Services, where this appropriate
- handling direct payments and self-directed support
In addition to handling requests sent by the Intake team, the Children with Disabilities team can also handle direct referrals. To find what this involves, read our support for children with disabilities page.
Youth Justice Service
The Youth Justice Service supports children, young people and families in cases where:
- the law has been broken
- there’s a risk of offending behaviour
The team works to prevent issues and, where possible, ensure children and young people do not enter the youth or adult justice systems.