Who can get help from social services?

Social services usually refers to statutory agencies who are legally responsible for the care, protection, health and well being of vulnerable people, including children and young people.

Social services is often used to describe the health and social care trusts in Northern Ireland. Health and social care trusts have some responsiblity for the welfare of people with disabilities, pensioners, children and young people. This includes caring for people at home, in hospitals, in residential homes and children and young people who live with foster parents.

You may be able to get help from social services even if the Housing Executive can't help you. The Housing Executive has a duty to provide advice on homelessness and its prevention to anyone in Northern Ireland who asks for it.

Who can get help from social services?

There are no clear legal guidelines about help you can receive from social services. However, social services may have to help you if you are homeless, or about to become homeless and:

you are aged 16 or 17 years old,
you are leaving (or have left) care,
you are old,
you have physical or mental health problems,
you have problems with drug or alcohol dependency,
you are disabled,
you are responsible for a child under 16,
you are an asylum seeker under 18 years old, with no one to look after you,
you are seeking asylum, or you have overstayed your visa, you are destitute and you have health problems.

Social services should assess you if you are in one of these groups. The amount of help you get from social services depends on your personal circumstances. If you are not in one of these groups you may not be entitled to any help from social services.

What help is available?

The law doesn't say exactly the help social services must give. The level of help you can get depends on:

how social services assess your circumstances,
what resources are available.

Social services can help you:

find somewhere to stay,
pay the deposit on a flat,
find specialist accommodation that meets your needs,
deal with drug or alcohol problems.

How can I contact social services?

Social services has different teams who work with different people. There may be a team working with families, another dealing with young people and another working with older people. They may not all be in the same building.

Don't be put off if you don't get through to the right person immediately. You might need to ask an advice centre to make contact if you have difficulties seeing the right person.

Social services has an icon out of hours service you can ring in an emergency.

What if social services won't help me?

Get advice if you are homeless and social services can't help. An adviser may be able to help you appeal and reverse the decision. Advice is available from Housing Rights Service.

Should I contact the Housing Executive or social services?

It doesn't matter which organisation you contact first.

If you are homeless you should go to the Housing Executive first.
If you are under 18 and have left care you should contact social services first.

The Housing Executive has a duty to provide advice on homelessness and its prevention to anyone in Northern Ireland who asks for it.
There are procedures in place to help you when you are entitled to help from both the Housing Executive and social services. The procedures should mean that you won't be passed from one organisation to the other, with neither taking responsibility for helping you.

Get advice if you find that neither organisation wants to help you when you are homeless. Advice is available from Housing Rights Service.