Children and families

The Department of Health and Social Care's Children and Families team acts as the principal point of contact for children about whom there are child welfare concerns. Contact can be made directly by parents or family members seeking help, concerned friends and neighbours, or by professionals and other agencies.

There are a number of reasons why a family may be facing difficulty and the department will listen to your concern sympathetically and hopefully be able to support you and your family to overcome the current difficulties. 

Making a referral for support

If you wish to make a referral you can do so by contacting:

Office hours

Monday to Thursday: 9am to 5pm

Friday: 9am to 4:30pm

Initial contact will be with the Duty Support Team. You will be asked for the following information:

• your name, address and telephone number
• the name, address and telephone number of the person concerned in the request (if not yourself)
• the client's marital status and date of birth
• if the person is aware that you are ringing for them
• a brief description of the problem or request

If you are ringing on behalf of anyone else it would be helpful if you had that information readily available.

The information you provide will be passed on to the duty social worker who will either take your call or ring you back as quickly as possible. The duty social worker will take more detailed information on the referral. We aim to build up a picture of both family and professional contacts so any details about this that you can provide will help speed up the referral process.

Do you have concerns about a child or are you a child worried about something?

Are you a child or young person who is scared or worried about something that is happening to you?  

Out of hours contact

If you have an emergency after office hours and need to contact a social worker urgently:

• In the case of a child ring Douglas Police Station: +44 1624 631212
• In case of an adult ring Noble's Hospital: +44 1624 650000

The switchboard in these areas will help you to contact the social worker who is on duty at that time.

You may also wish to contact a Family Centre who provide parenting support and other services which may be very helpful.  These centres are run by the Isle of Man Children's Centre:

The Safeguarding Children Board coordinates and monitors how the Island's services and professional staff work together to protect children from abuse or neglect.