Worried about a child?

Level 2 - Children with some emerging needs

These are children with emerging needs or children whose needs are unclear or unmet.

Professionals should intervene early, identify and tackle concerns as soon as they begin to appear, rather than wait for them to escalate to something more complex.

Children with needs at this level are best supported by those who already work with them such as health professionals, early years, school and college settings or by organising additional support from within community resources, such as Family Hubs or voluntary services.​

Below are examples of the indicators that suggest a child or young person needs level 2 support.

Children and young people

  • My attendance at school is below 95%
  • I have been repeatedly suspended from school
  • I have started to go missing and my whereabouts is sometimes unknown
  • I am not meeting my educational milestones
  • I have not been able to be seen at home, despite professionals repeated attempts to see me or visit
  • I sometimes find it difficult to develop positive or close relationships with friends or with my parents, carers or family members
  • I am a young carer with some responsibilities at home
  • I am a teenage parent, and require some low-level support
  • I have speech, language or communication needs
  • I need some low-level support due to a diagnosed disability or sensory impairment
  • I am a disabled child and need some information, advice or support
  • I have some neurodiverse needs and need some information, advice or support
  • I am showing signs of associating with peers who are involved in crime or anti-social behaviour
  • I am showing signs of problematic sexual behaviour or language
  • I have emerging mental health, self-harm or emotional needs
  • I am saying I want to ‘run away’
  • Not all of my basic physical or emotional needs are being fully met
  • I am negatively affected by parental conflict or difficult family relationships
  • I am exposed to low-level physical aggression between others at home or in the community (Police DARA low risk)
  • I will become a parent soon and would benefit from some support

Parents and carers

  • My parents or carers require support to understand my disability or sensory impairment, and lack strategies to manage these
  • My family is impacted by poverty affecting their access to services, this negatively affects my development
  • My family home is in a poor state of repair, impacting on my health or development. Or there is serious overcrowding
  • My family is facing eviction or statutory homelessness
  • My parents or carers struggle to meet my needs, or lose sight of my needs due to their own needs or experiences
  • My parents or carers struggle to provide me with good supervision or behaviour management
  • My parents or carers often do not take me to my appointments which impacts negatively on my health or development
  • Difficulties in my parents or carers relationship is starting to negatively impact upon me
  • My parents or carers health and emotional wellbeing including physical, mental or learning difficulty or substance misuse is starting to impact negatively on my health or development
  • My parents or carers are committing low-level, anti-social behaviours which impacts negatively on my health or development

Risks to me outside my home

  • I am being encouraged to use substances
  • I am being encouraged to miss school or be late home
  • I am being encouraged to commit crimes or become involved in anti-social behaviour
  • I am vulnerable to being groomed in relation to sexual and criminal exploitation
  • I am vulnerable to radicalisation
  • I am vulnerable to unsafe or harmful content, conduct or contact online

Support and next steps

To support a child, young person or family at Level 2:

  • discuss any concerns with the family and find out which services, if any, are already involved. Agree with the family what action is needed and where the family would like to, or they will happy to, receive support from
  • signpost the family or contact the service direct to discuss the support
  • ensure you have the families 'agreement to engage' before taking any action
  • use all your in-house resources before considering involving another agency
  • check online for other services you can contact locally for support
  • with agreement other options available may include:

District conversations

A district conversation is a method for professionals and families to understand what support is available within the Family Hub core offer. Find out more about district conversations on the KELSI website.

Read more about Family Hubs

Level 3 support

If the child has multiple or complex needs, read about level 3 support.