About our Children’s services
We provide services that protect, care for and support our children, young people and their families in the borough.
We could not be prouder of our family help and social care offer including being a Families First for Children Pathfinder, which is an endorsement of our deep commitment to delivering the best possible outcomes for all our children and young people.
Our Children’s services department has been praised for its consistent service and strong practice across its teams and pathways for children in need, and we have a number of key roles that we are recruiting for now to continue the great work across the service.
Ofsted’s latest inspection in May 2025 found that the service has not only sustained its good standards but has also significantly strengthened its practice in several key areas.
Some of this good work has been highlighted in Ofsted’s most recent focused inspection, with inspectors saying that “children needing help and protection in Lewisham experience warm, trusting relationships with practitioners who know them well.” The report also notes that, “workers write poignant records, full of care, kindness and comfort for the children they support.”
The ongoing significant transformation of services, through a piloted, designed, and tested new structure, is proving effective. The report highlights “Bespoke, well targeted family help and edge of care work is helping to stabilise children in their family networks,” and “multi-agency teams are diverting children from child protection plans.”
Our Vision
What Good Children’s Social Work Looks Like in Lewisham
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Families are respected and supported to stay together, whenever there is safety.
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Families will tell us they understand why we are involved.
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Children will tell us their social worker has made a difference to their lives.
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Children who are in our care know we care, and we won’t give up on them.
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Young people who have been in our care feel confident about their future.
…deliver for our residents
About Lewisham
Lewisham is an exciting place to live – made up of vibrant and distinct communities that stretch from Blackheath to Sydenham and from Deptford to Downham.
The borough is changing too. Over the last decade we have seen considerable investment and growth and we continue to welcome the new families making Lewisham their home.
Inequality is growing in society and too many Lewisham residents do not get to share in the wealth and opportunities that London has to offer. Austerity has also meant that all councils have been forced to cut services when residents needs are increasing.
Our Corporate Strategy sets out how we will deliver for our resident. How, in the face of austerity, where councils have been forced to cut services, we can still make a difference and change lives. Importantly, it is also about how we protect the individual identities of our neighbourhoods and continue to make Lewisham a place we love to live in.
We are building on Lewisham’s historic values – fairness, equality and putting our community at the heart of everything we do – and turning these values into practical, deliverable policies.
