Children's Action Teams (CATs)

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Children’s Action Teams (CATs) in Reading are local teams providing help, guidance and support, working together with families and communities to create and achieve positive change for Reading’s children and young people.

CATs work closely with schools and other services to provide family-centred support that meets a variety of needs. This can be single or multiple issues arising from the child’s education, their health or other significant areas of their family life.

The teams are made up of a mixture of professionals:

School Attendance (Education Welfare) focus on working with families and schools to overcome barriers which might impact on school attendance or their safety.

Family Workerfocus on supporting families to improve their parenting capacity and meet the needs of their children. This is often in the home or can be in a safe community setting and will include supported visits to appointments or groups.

Youth Service provide a range of community-based youth work activities, one-to-one support to young people (13 to 19 year olds) to improve their life choices/chances and advocate on behalf of young people to promote independence.

The CATs also run evidence-based Parenting Service programmes to support parents/carers who may lack confidence as a parent, are experiencing challenging behaviour at home and need support to establish consistent routines and boundaries.

 Children’s Centres there are 4 Cluster Children’s Centres in Reading that provide families with children under 5 with access to a range of services and support in their local area

Contact 's

If a child, family or young person needs additional or early help and support and you believe a Children's Action Team (CAT) service can assist, you can;

1. Call the Children's Single Point of Access to discuss your concerns on 0118 937 3641. We welcome families who wish to self refer and professionals who need to discuss a concern.

2. Fill out a Children's Single Point of Access referral form (see under related links above) and we will get back in touch.

3. Use the electronic CAF system to make a referral to the CATs directly

Some CAT services (Education Welfare) need to be organised through the child’s or young person’s school. We would suggest speaking to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) or Head of Year/Achievement at the relevant school to discuss your concern.

Next review date October 2024

Related Advice

West Central Cluster Children Centres East Reading Cluster Children Centres South Reading Cluster Children Centres West Cluster Children Centres Early Help

Page last reviewed: 30/11/2023

Contact the Team

Family Information Service

fis@reading.gov.uk 0118 937 3777 OPTION 2 0118 937 3777 OPTION 2

SEND Local Offer

localoffer@reading.gov.uk 0118 937 3777 OPTION 2 0118 937 3777 OPTION 2

Adult & Carers Support

CSAAdvice.Signposting@reading.gov.uk 0118 937 3747 0118 937 3747
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