This paper reports on research conducted in 2002 by the University of New South Wales Research Consortium (The Social Policy Research Centre and the Disability Studies and Research Institute) on behalf of Families First Inner West. In late 2001 Families First in the Inner West conducted research surrounding the general support needs of families with young children. The findings suggested a need for further inquiry into the needs of families when they have a child who is assessed for disability.

The research aimed to explore the assessment experiences of families in Sydney's Inner West by employing a framework based on the social model of disability. It explores how well services met the needs of families through the assessment process, how family characteristics affected the assessment process and the impact of beliefs and values about disability and assessment. A mixed qualitative methodology included interviews with families, interviews with service providers and key stakeholders and a review of service documentation.

The presentation will discuss the findings of the research and their implications for agencies supporting families who are in the process of receiving assessments or as follow-up to assessment. It will outline principles for support during assessment which include a holistic approach to family needs; the importance of a family-centred perspective; the need for agencies to maintain an open door policy and the need for effectively targeted services which are well networked and coordinated and which are cultural appropriate and inclusive.

The discussion will include consideration of a proposed model for delivery that explicitly allocates responsibility for the support and information of families when their children are being assessed. Two parts to the models are proposed: responsibilities for supporting families allocated within all assessment services and an independent service for supporting families. Follow up research currently underway, exploring the experiences of families who have used these models of support will also be discussed.