Preparing for Adulthood - Transition

"Transition planning has as its main focus the fulfilment of the hopes, dreams and potential of the disabled young person, in particular to maximise education, training and employment opportunities, to enjoy social relationships and to live independently."

The Care Act 2014, Children and Families Act (CFA) 2014 and the Children Act (CA) 1989 contain specific provisions designed to ensure that appropriate transition arrangements are put in place for disabled children.

Government guidance requires a multi-agency approach to effective transition planning for disabled young people. Unless there has been significant social care or health input in the life of a disabled young person, education should generally take the lead in transition planning. The education duties are to produce a transition plan following the annual review of a young person's Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) at 14 and every review thereafter.

Chapter 16 of the Care and Support Statutory Guidance provides detail on the way authorities should approach their duties in relation to disabled children, the parents of disabled children and young carers. Transition assessments can be combined with those required by other statutory provisions and should always include an assessment of:

• the current needs for care and support and how these impact on wellbeing
• whether the child or carer is likely to have needs for care and support after the child in question becomes 18

If so, what those needs are likely to be, and which are likely to be eligible needs;

• the outcomes the young person or carer wishes to achieve in day-to-day life and how care and support (and other matters) can contribute to achieving them

Transition assessments for young carers or adult carers must also consider whether the carer:

• is able to care now and after the child in question turns 18
• is willing to care now and will continue to after 18
• works or wishes to do so
• is or wishes to participate in education, training or recreation

The Council for Disabled Children supports the person centred model for service delivery. This approach works to use resources flexibly, designed around what is important to a person from their own perspective and works to remove any cultural and organisational barriers.

"People are not simply placed in pre-existing services and expected to adjust, rather the service strives to adjust to the person. Person centred approaches look to mainstream services and community resources for assistance and do not limit themselves to what is available within specialist services. They strive to build a person centred organisational culture."

Personalisation means thinking about care and support services in an entirely different way. This means starting with the person as an individual with strengths, preferences and aspirations and putting them at the centre of the process of identifying their needs and making choices about what, who, how and when they are supported to live their lives.

A wide range of children with very different needs require access to short breaks and direct payments. In general, as apparent needs increase, so will levels of assessment and service provisions which are appropriate to meet those different needs. Statutory guidance encourages an approach to assessment which is proportionate to the apparent need. Such an approach should avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and intrusion into the lives of families where there is a simple need for a short break or direct payment. It should also ensure that the child's identified needs are properly met through the provision.

In Southend, when a disabled young person, who has previously received short breaks provision through the Children with Disabilities Team (CWD), is approaching the age of 14, they are entitled to a disabled persons assessment (DPA) to begin their transition plan.

In consultation with the young person and their family and taking into account the level of need identified in the assessment, they will either receive a child in need service (CiN) from CWD, or be closed, pending their 16th birthday. If they remain as CiN and open to CWD they will be visited every 6 weeks and their child in need plan reviewed every 6 months.

If closed, the young person and their family will be approached to update their DPA shortly before their 16th birthday. From this point, the case will remain open to CWD under a transition plan. This will be supported and implemented by the dedicated transition workers in the CWD team. The transition worker will visit 6 monthly to update the DPA and then it will be reviewed via a child in need review every 6 months, unless the child's condition is changing rapidly, in which case it can be brought forward.

Children in receipt of Short Respite Breaks under Section 17 Children Act 1989, should have a case review that:

• ensures the service(s) provided meet the needs identified in the Child in Need Plan and safeguard and promote the welfare of the child
• focuses on outcomes for the child and family
• is a multi-agency review whenever possible. Different elements of a child's care package should not require a separate review
• include the ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child and the views of the family

A child in need review will usually include a face to face meeting but in some cases, regular review meetings may not be necessary. Generally it should be possible to include a review of Short Respite Breaks with a review of other aspects of a child's health, education or development, where some of the same people will already be together and should be included in the young person's EHCP.

Reviews should take the form of a meeting when requested by the family. In all circumstances a face to face meeting should take place at least once a year.

Depending on the level of service for the child and family and the vulnerability of the child, the local authority may wish to consider including an element in the review which is independent of the service provider and those with Parental Responsibility, for example arranging for an "independent" chair with a role similar to the role of the IRO in the case of a looked after child.

Visits should usually be undertaken by either a qualified social worker social services worker and always by a person with the skills and experience to communicate effectively with the child and fulfil the functions of the visit. Visits should take place at least six monthly or as agreed as part of the Child in Need Plan.