Transition Protocol

Introduction

These pages contain the Southend-on-Sea City Council Transition Protocol. If you require a PDF version of the Protocol please contact the Local Offer team at localoffer@southend.gov.uk

Transition Protocol 2023

Author: Strategic Transition Working Group

Version: 4.0

Review/Revision date: October 2023

Southend City Council (SCC) and its partners work extensively to enable all young people, to become as independent, connected, safe, healthy, and confident in adulthood as they can be. When a young person with care and support needs moves towards adulthood it is referred to as `Transition`.

The aim of this document is to provide information and guidance to professionals supporting young people who live in Southend through transition to adulthood. This practice guidance reflects the overarching principles that support a `good transition` as outlined in NICE Guidance 43 and provides both Children and Young People Services (CYP) and Adult and Community Services (ACS) with an overview of statutory responsibilities and good practice guidance.

Paragraph 16.1 of the Care and support statutory guidance states:

"Effective person-centred transition planning is essential to help young people and their families prepare for adulthood. Transition to adult care and support comes at a time when a lot of change can take place in a young person's life. It can also mean changes to the care and support they receive from Education, Health and Care Services, or involvement with new agencies such as those who provide support for housing, employment or further education and training."

This guidance acknowledges the need to ensure that a young person's wishes and outcomes are central to all transition planning and that a collaborative and multiagency approach is taken to support effective interventions.

Legal context

Among the key pieces of legislation that Local Authorities and Health Sector Partners must take note of when planning for a child in transition are:

  • Children Act 1989
  • Children Act 2004
  • Children and Families Act 2014
  • Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000
  • Care Act 2014
  • Mental Capacity Act 2005
  • Children and Social Work Act 2017
  • Mental Health Act 1983
  • Chronically Sick & Disabled Person's Act 1970

Each piece of legislation is supported by Regulations, Statutory Guidance, and/or a Code of Practice.

Transition from childhood to adulthood for those who have needs for care and support takes a variety of pathways and therefore the work completed to support transition requires an awareness of this complexity. Young people requiring transition support primarily come from one of the following backgrounds:

  • young people in need of support and services under the Children Act 1989 who are already known to Children's Services
  • young people known to Early Help and Family Support Services
  • young people with degenerative health conditions
  • young people whose needs have been largely met within an educational institution, but who once they leave, will require their ongoing needs to be met in some other way
  • young people in receipt of NHS Continuing Health Care
  • young people who are assessed and entitled to S117 after-care services pursuant to in S117 of the Mental Health Act 1983
  • young people detained in the Youth Justice System who will move to the Adult Custodial care
  • young people in alternative education or who are home schooled/educated at home
  • young carers whose parents have needs that do not fall within the remit of Adult and Community Service eligibility threshold but may nevertheless require advice or support
  • young people and young carers receiving children and adolescent mental health services via the SET CAMHS may also require care and support as adults even if they did not receive support from their local Children's Services Authority
  • those not known to any statutory service who often present to Services at a point of crisis upon reaching adulthood

Care Act 2014 and Children and Families Act 2014

The transition from Children to Adult Services may not happen on the young person's 18th birthday. The Care and support statutory guidance suggest that turning 18 is not a cut off point for any transition arrangements, as transition may be a staged process progressing beyond a young person's 18th birthday. If the young person has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) in place under the Children and Families Act 2014 and they make the move to Adult and Community Services (ACS), the care and support aspects of the EHC Plan will be provided under the Care Act 2014.

The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to assist with the preparation and transition to adulthood for three groups: children, young carers, and the child's carers. In doing so, there is a duty on local authorities to assess the needs of young persons who are likely to have needs for care and support when they turn 18, their carer's needs and also the needs of young persons who are carers.

The Local Authority must carry out such assessments when it judges it would be of significant benefit to that child, young carer or child carer. The Care Act Guidance says that this will generally be at the point when their needs for care and support as an adult can be predicted reasonably confidently.

For the sake of clarity, this protocol reflects the Care Act Guidance which refers to all three assessments as `transition assessments`. The Guidance provides that a `Transition Assessment` should take place in advance of a young person's 18th birthday to provide the young person, any carers and family with information and advice to prepare for adulthood. In SCC's experience, the time of significant benefit is usually when the young person with likely care and support needs turns 17 but SCC will look at the relevant circumstances of the young person and bring this forward if that would be of significant benefit to the young person.

Under the Children and Families Act 2014, preparation for adulthood must begin at the earliest opportunity, statutory guidance suggests that an ideal time to begin preparations is when a child reaches school year 9 and recommends that at this point transition considerations should be part of regular reviews. SCC advocates that discussions start at Year 9 for those who do not have an EHC Plan and that as suggested the matter of transition forms part of regular reviews.