Moving into Adulthood (Transition)

The information on these pages has been produced to support those young people with a disability and their carers moving from their teenage years into adulthood. Social Care and Health and Education call this period 'Transition'.

There is information about the variety of services on offer across the borough - not just educational but employment, housing and leisure opportunities that exist for young people with a disability.

What is Transition and when does it take place?

Transition refers to a period in time that all young people will go through and occurs during the teens and early twenties.

During this time there may be many changes in a young person's life. There may be changes from child to adult services, from school to further and higher education, and from childhood dependency to adult responsibility.

Young people with a disability and their families often find the transition to adulthood both stressful and difficult. However, starting adult life should be a time of opportunity for young people and should be a positive experience as they take steps towards adulthood.

What is the Transition Process?

There are two elements to Transition that face young people and this will involve changes in education and for some young people, changes in some of the services they receive for example, from Social Care and Health.

Transition Co-ordination

Ensuring that the Transition process and the change in services run smoothly is important for all concerned. In order to help guide a young person and their parents/carers through these changes, Transition Co-ordinators in the Children with Disabilities Team and the Adult Disability Services will be available to provide additional support and will oversee any changes.

Educational Transition

The Transition process begins at about the age of 14 years (year 9) when the young person's school will organise a Transition Review. This first review will introduce questions about what will happen to that young person when they leave school. A young person can leave school at 16, although most young people decide to stay on and move into further education.

Those students with a Statement of Special Education Needs often need considerable assistance and formal planning for leaving school. The first review, and all subsequent reviews, will play a major role in planning for this. These reviews will involve all those people and organisations that will help and assist the young person when he/she leaves school.

The reviews will produce a Transition Plan for the young person's move to adult life. A number of people will be invited to these meetings, including the young person themselves, their parents/carers and relevant professionals (teachers/tutors, physiotherapist, speech therapist, medical staff, social workers). All these people will help draw up the Transition Plan, which will be reviewed annually and will look at all aspects of the young person's life. The plan will identify who needs to do what and by when to help with the young person's Transition. These Transition reviews will continue until the young person has left school.

Social Care and Health Transition

The first Transition review held at school should include a representative from Social Care and Health, either the young person's Social Worker and/or a worker from the Children with Disabilities Team. This worker can assist with the planning for the immediate future and can look at other issues not necessarily just to do with education. They can help with short-term care, adaptations to the home, social activities and other issues.

At 16 the worker from the Children with Disabilities Team will begin a Transition Assessment. This will highlight areas of need that are current now and also look to the future. The worker can arrange for services to be put into place if these are required.

At 17 the worker from the Children with Disabilities Team will refer the young person to the Adult Disability Services. A worker from the Adult Disability Service will come and introduce themselves to the young person and their family and talk about services that are available within Adult Services.

At 18 Adult Services will then support the young person. This may mean a change in some of the services the young person receives, for example if the young person is using the Family Link Scheme, this may change to the Adult Placement Scheme.

A worker from Adult Services will continue to attend any further Transition meetings and liase with the young person, their parents/carers and other professionals to ensure that services are provided as required.