Moving from Children's Services to Adult Social Care and health is often called transition.
Find out about how to prepare for your transitions assessment meeting in our easy read factsheet.
Moving from Children's Services to Adult Social Care and health is often called transition.
Find out about how to prepare for your transitions assessment meeting in our easy read factsheet.
When we talk about transition we mean the time when a young person, who has care and support needs, moves from childhood into adulthood.
Life for adults is different to life for children. It's important that you and your family have the right information at the right time to make sure you're prepared for adulthood.
From year 9 at school you should start thinking and talking to others about:
To help us understand what your care and support needs might be when you reach adulthood we have a small specialist Transitions Team.
Our Transitions Team provides information, advice and guidance about preparing for adulthood and being as independent as possible.
An Adult Social Care worker, often from the Transitions Team, carries out a transition assessment with young people from 14 years old who have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and who may need care and support as an adult.
The transition assessment meeting is all about you.
Our Transitions Team arrange to meet with you and your family to understand your situation and to plan for the future. They give you information about what you can expect. They usually do this by doing an assessment under the Care Act 2014.
The transition worker asks you what you like to do and what you're good at. They ask you what your plans are for when you leave school, which could include things like:
The transition worker asks you what skills you want to learn and what help you might need with things like:
The transition worker will ask you about relationships and being part of your community which could include things like:
The transition worker will also ask you about your health and this could include things like:
The transition worker will also talk to you about any worries you may have and if you have any questions.
All transition assessments include a written record of:
Find out how to prepare for your transition assessment (easy read).
You may be referred for a transition assessment if you:
We should carry out a transition assessment at a time of significant benefit.
This means thinking about the timing of the assessment and what might be going on in your day-to-day life, such as exams or medical treatment. It also means doing the assessment at a time in your life when planning for adulthood can start in good time.
You should have discussions about preparing for adulthood from year 9 at your EHC plan review. These discussions should happen at every review after this too. This is a chance for everyone involved to think about whether they should make a referral for a transition assessment for you. If they agree that it's the right time then any professional at the review meeting can request a referral for a transition assessment.
Your children's social care professional who works with you will decide if you need a transitions referral. They will discuss this with you and make the referral directly to the Transitions Team.
You can make a referral for a transition assessment yourself. This is called a self-referral. Contact the Adult Social Care team to make a self-referral.
If you're over 16 years old and you're able to, you should consent to a referral being made.
We must be satisfied that an assessment is in your best interests if you are:
Watch this video to find out more about the Mental Capacity Act:
We'll send you a copy of the assessment along with a letter providing:
There can be several next steps after an assessment:
A really important part of the assessment is to think about what we need to do to support your independence. We will make recommendations for how this could happen.
These are known as the preparing for adulthood recommendations. We ask you for your consent to share your recommendations with:
The recommendations are used for the preparing for adulthood section of your EHC plan. They should also be part of your discussions at your EHC plan review from year 9 onwards.