Transition for Young People with Special Educational Needs including Learning Disabilities Denise Franks MSc BSc RGN RN RM RHV Cert Ed (FE) Lead Transition Nurse Specialist Solent NHS Trust

Who does this issue affect? The Office for Disability Issues has updated Department for Work and Pensions estimates which show there are 11.6 million disabled people in Great Britain, of whom 5.7 million are adults of working age, 5.1 million are over state pension age and 0.8 million are children.

Why is this important? A substantially higher proportion of individuals who live in families with disabled members live in poverty, compared to individuals who live in families where no one is disabled. 19% of individuals in families with at least one disabled member live in relative income poverty, on a before housing costs basis, compared to 15% of individuals in families with no disabled member 21% of children in families with at least one disabled member are in poverty, a significantly higher proportion than the 16% of children in families with no disabled member.

What can be done to help change this? The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice (CoP) provides statutory guidance for organisations working with, and supporting, children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It is derived from Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and the regulations which accompany this Act, and came into effect in September The Code of Practice (2014) covers the 0-25 age range and includes guidance relating to disabled children and young people as well as those with SEN

2014 Significant and important differences Participation joint planning and commissioning High aspirations and improving outcomes Local Offer A graduated approach EHC plan replacing SENs and LDAs Support for success in education

How does this translate to how it is done? Does your area currently have a structured multi agency approach? Is there a process by which young people with SEND become known to adult services? Are there clear links between the statutory and independent services that are used to develop a comprehensive plan for a young person? How will funding be shared between agencies and how will this be decided? What professionals work in the transition age group in your area? Are there currently gaps in services between child and adult services? Is there a transition team whose work involves coordination of services and can access information in all of the services to share appropriately with adult services? Have adult services been included in the planning of the 0-25 structure?

Issues to overcome Development of facilities locally that can accommodate the needs of young people who need extra time to reach the educational level they require to move on to adulthood Person centred approaches that allow the young person to express their dreams and aspirations that are enabled towards achievement IT systems that link together to enable sharing of information of young people with their consent and best interests and take into account the reasons why they may need particular support A transparent personalised budget system to manage the individualised funding for young people as they attempt to become independent Acknowledgement that not all agencies are at the same point of development in the introduction of the 0-25 plan, particularly in the post 18 age group

References number-11/223-transition-to-adulthood-for-young- people-with-complex-needs-and-long-term-conditions- a-case-study.html number-11/223-transition-to-adulthood-for-young- people-with-complex-needs-and-long-term-conditions- a-case-study.html y-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures#about- these-statistics y-facts-and-figures/disability-facts-and-figures#about- these-statistics /1595-free-online-course-from-onlinetraining-ltd-in- the-new-send-legislation-aimed-at-raising-awareness- in-schools-and-including-a-self-assessment- element.html /1595-free-online-course-from-onlinetraining-ltd-in- the-new-send-legislation-aimed-at-raising-awareness- in-schools-and-including-a-self-assessment- element.html