Make the Transition into Adulthood

1.Understand the steps and stages of moving from childhood to adulthood. 1.1Identify the range of physical, social and emotional changes which occur for young people as they move into adult. Fear of the unknown

Acceptance from the general population
Involvement in the process
Choice, control and independence
1.2Explain the changes faced by young people as they move from childhood into adulthood in relation to their: freedoms, rights and responsibilities.
As a young person moves from childhood into adulthood there are many changes that they will face with freedoms, rights and responsibilities. These may include changes in their benefits, housing arrangements, care needed and the involvement of professionals after the age of eighteen. These changes may come as a shock and the young person may feel unprepared so it is the role of the parent or carer to ensure that as much of this transition period is explained and tuition given as possible. 1.3Explain how culture may impact on the process of moving from childhood into adulthood.

Within certain cultures there are specific rites of passage that the young people are expected to complete before they are seen as adults, for a child in the care sector these may be difficult to achieve and they may feel that they are being held back and will not be viewed as an adult in the eyes of their own culture. 1.4Explain theories about change and how this can affect a young person with a disability.

Current evidence about the transition to adulthood for young people with disabilities indicates that the process is extremely challenging. While there are substantial personal challenges such as physical, sensory, cognitive and communicative limitations, environmental barriers often present the most significant challenges for transition. Also, policies, systems and services tend to be uncoordinated or fragmented and young people with disabilities and their families lack the information needed to make the
transition successfully. As a result of challenges, and the difficulty young people experience in accessing support mean that many transitions are not successful. This limits opportunities for full participation in adult life. Stories from young people and their parents indicate that they feel like they “have been dropped off a cliff” once they reach adulthood. 2.Understand how having a disability may affect the process of moving from childhood into adulthood. 2.1Explain, giving examples, the potential effects of the transition process on young people with disabilities and their families.

While working with one specific young person with autism that was approaching the age of 18, the transition period was difficult for him to deal with. He received constant support from his family and from all staff within the care setting but unfortunately but due to his diagnosis the thought of turning 18 and being an adult started to make him anxious. I found that the more I spoke to him regarding the transition and the changes that were going to happen, made things easier for him to process the information given. I found that when I gave him information and allowed him to ask me questions the calmer he would become allowing the final transition from child services to adult services to run a lot smoother than it would have done if no information was given. 2.2Identify challenges young people with a disability might have understanding and coping with change. Understanding of the situation

Understanding the changes to come
Coping with the change in services offered
Coping with the changes to professionals that will be working with them Coping with and understanding the level of independence that they will have. 2.3Outline the methods that can be used to support a young person with a disability to cope with change.

Information
By ensuring that the young person is kept in the loop with any information regarding the changes and explaining it to them in a way that they can understand, this allows them to come to terms with everything that may
affect them. Time

By starting the transition period sooner it allows the young person time to decide with help what they want from adulthood and gives professionals the chance to implement these things for the young person. Choices

The young person is at the centre of the transition process so they should be given all of the options to make their own choices regarding their future. With the aid of professionals and family members this is more than achievable. Outside Agencies

Outside agencies may be used to aid the young person in the transition process, these may include child/adult social care, the learning disabilities team, CAHMS and organisations like Grapevine. 2.4Explain how legislation and local and national practice guidelines affect the planning of the transition for a young person with a disability from childhood into adulthood.

The Children’s Act 1989
Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 places a duty on local authorities to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in need and to promote the upbringing of children by their families, so far as this is consistent with their welfare duty to the child, by providing an appropriate range and level of services. A child in need is one who is disabled, or unlikely either to achieve a reasonable standard of health or whose health or development will suffer unless services are provided.

NHS and Community Care Act 1990, S47
If, during the Section 47(1) assessment the person is identified as being ‘disabled’, that person has additional rights as set out in Section 47(2). This requires local authorities to make a decision as to the services required under Section 4 of the Disabled Persons (Services and Consultation and Representation) Act 1986.

The Transition Support Programme
The Transition Support Programme is a three year national government programme, running between 2008 and 2011. It was developed to support work on improving practice on all aspects of the transition to adulthood for disabled young people and their families. It is part of a wider government programme called Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC), which is transforming local services in England for all disabled children, young people and their families. Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act harmonises and in some cases extends existing discrimination law covering the ‘protected characteristics’ defined next below: Disability
A person has a disability if s/he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. 2.5Describe the legislation that affects the rights of a young person with a disability to make decisions about their own life.

The Human Rights Act 2000
Human rights are not just about the law. The Human Rights Act influences the way public services are delivered to disabled people. The Human Rights Act says that providers of public services, such as staff at residential homes, educational bodies or hospitals, or carers in your own home, must make sure that they do not breach your human rights. Your right to respect for your private life includes a right to personal autonomy (making your own choices about your life) and human dignity. This is very wide-ranging, covering issues such as privacy, your relationships with other people, your life in the community, culture and language. It is relevant to the decisions you make about your life and the way you are treated. Issues that may be particularly relevant for disabled people include: privacy concerning your body:

Who sees or touches your body is an important part of your private life and may affect your dignity. Leaving you undressed in a busy ward, or a member of the opposite sex washing or dressing you when you have asked for this not to occur, may interfere with your right to respect for your private life.

Personal and sexual relationships: this could be significant where your ability to form or sustain relationships, including sexual relationships, might be restricted, for example in a residential care home. Blanket policies restricting sexual relationships may interfere with your right to respect for your private life.

Participating in community life: your private life may be involved if you are unable to participate in the life of the community or access essential economic, social, cultural and recreational activities. For example, if you attend a day care centre but are unable to go on their excursions because the centre does not attempt to accommodate your mobility or other support needs, this may interfere with your private life. Another example might be if a local authority fails to ensure that any school transport provided is accessible, meaning that a disabled child is unable to travel to school.

3.Know The Options for Supporting a Young Person Who Has a Disability To Make The Transition into Adulthood. 3.1Explain how a young person with a disability can have equal opportunities to make life choices as a young person without a disability.

Due to legislation and policies that exist in this country all people with a disability or without have the same opportunities and options. This means that a person with a disability is able to apply for the same jobs as someone without a disability without the fear of being discriminated against. This is also true in other aspect like: housing, medical care and benefits. 3.2Explain how to support a young person with a disability to explore the options available in relation to employment or continued education and development.

Taken from the Department of Education:
To help give young people the opportunities and support they need to succeed in education, get a job and live independent life we have: •Developed plans for an Education, Health and Care Plan that provides statutory protections for young people over 16 and up to 25 in colleges that are comparable to those associated with SEN statements • Consulted on proposals for a more
flexible approach to programmes of study for young people over 16 so that they can follow a programme designed to meet their individual needs; • Provided £4.5 million to colleges to test innovative ways of delivering high quality work experience placements for 4,000 young people aged 16 or 17 who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), around 400 of whom will have SEN or be disabled; and • Developed plans for trialling supported internships, a new route into the world of work for young people with a statement or Learning Difficulty Assessment for whom an Apprenticeship is not a realistic option. Funding of £3 million is being made available to support the trials. Young people have consistently told us that what they want once they leave school or college is to get a job. In the Green Paper, we asked how we might ensure that when disabled young people and those with SEN choose to move directly from school or college into the world of work, the transition is well planned. We also asked who would be best placed to support them. This planning and support is crucial if we want to make a real difference to young people’s outcomes. We asked how employers could be encouraged to offer constructive work experience and job opportunities for disabled young people and young people with SEN. What this information shows is that the government have made it more accessible for young people with a disability to access continued/further education and prospects for work and work based training. 3.3Explain how personal budgets can be used with young people in transition. Personal budgets can be used for young people in transition by opening up possibilities for independence that they might not have had before and to help them to get used to the idea that they are able to do things for themselves. It has been recorded that families that have received the personal budget have noticed a significant change in their child for the better while moving towards adulthood. 4.Understand how to support a young person with a disability through a successful Transition. 4.1Explain the factors to consider, and types of support that a young person may need before, during and after the transition process.

Ensure that the child/young person receives the information that they need so that they are kept up to date and are fully aware of the circumstances.
Take a planned approach so that the transition can go as smoothly as possible to cause less stress and anxiety for the young person.
Work collaboratively in planning and managing the transition by working with the family, professionals and outside agencies to make sure that any moves or changes are in place and ready for the transition to take place.

Minimise the number of changes for a young person to make the transition easier for the young person to understand and cope with.
Focus on continuity by trying to keep as many of the young persons’ routines the same throughout the transition process. This will help to lever anxiety levels. 4.2Explain how person-centred transition reviews and person-centred thinking can be used as part of this planning process. Working with a person-centred can have massive benefits for the service user by providing a more interactive and comfortable environment for participants. It has been shown that it was easier to join in, to contribute views on much wider topics about the person’s current situation, and to think “out of the box” about the future. Person-centred reviews and planning also allowed more discussion of issues that would not have been raised or discussed if the usual format was used and focused more on relevant outcomes to support the person to achieve their aspirations. Increased attention on thinking about and planning creatively for the person’s future is also at the forefront of person-centred planning, rather than mainly discussing the past as in the old format. This also provides more accessible paperwork, such as minutes of the reviews. The whole process benefits from time given to support participants to prepare for the review rather than time and resources being swallowed by a more non person-centred method.

4.3Explain the difference in approaches to planning between children’s and adult’s support services.

With children’s services all permissions must be sought from either the parents or social services whereas with adult services it is down to the service user to make the decisions that regard their own life. This allows for the service use to have more say in what happens and what they wish to do and achieve rather than being held back by seeking permissions.

4.4Describe how to involve families in the transition process.

Families should be involved as much as possible in the transition process as they have the most experience with the service user so they will have the greatest amount of information to provide in the plan for transition and the actual transitions itself. They will also be able to help alleviate and worry or anxiety that the service user may be feeling.

4.5Explain the role of key agencies and professionals likely to be involved in the transition period.

Care Staff:
The role of care staff within the transition period is to aid the service user to try to prepare them for the transition and aid in the planning and implementation of any action related to the plan for transition.

Child/Adult Social Care:
Social care, be it for adults or young people will be involved in all aspects of the transition process including the planning. Their role is to make sure that any outside agencies that may need to be involved throughout the process are kept up to date on the plans and wishes of the service user and ensuring that the needs or the service user will are and will be met before, during and after transition.

Child/Adult Disability Team:
Where the service user has a disability, the disability team will be involved in the planning and implementation of the transition process to ensure that the service user is aware and understands all of the changes that will happen and to ensure that the service users’ needs are being met.

4.6Outline possible areas of tension that may arise during the transition into adulthood.

Tension may arise during transition due to many reasons, some of these are: Family members may want different things to the service user. The service user may change their mind mid process, causing issues with the plan.
Breakdown in communication between the service user and the professionals.

4.7Compare difference methods of support to use with young people with disabilities who have varying abilities.

As in most aspect of life people have a different level of ability, this is drastically increased with people with a form of disability whether it be physical or a learning disability. With individuals with a physical disability the aid that they will need is completely different to that of a person with a learning disability such as autism or Down syndrome. With a physical disability they methods that will be used will mainly be aimed towards making their mobility a priority in the form of wider door frames or a ground floor disabled toilet, where as a learning disability is aimed more towards learning life skills, getting support with living and coping with change.

5.Understand the importance of supporting a young person and their family to reflect on the transition. 5.1Explain why it is important to reflect on the transition with the young person and their family. It is important to reflect on the transition with the young person and their family to discover their thoughts and feelings on how the transition process was handled, if they feel that there is anything that could have been handled better and if they feel that the transition was successful. This information is important as it allows for learning and growth to improve the service and make sure that further cases are handled in a professional way with every care taken to ensure that the service user can lead the life that they wish for.

5.2Explain the importance of recording the process of transition.

It is important to record the process of transition to improve the service given and to allow for all documentation to be reviewed to make sure that that process was completed correctly and everything was planned and executed professionally and in line with current legislation and policies.