Planning for the future as an adult with Special Educational Needs and/or Disability (SEND).
The Transitions team - Who are we and what do we do?
We are a team of social workers and nurses with a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience. We work city wide to provide specialist advice, guidance and support to young people between the ages of 14 and 25 with a range of disabilities and or complex health needs. We also support their families, parents and carers during the transition from childhood into adulthood.
We work closely alongside social workers (both children and adult), education providers and health professionals, as well as a wide range of voluntary and independent sector providers to develop the support for a young person’s needs to be met as an adult.
These plans take into account all the aspects of a young person’s life, care and support needs so that they can make choices to reach their full potential and increase independence.
Which young people are eligible?
- Have a diagnosed disability
- Have an allocated social worker from Children’s Social Work Service who has identified that the young person may have care and support needs from adult services
- Have either a Statement of Special Education Needs or and Education Health Care Plan (EHC Plan)
- Be between the ages of 14 and 25 years
- Must live within the Leeds boundary
How are referrals to the team made?
The social worker working with the young person can call us for advice and information prior to making a direct referral. The family or young person is not able to self-refer for this service.
After we have received the referral it is allocated to a worker on the team to make an assessment and confirm that the Transitions Team are the most suitable service to help (although our assessment will usually only start from the age of 16 unless the case is very complicated).
What happens after referral?
We will become involved after the young person turns 14 years old. We will usually attend the young person’s Year 9 school review in order to gather more information and make an initial decision to proceed in offering a service to help them and their family plan for adult services.
If we require further information to help in making a decision, we will continue to attend school reviews or any other relevant meetings such as Child in Need or Children Looked After reviews until we are sure that this is the right service for the young person.
If the Transitions Team is a suitable service, we will work with the young person and their parents or carers, to help them make decisions and informed choices about their future and the lifestyle that they want to achieve in adulthood. We will also work with other professionals and agencies who are supporting the young person to help them achieve their goals. This work usually begins in Year 11 when the young person is aged 16.
