Moving from children's services to Adult Social Care

When you turn 18 years old you will be classed as an adult, this will mean changes to the way you receive support from a variety of professionals and organisations. In Telford and Wrekin, we are committed to supporting our young people, their families and carers in preparing for adulthood to ensure you are supported to be independent.

Preparing for Adulthood is sometimes called Transitions. We understand that Preparing for Adulthood can be a scary time and you will need information and support to help you. Your support will be co-ordinated across a range of agencies including health and social care, education, housing, employment, information, advice and guidance, providers, benefits, youth and leisure services.

We have a responsibility to you and your carers in adult services under a piece of legislation called the Care Act 2014. You will have been supported by different legislation before you turned 18 years old. If you’re leaving care then the Care Act may not be the only legislation supporting you. Your social worker or personal advisor will be able to tell you more.

View information about the Care Act 2014

Preparing for adulthood process

Adult social care have social workers and adult practitioners to work with you to prepare you for when you turn 18 years old. They will explain to you what this means and how it may impact on the support you receive.

This process is all about you and to support your aspirations for the future, staying in education, getting a job, being more independent – to identify all your strengths you have, regardless of what type of diagnosis you have, what type of support you need or what support you have had previously. The focus is on four key preparing for adulthood areas:

Our adult practitioner will attend your Year 9 and Year 11 school reviews to introduce themselves to you and the people important to you. They will ask you about all the things that are working well for you, what your interests are, and what your aims are for your future.

We know the earlier we start talking to you and the people important to the better we can start to plan for your future. All the information we record will be shared with you.

What happens next?

From 14 years old you, your carer (including parents, family, and/or grand-parents) or your children’s social worker can make a referral to adult social care.

Your allocated worker from adult social care will complete a Person Centred Plan with you to identify what your aims are for the future, what you would like to achieve and who can help you with this. This will be the start of your preparation to adulthood which will include a Care Act Assessment, if you need support from adult social care, view information about the Care Act assessment.

Everyone is entitled to a Care Act assessment; this will be your document and should reflect your strengths, wishes, and desired outcomes.

What support will I receive?

As part of your assessment, we will establish if you meet the Care Act eligibility criteria for care and support, view information about the eligibility criteria to receive adult care and support.

As a result of your assessment you may be offered information, advice or be referred to another agency that we think will be able to help you; this is to ensure your needs are being met. If you are happy with this then we will close your record but you can come back to us again at any time.

If we identify that you need support in being independent and/or having your care and support needs met, we will support you to think about how these needs can be met. This can be from existing services in the community that can help you be or become more independent.

If you need paid care and support we will help you design your support plan. Your support plan, like your Care Act assessment, will be all about you and how we will support you to be as independent as you possibly can. To design your support plan you will be allocated a personal budget, this is a monetary value that will help you pay for your care and support. View information about personal budgets.

Whichever way you choose to have your care provided, we will support you to review your care is in place, this will happen every year, but more often if necessary, your allocated worker can explain this to you further.

If your circumstances change or you want to review your care you can request a review from us at any time.

Once you turn 18 years old, if you chose to stay in education we will support your Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP). You may already have an EHCP before you turn 18 years ld, but the support you receive will change as you may be assessed under the Care Act.

Will I have to pay?

The assessment and any information and advice provided by the council is free. The services you receive as a result of the assessment may not be free. Depending on your financial circumstances you may have to contribute to the cost of any support provided. To find out if you are eligible for financial support we will complete a financial assessment.

View information about financial assessments to find out if you are eligible for financial support to help pay for your care

Last updated: 03/06/2021 12:22