Transitions into adulthood
What does this mean?
If you’re a young person, in most cases when you reach 18, the responsibility for providing your social care support transfers from Children's Services to Adult Social Care.
A detailed transition into adulthood plan should be made before your 18th birthday to reflect your needs and wishes for education, training, leisure and employment. This should include social care support to enable you to pursue your goals and to live more independently, if appropriate.
When you reach adulthood, the services provided may change. This could mean that you’re no longer eligible for the same services, or that more services are needed to support your carer.
What if I prefer to organise my own support?
Our priority is to support people who have no other option or need additional help. If you’re happy with the support you’re able to organise, you don’t have to contact Adult Social Care if you’d rather not.
Who’s eligible for support?
When you become 18 and need practical help because of a physical or learning disability, or sight or hearing problems, you can ask us to look at your social care needs as an adult. Take a look at our page on eligibility for more details.
What support can I get?
We’ll need to discuss with you what support you might need. We call this an assessment and it’s a thorough discussion with you and your parents or carers. It may also involve gathering information from other professionals who work with you and know your situation well.
We may offer you short term assistance called Reablement to regain your independence or confidence. This service lasts for up to 6 weeks and is free.
After Reablement, we’ll discuss any ongoing needs you might have through a Self Directed Support (SDS) Assessment, where we’ll estimate the cost of your support and let you know whether we can make a financial contribution.
Can I get help with the cost?
You may have to contribute towards the cost of your support, depending on your level of savings, income and expenses.
We’ll help you to fill out a financial assessment form to see if you qualify for help. To get a rough idea of costs and how much you’ll pay, you can carry out a quick, confidential, financial self assessment online.
If we can make a contribution, we call this a Personal Budget. You can look after the money yourself and use it to arrange your own support, or you can ask the Council to hold the money and help you to find the support you need.
What if I don’t qualify for financial support?
If you don't qualify for financial help from us, you could arrange to employ someone directly, a Personal Assistant, to support you. Hestia, a local organisation, can help you to find someone.
The Money Advice Service, set up by government, provides free, unbiased and independent advice, including useful information on employing your own personal assistant.
You could also contact a private home care agency. Remember to take care to choose an agency that’s registered and inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Call 03000 616161 or email enquiries@cqc.org.uk. We maintain a list of home care agencies
(pdf, 295KB) in the borough.
How to get in touch
For more information on Transition please follow the link to our Children’s section, If you already receive services as a young person then please speak to your social care practitioner.
If you’re 18 or over and you have no social care practitioner, then the Adult Social Care Access Team should be your first point of contact for all referrals and general enquiries.
Please contact me about this service
If you’re still unsure you can contact the Adult Social Care Access Team