Talk to me about Preparation for Adulthood. What should my young person be supported with, and when?
- Sarah
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Preparation for Adulthood is such a grey area as far as what ‘should’ and must happen that it makes the previous experiences of ‘woolly wording’ seem positively silken. The SEND Code of Practice for Preparation for Adulthood has ‘shoulds’ and ‘coulds’ thrown around as generously as old fashioned school cake has Hundreds and Thousands sprinkled on the top.
What ‘should’ happen, and what does happen is often worlds apart.
What exactly is meant by Preparation for Adulthood?
Consider how your young person will manage either Further Education, Higher Education or employment.
Do you, and more importantly, does your young person have any ideas or aspirations for future employment or career trajectory? Would they like to be self-employed? Will they need support from employment agencies? What courses would they like to attend? What courses are available to them? Do they know where to find these courses, and in this instance more importantly do you and do the current school know?
Unfortunately, the lack of SEND careers advice in mainstream schools makes this very difficult. Our young people are often included in careers advice, which is only appropriate for their non-SEND friends, leaving those with additional needs with very few options available to them.
The Local Offer isn’t usually a wealth of information, and as in previous years will be focused upon maintained placements with a conspicuous absence of independent providers. Parents, as ever, must do their own research, or mainstream it will be.
Consider independent living skills, does your young person need support with these? Is this being supported in the current setting, and if so, is this support appropriate for a young person with SEND? Will your young person be able to live independently, or will they need accommodation and living arrangements made for them including supported living? This can be an extremely hard consideration to make for any parents of a young person with additional needs. The long term thought of who, and how your young person will manage when you are unable to do so on their behalf, can be both overwhelming and extremely upsetting.
How will your young person participate in society? Do they have supportive friends and supportive relationships with others of the same age? Are they able to participate and contribute to the local community? Isolation in adulthood, when your young person no longer has the opportunity to meet people each day within their educational environment, can be something that is not considered by both parents, and those currently supporting them in education. The implications of isolation are huge, and so whilst community involvement sounds like an ‘add on’ it is extremely important.
Healthcare, our ‘children’ are moved from paediatrics to adult healthcare. This must be undertaken sensitively, as for any young person who has had extensive healthcare interventions as a child, being suddenly moved into adult Healthcare can be a less than pleasant experience. In-patient care will go from a paediatric ward into an adult ward with all ages and must be handled carefully.
Preparation for adulthood as you can see is more than just education.
Often just referred to as PfA it must cover the following ‘headings’ at the very least.
Employment
Independent Living
Community Inclusion
Health
General Wellbeing and Understanding
This must start to make an appearance in EHCPs from Year 9 onwards, and it can be flaky to say the least.
Careers advice
All Maintained schools and pupil referral units have a statutory duty under Section 42 a of the Education Act 1997 to make sure that all pupils from Year 8 until Year 13 are provided with independent careers guidance. This should include taster days, work experience, mentoring and exploring entrepreneurial options, role models and inspiring speakers. See SEND Code of Practice 8.27/28.
From year 9 onwards Preparation for Adulthood should be part of every Annual Review and be included in the EHCP, again this can be variable in how this is undertaken and included. This should be including discussions regarding the young person’s future aspirations, and to include independent living skills, maintaining good health, friendships, future decision-making, and involvement with society and the local community.
Once your young person has turned 16, they will have the right to make independent decisions regarding their ongoing education and training. This includes decisions on continuing within education and training. Parents should continue to be involved, particularly if there are concerns about safeguarding, attendance and capacity to make the right decision independently. (For more information on this see Mental Capacity Act 2005, Annex one.)
You should discuss with your SENDCo at your post 16 Annual Review how visits and taster days will be put in place, and how study will be structured to include Preparation for Adulthood. When looking at study options your young person should not be expected to repeat study they have already undertaken. Programmes for those with additional needs must be ambitious including those which do not require a qualification to be achieved. At Post 16 there should be consideration for work based learning to enable your young person to have first-hand experience of the employment that they are interested in undertaking.
To do this the SENDCo must be considering:
Apprenticeships specifically for young people with an EHC plan,
Traineeships, where the young person with an EHC plan retains their EHCP whilst undertaking a traineeship
Supported Internships structured specifically for young people with EHCPs. These normally last a year and can be extended. A young person undertaking a Supported Internship will also retain their EHCP throughout.
Your young person is entitled to support across 5 days of the week with an EHCP. This will provide for education, healthcare and preparation for adulthood.
Within this time the package a provision can include (along with education):
Volunteering
Community participation
Work experience
Skills for living
Independent travel training
Support to access facilities in the local community including maintaining friendships.
Should your young person require health and care therapeutic intervention this will still be included within the EHCP, subject to the evidence to state this is required - as in all previous years.
A word of warning - your local authority will attempt to move therapy and health into adult social care; you must be aware of this. Provision is often watered down at Post 16 with a view to moving into adult social care and away from educational provision. This is not legal, but it won't surprise you to know it happens regularly. Many Post-16s find that the ‘educational’ provision becomes very vague, to the point of being almost excluded, for this very reason. Watch for this.
When your young person turns 18, they may well become eligible for Adult Care Services under the Care Act 2014. The Local Authority must carry out an Adult Care Transition Assessment, but will only do so when there is a significant benefit to the young person in doing so. This must not be undertaken in an effort to cease the EHCP unless this applies and your young person is no longer engaging or undertaking education and training.
Personal budgets can come into their own at Post 16 to enable your young person to undertake the additional activities that they require, to enable them to become independent adults. As it was when they were younger, this information must come from your professional evidence and cannot be as a parental request.
We have a blog on transitioning to University. See HERE for further information should this apply to your young person.
For those at Post 19 to 25 the EHC Plan will provide access to training and work experience appropriate to their needs, but they must evidence that they are still benefiting from and engaging with education and training. This includes Apprenticeships and Supported Internships.
So, let's now look at how preparation for adulthood can, and should be included within your child or young person’s EHC Plan moving forwards from year 9.
If your child attends a Special School or Specialist Independent School the provision for Preparation for Adulthood Is likely to be far greater than a child or young person in a Mainstream setting.
Many Specialist Independent schools will have provision within their Sixth Forms whereby your young person will have the opportunity to learn how to use household appliances including washing machines, ironing, and cooking, for example, to support independence within the home.
Independent travel training can be a contentious subject, with many Local Authorities excluding themselves of their responsibility for transport by using the requirements for independent travel training as a means of the young person getting themselves to the placement and back each day.
Independent travel training is more than this, it includes learning how to read timetables, buying a train ticket, travelling by public transport and troubleshooting, should that not go according to plan.
Independent living skills will include shopping, meal preparation, budgeting, banking, the writing of CVs and job applications, and interviews. It will also include application for benefits and additional support services.
Career advice can be hit and miss, with many young people being very poorly supported in this area. We advise that parents do not rely upon 1) the school and 2) the ‘careers advisor’ for this support but make their own investigations and research to ‘compliment’ that which is provided.
Start looking at college prospectuses early, look at the interests that your young person has. Can these be utilised in future employment or training? It’s hard enough to decide as a young person without additional needs, so if this is a struggle for your SEND young person look for a general studies course that will provide more options in the upcoming years, including as an entry qualification for other career paths.
Don’t leave Post 16 until the Post 16 Annual Review, planning is everything, and from here on in, there’s more to consider than just the ‘education’ part of the EHCP.
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