Transition Planning and Review
The Care and Support Statutory Guidance states that the Local Authority and relevant partners should consider building on the transition assessment to form a Transition Plan. The aim of the plan is to make the young person/carer's transition to adult Care and Support as seamless as possible.
Plans should be proportionate; for example, a Transition plan for a child with Care and Support needs will likely be far more comprehensive than any Transition plan that may be developed for a young carer or an adult carer of a child. It may also be possible to combine an adult carer's plan with the plan for the child they care for.
The Transition Plan should contain all the key information in the assessment, along with a plan for the transition to adult Care and Support. Plans for children with Care and Support needs and young carers should also include key milestones along the way to support them to achieve their goals or desired outcomes.
From the plan it should be clear what is going to happen, when it is going to happen and what role different people will have.
It is important that the plan focuses not only on long term goals, but also on the things that are important to the young person/carer now.
Where the transition assessment identifies needs that are likely to be eligible for adult Care and Support the Local Authority should consider providing an indicative personal budget, so that young people, carers and their families are able to plan their Care and Support before entering the adults system.
For plans relating to a child with Care and Support needs or a young carer both the Care Act and the Children and Families Act require young people and their parents to be fully involved in the plan and any decision making about the Care and Support/Support.
Where an adult carer is to have a plan, or be included in a plan, the adult carer must be fully involved.
Young people and carers must be involved in decisions about the most appropriate time to make the transition to adult Care and Support. Advocacy support should be provided where the young person/carer has substantial difficulty in engaging in the planning process and there is no appropriate person to support them.
The Local Authority should ensure that all relevant partners involved in the provision of any existing or proposed Care and Support are also involved in transition planning. Likewise, where transition planning is being co-ordinated by another organisation (for example education) the Local Authority should be involved.
For plans relating to children with Care and Support needs professionals from different agencies should work with the young person, their parents and their community in a co-ordinated way to help raise aspirations and achieve the outcomes that matter to them.
Transition assessment and planning in itself can be of benefit in providing solutions that do not necessarily involve the provision of services, and which may help to prevent, delay or reduce needs for Care and Support/Support.
Where a young person has an EHC Plan, the first preparations for transition planning will start in year 9. The EHC Plan will contain information about the young person, their aspirations and progress towards achieving their desired outcomes. As such, it is essential that the EHC Plan at the very least informs the Transition plan to adult Care and Support that is developed with the young person.
Where the EHC Plan is to continue after the young person turns 18, the adult Care and Support Plan under the Care Act must form the basis of the ‘care’ element of the EHC Plan. Where only some of the Care and Support is directly related to the educational needs, this should be clearly marked out separately.
Section 45 of the Children and Families Act 2014 sets out the circumstances when the Local Authority may cease to maintain an EHC plan:
- When the Local Authority is no longer responsible for the young person; or
- They decide that it’s no longer necessary to maintain the plan (for example if special educational provision is no longer necessary).
When determining whether a young person aged over 18 no longer requires a plan, the Local Authority must consider whether the educational or training outcomes specified in the plan have been achieved.
For further guidance, see GOV.UK: SEND: 19 to 25-year-old's entitlement to EHC Plans.
The Care Act recognises that when a child being cared for turns 18 this can lead to a significant increase in the needs of the carer, particularly when the carer works and has perhaps been doing so while the child has been receiving education. This can be a very anxious time for the carer and the Local Authority must carry out appropriate planning to support them to be able to work.
Where a young person with Care and Support needs wishes to go on to higher education, the Local Authority should help them identify a suitable higher education establishment. When the young person has accepted a place, the Local Authority should enter into a conversation with the institution about the young person's needs and how they could be met.
The objective should be to ensure that there will be appropriate Care and Support in place from the day the young person starts at the institution. In many cases a young person studying at university will have a dual location, for example coming home to stay with the parents during weekends or holidays. Where this is the case, the Local Authority must ensure their needs are met all year round.
If a young person enters higher education, they are no longer entitled to an EHC Plan. Any EHC plan they have will cease, and a Care and Support/Support plan will be required instead.
When a young person intends to move to another area in order to go to University of college, they will usually remain ordinarily resident in the area where their parents live (or in the Local Authority area that had responsibility for them as a child).
For further information about ordinary residence under the Care Act, see Ordinary Residence.
The Transition plan and assessment should be reviewed periodically, in a proportionate and timely way, to ensure that it continues to reflect the young person/carer's needs and outcomes. The Care and Support Statutory Guidance recognises that often the priorities of young people/young carers can change, and it is important to not lose sight of what is important to them.
A review should also be carried out if there has been a significant change of circumstances since the Transition plan was prepared which may mean that it is no longer appropriate.
The young person/carer and their family are also able to request a review of the plan at any time under the Care Act, and the Local Authority must consider the request. Unless there is a good reason not to, the Local Authority should carry out a review when requested.
Last Updated: February 12, 2024
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