News Insight: Health - Smooth transition for disabled teens

The government last week launched the £19m Aiming High for Disabled Children Transition Support Programme.

The programme aims to join up child and adult services to make sure disabled young people have a smooth transition to adulthood. The cash will be used to improve how local authorities engage with disabled young people and their families.

Here, CYP Now asks the sector for its tips to help local authorities and their partners achieve just this.

Start young

Cheryl Sharland, head of integrated services for children and young people with additional needs at Suffolk County Council, says it is essential to start work with young people as soon as you can.

The council has an independent advocacy service, which starts work with disabled young people when they are 11. It is currently considering bringing the starting age down to five.

"Start as young as possible to get the service tailored to meet their needs," says Sharland. "That is better than coming in at 14 when it can sometimes be too late."

Be flexible

Liz Ranger, parent participation manager at the charity Contact A Family, says parents must be asked how they would like to be involved in the process.

"Use a variety of different ways to engage with parents," she says. "Parents are not one-size-fits-all and the ways they choose to get involved will not be the same. Involvement can be more innovative than just a monthly meeting, such as online forums or done through existing groups."

Build capacity

Brian Lamb, a board member for the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, says sustainability is key in any work with young people.

"We urge local authorities to use their new funding to work with existing groups with the aim of building capacity locally, rather than by organising ad hoc events," he says. "We want to see all local areas build sustainable structures to engage with disabled young people in the long term."

Create better opportunities

Mark Robertson, director of communications at charity Whizz-Kidz, says disabled young people need better help with employment, life skills and volunteering.

"In a recent survey of Whizz-Kidz' beneficiaries, a quarter of young people said they were not getting their personal development needs met, 27 per cent were not being given the skills to get a job and 29 per cent were not being taught life skills that would prepare them for adulthood," he says.

Improve post-16 options

Lucia Winters, policy and planning co-ordinator at the National Transition Support Team, says it's vital that authorities and agencies team up over options for young people over the age of 16.

"They need to work with all partners to have closer working around education and to develop variety for post-16 options," she says. "Some authorities are working on this more than others and organising weeks where young people go to college and then out in the community to see what it's like."