Moving from children's social care to adult social care
Until the age of 18, services for children and young people with long-term health conditions are provided by children's health and social care services.
From 18, funded support is provided by adult social services and will replace children's funding if the young person meets the set criteria.
Between the ages of 16 and 18, the child will start a transition to adult services also known as Preparing for adulthood.
This should involve all the services that support areas like:
- health and social care
- mental health
- education
- financial benefits for the young person and their family
- work
- housing
Planning for this transition should begin when a child is in Year 9 at school (13 or 14 years old) at the latest.
Getting a care needs assessments
When a child or a young carer approaches their 18th birthday, If you want the council to arrange or pay towards your care you have to meet the National eligibility criteria. You will also need to have a care needs assessment to help find out about your, support needs.
If you are eligible for social care support a financial assessment will be carried out to determine how much you will need to pay towards your care, if anything. This has to be determined before you can be allocated a budget known as a 'Personal Budget'.
Getting a learning disability diagnosis
Before applying for a care needs assessment you should get a formal diagnosis for a learning disability. Contact the Adult learning disability community health service.
If you have social care needs, but don't have a formal learning disability diagnosis you can still contact the Community Health and Social Care Hub to apply for a care needs assessment. The assessment will be completed or passed to the care management team for the area where you live.