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Birth to Settled Adulthood

What is Birth to Settled Adulthood?  

Every child and young person deserves the same opportunity to meet their potential. Some need extra support to help them achieve this. 

Dorset Council is excited to be working with partners to improve the way we support children and young people with complex needs or who are disabled as they grow into adults.
These partners include:

This means we are reviewing what support and help we provide for children and families who: 

  • currently need 
  • will be needing 
a service from our education, social and health care teams from birth through to adulthood. 

We are changing the way we give this support by creating a new service that supports children and young people from birth to 25 years of age. This is so that our young people can progress smoothly at key stages of development in their life, rather than those changes being dictated by age. By the age of 25, every young person eligible for support from the service will experience a smooth transition into adult services. 

Since spring 2022 we have been working with children, young people and their families. We have also worked with stakeholders to develop services that will bring:  
  • children’s social care
  • adults social care
  • transitions services
  • special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) services
  • health services 

much closer together to provide the right contact, from the right person at the right time. 
Due to the volume of work to complete as we develop the new service, we will deliver the programme in two phases. The first phase will be integrating adult’s, children’s and education services across Dorset Council
The second phase will be to align the new service with NHS Dorset and the Integrated Care System (ICS). This will ensure that all Health and Care services in Dorset that support children and young people will work together.

What will change?

A flexible service for children and young people from birth up to 25 years of age.

There will be a more co-ordinated approach to working with individual children and young people from all system partners. Starting from birth or first contact with us, we will support and guide:

  • children
  • young people
  • their parents and carers

as they grow up and move towards adulthood. This is to reduce the risk of a sudden change at the age of 18. It will ensure the move to adulthood is flexible to meet the needs of the young person. For young people and their families there will be seamless support offered. This will work on the basis of need rather than chronological age. 

How have we involved children, young people, and their families? 

We have used:

  • face to face events
  • virtual events
  • surveys

to get feedback from children, young people, and their families. We have incorporated the feedback we have gathered into the design of the new service.

What have children, young people and families told us?  

Children, young people, and their families have told us that: 

  • we should keep children and young people at the centre of what we do 
  • they don’t want to keep repeating their story 
  • having a single point of contact would be helpful 
  • we should adopt an outcomes focused approach 
  • we should improve joint working across education, health, and social care 
  • we should consider the need for care and support assistance when preparing care leavers for adulthood 
  • we should plan earlier to enable children and young people to gain the right skills for independence.
  • we should enable smoother handovers between services 

What outcomes will be considered? 

The service will achieve successful outcomes for young people in nine areas: 

I feel safe

We will do all that we can to make you feel safe in every aspect of your life. This means we will support you to make life choices, for example, where you live, your relationships and sense of community and belonging wherever possible.

We will use legal frameworks to ensure you are safe if you are unable to make a decision for yourself.

We will ensure our practitioners have the knowledge and skills to know what safe means to you.

I feel listened to

We will make sure your views, wishes and feelings are heard and respected and that practitioners always include you in decision-making. Where necessary we will ensure you have access to advocacy services. 

We will make sure information is given to you in a way you understand, and we will include those who are important to you with your consent.

We will make sure that we document and develop support plans with your wishes and views at the centre. 

We will respect your right to freedom of expression, as per Article 10 of your Human Rights. 
 

I know how to stay healthy

We will work with health colleagues to ensure you are as well as you can be. This could include, supporting you with health appointments, ensuring you have medical information presented to you in a way you understand and ensuring you know how to get help if you need it. It could also mean supporting you or those who care for you to access equipment to assist you in your daily life.

We will work with practitioners to ensure you have a team of professionals who understand and respect your views when medical decisions are made about you.

We will make sure the practitioners who are supporting you take time to understand your physical and mental health needs and that plans reflect what that means for you in your daily life.

I am learning

We will work closely with our colleagues in education to ensure you are in the best place to learn and you feel safe in school or college (or other educational setting). Where appropriate we will ensure you have an Education, Health and Social Care plan that reflects your aspirations and strengths as well as creating opportunities for you to try new things.

We will be aspirational for you and help you to recognise the things you are good at; the things you still need to develop and help you develop hopes and dreams for the future to live your best life. 

We recognise that learning is lifelong and that your learning needs may change.

I am learning to be independent

We will ensure any planning specifies how we are supporting you in your independence. Once you reach 14, this will be the focus of our support in readiness for adulthood.

We will make sure our practitioners take time to understand what you would like for the future. This could be how we support you to access activities, or to specify how any short break package is supporting your independence.

We will ensure those supporting you in your day-to-day living have the right skills to always promote your abilities.

I am living in the best place for me

We will work closely with you and practitioners to ensure your home meets your needs. This could include making adaptations and making every effort for you to be supported in the best way for you. 

We will look at what options there are for you when you become an adult and will include all those who are important to you in that decision-making. Should you not live with your family, we will make sure you are given information in a way you understand to know why.

I am liked and feel included 

We will help you think about the types of friendships you might want to have and what being included means for you. This could be having friends online and in-person. Being included means different things to different people and practitioners will help you communicate what is important to you and what challenges you might experience with being included.

We will provide information about activities and groups you could go to on the Dorset council website.

We will make sure there are trusted adults you can talk to as well as services who can offer help if you report any difficulties such as bullying or hate crime.

I can manage my money or have support if I need it

We will provide you and those important to you with information and support so that you understand and have the skills to be aware and able to manage money and have support if you need it.

We will make sure that you and those important to you know what options are available to you once you are an adult. This may mean that your money is managed for you but you and those important to you will always be part of that decision-making.

I feel well supported

We will make sure those who care for you feel supported in their own right. This could be providing breaks in care and accessing groups with other carers.

We will ensure those who care for you are part of your planning and are given opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge about your needs as you grow and develop. 

We will always consider your siblings in assessments and planning to ensure they can also receive support if needed. This may be through our Young Carers service, via our Local Offer activities or by providing short breaks.

Each child or young person will have a different set of outcomes. These will depend on their individual circumstances. 

Each young person and their family will have access to good quality information and advice. This will be in a format they need to make informed decisions. 

We have produced a Preparing for adulthood guide to help young people and their families. 

Which children and young people will be in this group? 

The children and young people who will make use of the birth to settled adulthood service are: 

  • children and young people with SEND who have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and are likely to have care and support needs into adulthood 
  • children and young people known to services who have a disability 
  • young people aged over 14 requiring support for mental health who are likely to need care support 
  • children and young people with high cost education packages (above £50,000 per year) 
  • young people who are at risk of abuse or exploitation and may not meet Care Act eligibility criteria
  • children and young people who have Continuing Care funding 

What will the service do? 

The Birth to Settled Adulthood service will: 

  • provide good quality information advice and guidance 
  • provide early identification of complex needs to services that need to know 
  • give targeted support to develop skills and strategies to build independence 
  • support children, young people and families to plan ahead 
  • contribute to working out what services we need to provide in future 
  • give clear oversight of complex young people aged over 14 who are likely to have care and support needs into adulthood 
  • contribute to Dorset Council meeting its statutory duties to young people and their families 
  • give targeted support to prevent deterioration of conditions. This will reduce the risk of admission to hospital or into care 
  • provide safeguarding, addressing abuse and neglect 
  • support parents and carers to build resilience, knowledge, and confidence in caring for their child or young person