The assessment process
We must consider the young person’s mental capacity to make the decision to consent to an assessment and adult social care involvement. A referral will be made for a Care Act advocate if needed.
A transitions social worker will complete a Care Act 2014 assessment to decide if the young person is eligible for support from adult social care or not. As part of the assessment, we’ll consider if the young person’s needs are caused by a physical or mental impairment or illness. We'll also consider if the young person would be able to do the following without help:
- eating and drinking
- managing personal hygiene
- managing toilet needs
- getting dressed
- being able to use the home safely
- maintaining the home
- keeping in touch with family and friend
- getting involved in work, education or volunteering
- using public transport and recreational facilities
- carrying out parenting responsibilities
- young person would benefit from referrals to other services. This may include continuing health care or mental health services.
A copy of the assessment will be sent to the young person and/or their family. The document will state if the young person is eligible for adult social care support or not.
If the young person is eligible for support
We’ll look at what support the young person needs to meet the identified outcomes. This will include universal services and informal support as well as support from adult social care. A support plan will be created and sent to the young person and/or their family.
A financial assessment will be completed to assess whether the young person can contribute towards the cost of their care. Find out more about paying for care.
If the young person has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), we’ll contribute to the review process. The EHCP will be the overarching plan and any social care support or provision will form part of this and will be set out in section H of the EHCP.
If the young person is a care leaver, we’ll work with the leaving care team to meet our corporate parent responsibilities. Find out more about the support available for care leavers.
Support planning
Support planning considers how best to meet the young person’s care and support needs and support then to achieve their outcomes and goals. This will include consideration of universal and broader services as well as those funded directly by adult social care.
There are different ways support from adult social care can be provided. Support can be:
- commissioned which means the local authority will organise the support
- provided via a direct payment where a sum of money is paid to the young person or a nominated individual to organise and pay for the support
Find out more about:
- your support plan
- personal budgets and direct payment
Support plan review
The support agreed in the young person’s support plan may include commissioned services, a direct payment or a combination. A short term review will be completed to check if the support is working well or if anything needs to be changed.
The young person will then move on from the Early Adulthood team and our involvement will end. The young person will be transferred to the appropriate team in adult social care. This will be one of the following:
- community learning disability team
- autism team
- neighbourhood team
- mental health team
If needed, a social worker will be allocated to the young person from one of these teams.
If social worker involvement is not needed, a review will be planned for 12 months time or when the next change in education or support is expected. For example, if the young person is changing education in 6 moths then a review date will be set to plan for this.
If the young person is not eligible for support
If the young person is not eligible for support from adult social care, we’ll provide advice and signposting to universal services which may be suitable for them.