More about Transition Planning
- Person Centred Planning
- Valuing People and Transition
- What's happening in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to improve transition?
Person Centred Planning
Often a number of people are involved in supporting a young person with special needs and their family. It is very important for everybody to remember that what they are discussing is the young person's future life. The young person and their family should be included and at the centre of all the discussions. Their views, ideas and thoughts should inform the whole process. This approach to planning is called Person Centred Planning.
It's about people's lives not just about plans. Person Centred Planning involves finding ways of listening to people, to find out what is most important to them. It's about helping people to think about what they want now and in the future. Lots of people, family, friends, professionals and services work together with the person to make this happen.
The government says that all families should have a chance to learn about Person Centred Planning.
You may want to look at the following websites that offer more advice and information about Person Centred Planning:
Valuing People and Transition
In the government's white paper, Valuing People, a new strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century, it says that:
- as young people grow up, getting support they and their family need should be smooth and easy. Young people should have the same chances in their lives as everyone else.
- Growing up is an exciting time, with new chances and choices.
- But it can be stressful and difficult for many young people with disabilities and their families.
- This is because the organisations in their lives do not talk to each other well enough, and they do not involve the young person and their family enough in planning for their future.
What Valuing People says should happen to improve things
- The Connexions Service will give advice and support to young people, about what they want to do in the future.
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Young people will have support from Personal Advisers
They will help the young person use the adult services or take up the opportunities they want to.It will be their job to do an assessment of the young person's needs in their last year at school.The Connexions personal advisers can work with the young person until they are 25. - There will be Person Centred Planning for young people growing up.
- Each Learning Disability Partnership Board will have a transition champion, who will make sure things get better for young people growing up.
- Health action plans will make sure that young people get the right support to stay healthy.
- Directors of social services have the job of making sure there are good links between children's and adult's services for people with learning disabilities.
Visit the Valuing People's website to find out more.
What's happening in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to improve transition?
The Learning Disability Partnership Board
Nottinghamand Nottinghamshire have a Learning Disability Partnership Board (LDPB):
- The board is made up of adults with learning disabilities, family carers, representatives from children's and adult's social care teams, health, housing, leisure and providers of services for people with learning difficulties from the independent and voluntary sector.
- It is chaired by a local councillor and a person with a learning disability.
- The board meets every six weeks to discuss issues that affect people with learning difficulties and their families.
- There are working groups that feed back to the board on the progress that is being made to make sure that we are working towards improving the lives of people with learning disabilities and their families and doing what the government says should be happening in Valuing People Now.
Each Authority will have a Learning Disability Partnership Board. To find out in more detail what your local Learning Disability Partnership Board is currently doing please contact your Local Authority by clicking on the link below alternatively there are the County and City boards that sit as an umbrella and for information about what they are doing follow the link or contact details below on the relevant link below:
County Learning Disability Partnership Board
City’s Learning Disability Partnership Board
The Transition Forum
In the City there is a Transitions Steering group where children services, adult services, Connexions, Nottingham City NHS, Housing, commissioning and Parent Partnership are represented. The group is responsible for Nottingham City’s Transition development plan and they have recently implemented a multi-agency co-located Transition team. They have been successful in gaining Aiming High Transition Support program funding for the last 2 years.
Currently it is not apparent that the County have a transition steering group but the good news is that they do a transitions service – more detailed information on how you can get support in regards to your child’s transition please contact: Nottinghamshre County Council on 08449 80 80 80 or visit the NCC website pages about transition.