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Transferring to Adult Social Care Services
Moving from children’s services to adult services is often called transition.
When we talk about transition, we mean the time when a young person, who has care and support needs, moves from childhood into adulthood.
Life for adults can be different to life for children. It is important that you have the right information, at the right time, to make sure you’re preparing for adulthood.
From Year 9, at school, you should start thinking and talking to others about:
- what jobs you might like to do when you're an adult
- your options for education or training
- your future goals
- where you might want to live and how to be as independent as possible
- things you want to do in your community, like your hobbies, interests and meeting friends
- how you're going to be as healthy as possible.
If you think you will continue to need care and support when you turn 18 you may move from children's social care services to adult social services. Some Local Authorities have teams that cover children and adults. You will need an assessment to see if you are eligible for care services as an adult.
You can find out more information here about getting an assessment.
If you live in Nottingham City, you may be able to get support from the Whole Life Disability Service. They carry out assessments for children and young people (and adults) who have a lifelong, permanent and substantial disability.
They support children and young people with complex health needs, such as difficulties with moving and handling requirements, significant learning disabilities, autism, sensory impairment (including those who are blind and/or deaf), physical disabilities, or those who need enhanced support to help them to live full and ordinary family lives.
You can find out more about Nottingham City’s Whole Life Disability Service here.
Social care support is about providing practical and emotional help to people who need it. This can include services like help with finding a place to live, managing money, and participating in social activities. It's often given to you if you are vulnerable or have complex needs, have a disability, or a mental health issue.
If you need assistance with day-to-day tasks that most people can manage on their own, the Nottingham City Social Care Team can provide you with the help and advice that you need. This support will enable you to maintain your independence and dignity.
Find out more about accessing adult social care services at Nottingham City Council.
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Preparing for Adulthood Team can offer you support through this transition. They can help with:
- being independent
- being part of the community
- getting the right support.
Referrals to this team can be made by anyone including the young person or their parent/carer. Young people can be referred to the Preparing for Adulthood Team between the ages of 14yrs -17.5yrs.
To contact the Team, you will need to call the Council's Customer Service Centre on 0300 500 80 80 (open Monday to Friday 08:00am to 6:00pm).
"Transition still supports young people with health and medical needs, many with disabilities as well, helping them to access services based in the community or away from home if they wish to do that. But it's mainly about finding services in their own right. We start working with the young person before they're 18. We may start to be aware of them when they're 16, but that doesn't mean that once they turn 17, things suddenly pop up. I would say it's a slow process, and we gradually get more involved as we approach their 18th birthday. Our job is to work with the young person to look at their goals, their outcomes, and what they want to do and achieve, working with them to identify services and support for when they turn 18. They need referrals to begin the process. They can self-refer, or have a family member or professional refer them. They can contact our customer service center at 0300 500 8080, and the customer service agent will take their details and provide appropriate information and advice. They might not be eligible for services, but that's where the transition worker would carry out assessments. It's important to identify what their needs are to provide appropriate services. These might not be statutory services, and the young people might not want the services, but it's also for those who've had children's services and are now coming into adulthood, wanting to know what support is out there for them, including to support their health and care needs. You would want to work with the enablement service because we have a committed team of individuals who want to work with people to enhance, encourage, and motivate them, enabling them to live the life they want to live. The thing that’s slightly different about us is that, although we work with multiple therapies, we focus particularly on working with people to develop their quality of life. The work we do supports people with independence in many different ways, but they’re in charge, they’re in control, and they’re at the center of everything. It’s personalized; it’s about their outcomes, their goals. It may help them with personal care, transport, access, mobility, going to work, or going to study. It’s about using support to maximize their independence in the community. One example of working with someone through transition is when they were 17 years old. We attended a school review, and from that review, we were able to find out what was important to them regarding their future. We were able to look at things like working with the education team and school to support their college placement. We also looked at other things to prepare them for life beyond school. It’s really exciting working with young people during this period because it's a pivotal time in their lives. They’re ready for the adult world, ready to learn more, and ready to experience more. They’re moving away from services and other people being such a big part of their life, which is why it's a real honor to guide them through new and exciting elements of life and help them achieve more."
The Nottinghamshire County Council Maximising Independence Service aims to improve your independence.
They can agree goals that work to your strengths and develop a plan to improve your life skills and confidence.
Their Promoting Independence Worker will work with you on your goals for up to 12 weeks.
This is a free service that can help you with:
- travelling around independently: using public transport and staying safe
- improving skills in the home: managing household routines and cooking
- finding new social opportunities: finding local groups and activities
- finding work: looking for voluntary or paid work, or signposting you to more specialist employment support
- budgeting: learning about money, organising and paying bills and making your money last
- keeping well: looking after yourself and improving your confidence.
This service is available for adults with social care needs regardless of age or disability, including young people who are approaching adulthood.
The service is open to any young person with disabilities aged 17 and over.
To make a referral you will need to contact Nottinghamshire County Council's Customer Service Team.
"Ever since I've had Aiden, my life's been fantastic. You know, I've learned a lot more. I've got to use the money, and I'm learning how to cook more, which I couldn't even do before. And I'm good at going out places, which I wasn't able to do before. But it's actually given me the skills to do things myself now. He's always come to meet me, and he's given me good ideas. It's helped me through a lot, and I've managed to be independent and do things a lot more than I have in the past. Basically, I'm really happy now because I know I'm an adult, and I can actually start doing more things than I used to, like going out places independently—whether it's work, college, or meeting some friends and family. It's such a lovely life, it's unbelievable, I could almost cry."
Transitioning to college and preparing for independent life with Nancy, Portland College graduate.
Hear from Nancy, a student at Portland College, who shares what it is like to transition to mainstream College.
Tell us a bit about you Nancy
"I’m Nancy and just recently celebrated my 20th birthday at a festival! I’m feeling a bit emotional this week with leaving Portland College in a few days after two years here”.
What do you think is the main worry for young people when transitioning?
"Places like Portland have staff dedicated to supporting you with worries and anxiety and really help you to make the most out of classes. It’s a big jump to independent learning but we’ve done some preparation.
I feel really connected to a lot of the staff here so it’s hard to say goodbye to them as well”.
Have you learnt any techniques that will help you manage transition anxiety?
"I’ve been playing the bass guitar now for four years and my hero is Kim Deal, an American musician. Listening to her music really calms me and helps me to manage my emotions. It’s really helpful to have a hobby that you can do to relax and I think music will help me a lot while I transition to college”.
How physically have you prepared for transition?
"Portland have taken us on transition visits to West Notts College and I've just done a summer school day to meet some other students. I made friends with one boy and we laughed which made it a little less worrying. The biggest challenge is the unknown so to see where I will be actually going has helped quite a lot.
I’ve also had some video calls with teams from West Notts to help answer any question and help with my application”.
You’ve been doing Travel Training – would you suggest this to other young people?
"Definitely, I've just got my Silver award which means I can confidently cross roads, understand different types of crossing, can read bus timetables and other things like that. I was nervous to get the bus before I did Travel Training, but I now regularly do this to go to off-site classes in Mansfield”.
Have you done anything else that has helped you to prepare for this next step in your independence?
"I’ve been doing volunteering in a shop one day a week. I can sometimes find it challenging on the tills but I feel really independent when I’m at work and I think this has definitely helped build my confidence. Talking to other people and getting to know them has also been good for improving my communication. I hope this will help me when I’m at West Notts College to make new friends”.
What final piece of advice would you give to someone also worried about transition?
"Just to talk to your new college to see if they can help with your worries and try things like work experience and Travel Training to build confidence and independence before you go.
Also for parents to understand how emotional it is to leave people you’ve made really strong friendships with”.

SEND Local Offer
The Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council SEND Local Offers are a great resource for finding events, support and activities in your area.
City Council County Council