Transition from school for young people with additional support needs involves professionals from different sectors and an understanding of policies which sit behind the delivery of health, education and social care services. There is currently a recognised inconsistency of approach across sectors and across local authorities to the provision of services. It is becoming more apparent that connections between the different legislation and policies need to be made clearer to better provide for young people who rely on these services.
ARC Scotland has created the Knowledge Hub which brings together an extensive range of mixed media resources and includes legislation and policy but also the voices of lived experience and case studies to support professional understanding of transitions.
Good practice means:
Professionals have a role in supporting aspects of transitions. However, few people are accountable strategically or operationally for ensuring that support during transitions is effectively co-ordinated from start to finish. Leadership in this area is vital and should include but not be limited to an oversight across all professional areas involved in transition at a local authority level with clear data handling systems in place to track numbers, an understanding of the needs of pupils, young adults and those who care for them who have undergone or undergoing the transition process.
This approach should be connected to the duties of professionals working across transition and a clear pathway or process and policies in place at a local level.
The Scottish Government recognises that the policy and legislation relating to transitions processes for those with additional support needs are complicated. This can lead to parents and carers becoming ‘professionalised’ due to the amount of complex knowledge they need to navigate the systems involved. Professionals themselves are often frustrated with what appears to be bureaucratic and administrative tasks, complicated processes, a lack of clear pathways and accountability.
It has since produced the transition strategy, ‘A Time of Change’ which is a national approach that supports the aims of different legislative areas and can respond to different professional concerns.
Given the well-documented challenges associated with co-ordinating and delivering effective transitions support, the period of young adulthood (14 to 25 years) for people with additional support needs should be considered as a discrete developmental period, which is distinct from being a child or an adult.
The Scottish Transitions Forum recommends a shared approach to transitions should be adopted by all professional sectors in Scotland. One of the first steps to achieving this is the development of a definition that captures the reality of transition that is relevant and meaningful to all service areas and captures the different barriers to achieving potential at this time.
Long-term and sustainable improvements are most likely to be achieved with a joint commitment to improvement between agencies at a local authority and national level. Learning from local transitions work should directly contribute to national policy and the continual improvement of transitions support for young people across Scotland. Robust, up to date data is essential. The findings from the Compass National Data Report help all partners – Scottish Government, local authorities, health boards and service providers – understand where best to focus efforts and resources to improve support for young disabled people and their families.
‘Principles into Practice’ is a programme to help those with strategic responsibility for transitions to design and oversee approaches which will improve the experiences of transition for young people with additional support needs. It has been widely adopted by local authorities in Scotland and can help with analysis of current data to make improvement.
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