On 5th September 2018 Adult Social Care in Shropshire launched their new Preparing for Adulthood Team. We are pleased to share this article with our members.
The team has 6 dedicated Preparing for Adulthood social workers/practitioners and a lead for Preparing for Adulthood. The social workers/practitioners are based across the county and will work as a virtual team, meeting monthly to share good practice, resources and receive training. Young people will remain with their social worker from the point of referral (which will be around each young person’s 16th birthday) until their longer term plans are in place, which may include employment, accommodation and daily activities. What this will look like for each young person will be different as it will be designed with the young person’s needs at the centre.
The team will have close links with the SEND team, education, children’s social care, safeguarding, mental health, health, advocacy and many other organisations to ensure that each young person receives support which is tailored to meet their needs in a way that maximises their potential to achieve and promotes their independence. The team is also supported by lead workers from the adult mental health social work team and adult safeguarding.
We have been working on making information more easily accessible to young people and their families. The Local Offer has been under review and we are developing the adult social care pages to give clearer information about how we work. This will include a flow chart that will show how young people, depending on their needs, can access support and examples will be illustrated with personal stories that will be developed from a range of young people’s experiences. This development is supported by a group of young people who have accessed adult social care support to ensure it meets the needs of young people.
Adult social care are working in partnership with Shropshire SEND team and Severndale Specialist Academy to host an annual Preparing for Adulthood’ event at Shrewsbury Town Football Club. Each young person under the age of 25 with an EHCP in the county, along with their family or carers, will be invited to attend the event each year. A wide range of agencies and services will be there on the day to give information and advice to young people and their families to support planning for the future. The agencies with include education, care support, advocacy, social care, housing, assistive technology and many more. There will also be a rolling programme of speakers on the day which young people and families can choose to attend. We hope by making this event annual, we can keep young people and their families up-to-date with what is available in the county and support planning for the future.
The Preparing for Adulthood model is likely to evolve further in future as we continue to learn how the ‘Named Social Worker’ approach works in Shropshire.
For further information, please contact the Preparing for Adulthood Lead, Kelly Kubilius at Kelly.Kubilius@shropshire.gov.uk