Transition Innovations Project

This project is in partnership with various groups involved in the transition to adulthood in Barking and Dagenham and the Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities.

For young people with a disability and their families,  planning for their future beyond the age of 18 can be very difficult and confusing.

Up until now, the choices open to young people with a disability have often been very limited – for example, many have felt that their only option as adults will be to attend something like a day centre.

The aim of this project is to change this by looking at how young people who have a disability can be supported to do lots of other things when they become adults.

For many, this could and should include getting a paid job, for example. For others it might mean being able to get out and about and trying out new things.

The main thing is that young people be supported in ways that they have control over to do the things that they really want to do. It is about supporting the young person and their families to feel more confident and sure about the future after school.

What will happen?

Workers from the Trinity school, Childrens Services, Adult Social Care Services (and many other organisations like the  employment support service “Toucan”, carers of Barking and Dagenham and self-advocates) will work closely with the young people and their families who have chosen to be part of this project over the next few months to test out new ways of making this happen. The lessons learned from this will then be of benefit to many more young people.

The information gained will be used to revise the transition protocols in Barking and Dagenham.

We hope that there will be the development of more creative supports and options for young people and their families to choose from when using their personal budgets.