Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister of Health for his assessment of the adequacy of support for young adults with special educational needs after transitioning from children’s services to adult services.
Minister of Health: There is currently no legislation in NI to provide special educational needs pupils with an Education and Health Care plan (EHC) after the age of 19. My officials are engaged with cross-departmental partners to explore potential legislative change.
Health and Social Care will support a cohort of children with Special Educational Needs throughout their life in school and transition to adult services. Supports provided are dependent on assessed need, although it is likely that HSC services will have a continued presence in the lives of children with disabilities and their families. This may include day activity, transport, short breaks, accommodation-based support, and self-directed support.
My officials have worked closely with Trusts to develop a regional protocol for Transitions to ensure that the supports we provide are regionally consistent. The next phase of this work is to commence a localised pilot ahead of regional scale up.
Beyond health and social care, meaningful transition management and support can only be achieved through cross-departmental collaboration and inter-agency working across government. The Departments of Health and Education co-chair a cross-departmental Transitions working group with relevant departments to review and improve transitions for children with Special Educational Needs. To date, the group has conducted a survey, and the outputs will be used to improve the transitions process. This must form the basis of a body of work that aims to provide children with much greater choice and control on their lives after school, while recognising that Health has a pivotal role to ensure care and health needs are supported.
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