You can contact Care Direct Plus to request an adult social care assessment by ringing 0345 155 1007. Phone lines are available Monday to Thursday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Friday 9.00 am to 4:30 pm and Saturday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

For more information contact Devon Adult Social Care (social services)

Within the layers of Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’ there are many decisions an individual is making: some on a daily basis, for example, what shall I eat tonight? Others that are made at a point of change, for example, what subject should I choose for my college course?

Under the Mental Capacity Act (2005), the individual is assumed, at 16, to have capacity to make decisions. If there is reasonable belief that the person lacks capacity about a specific decision, an assessment may be made. If after assessment, it is deemed the individual does not have capacity to make the decision, a best interest decision may be made.

Within the best interest process there are a number of principles to follow, including

• encouraging the person to participate, as fully as possible in any decision affecting them
• taking into account, if it is practicable and appropriate, views of others, including anyone named by the individual, and anyone engaged or interested their welfare

For further information on decision making and the Mental Capacity Act join the webinar on June 25.

Developing from being a child to an adult happens to everyone. The individual’s body reaches adult size, there are hormonal changes and a strong impulse to be more independent. For many young people there is a sense of things being different, although they may not understand why, they may see their peers or siblings being treated differently or they feel a stronger need to exert control over their environment or the people that they are engaging with.

The main message of planning for the transition is even more important for young people who need a lot of support. For instance, when the young person is leaving home, they still have physiological needs that need to be met. Once the family are not living in the same property the individual needs to be able to do as much as they can for themselves. The things that they are unable to do, need to be met by somebody else in a way that enables the adult to take as much responsibility as possible. The same is true for all the other layers in the pyramid, safety, relationships, confidence building and setting own goals and aspirations.

Both the overarching transition plan that is looking at all the person needs and aspirations and the Care Act transition plan that is looking at the specific Care Act eligible needs, should identify what the individual can do for themselves, the best way to help them learn how to do those things that need to be learnt and what will be the best way to support them with all the things that they cannot do.

Starting to plan when the young person is 14 enables everyone to start at the top of the pyramid which is where young person starts. Identifying the young person’s goals if the person does not have the ability to verbally communicate, requires all those around them to work together to gain the best interpretation from the individual’s communication. For example, what do they enjoy doing? What are they good at? Can these be expanded to think about what they would enjoy doing as employment or self-employment to earn a living?

The first step to having a plan is to bring together all the family and professionals who know the individual well. This may include school teachers, children’s social workers, family support workers or specialist health professionals.

Further support can be requested from adult social care who have an information and advice duty as well as an assessment duty. For information and advice please email transitionsadultsocialcare@devon.gov.uk.

To request an assessment please fill in the Transition Adult Social Care (TASC) referral form.

If the young person has very high health needs the TASC team may speak to you about requesting an assessment from health services for funding when the young person turns 18.

A carer’s assessment under the Care Act 2014 involves evaluating the needs of an individual who provides care and support to another person.

Here are the key aspects it assesses:

• Impact on wellbeing: The assessment focuses on how caring responsibilities affect the carer’s wellbeing and control over their day-to-day life.
• Support needs: It identifies the carer’s needs for support to continue providing care effectively and to maintain their own health and wellbeing.
• Outcomes and goals: The assessment considers the outcomes the carer wants to achieve in their daily life and the best way to achieve those outcomes.
• Involvement in the assessment: The carer is actively involved in the assessment process, and if necessary, in accordance with the Care Act), an independent advocate can be provided to support their involvement.
• Preventive services: It looks at other services and support that can help prevent the carer’s needs from escalating.

The assessment looks at ways that carers receive the necessary support to manage their responsibilities while maintaining their own well-being.

There will be a carer’s transitions support session on 20 May at 1pm.

Adult social care requires the young person if they are over the age 16 years of age to consent to social care or health assessment and input unless they are informed that the young person is at risk of abuse or neglect.

Regardless of whether the young person consents or not, if there is reason to doubt their capacity to make the decision a mental capacity act assessment is completed and if the individual does not have capacity a best interest process will be followed.

If neither childrens or adult social care is involved, other professionals may be asked to complete the assessment, for instance the teacher at school.

However, the legal framework makes a presumption that everyone has capacity.

The carer can approach adult social care in their own right for an assessment regardless of the decision of the young person.

For more details on this subject it might be helpful to attend the transitions support session on aspirations, mental capacity and decision making on 17 June 2025.

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) assessment is triggered at the point that a decision is required by someone when following the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, it is deemed the individual may have inability to make that decision. For example, if adult social care needs a decision made about who the young person would like to receive support from. It is the responsibility of the adult social care worker to undertake the assessment.

Every young person or adult, whatever their disability, has the right to make their own decisions wherever possible. The Mental Capacity Act assumes that everyone over the age of 16 years of age has capacity. Our teams need to consider if a young person’s right to liberty is restricted as a result of support or services provided by the Council.

The five main principles of the Mental Capacity Act which Mencap described below as:

• Always assume the person is able to make the decision until you have proof they are not.
• Try everything possible to support the person make the decision themselves.
• Do not assume the person does not have capacity to make a decision just because they make a decision that you think is unwise or wrong.
• If you make a decision for someone who cannot make it themselves, the decision must always be in their best interests.
• Any decisions, treatment, or care for someone who lacks capacity must always follow the path that is the least restrictive of their basic rights and freedoms.

It is also important to remember that a person may have capacity for some decisions but not others, or they may not have capacity right now but may regain it in the future with support. This means all capacity decisions should be regularly reviewed to make sure they still reflect the person’s ability to make decisions.

For more details on this subject it might be helpful to attend the transitions support session on aspirations, mental capacity and decision making on 17 June 2025.

It is possible for a young person to access day centres and other support offers without the involvement of adult social care. The individual can choose to pay for these services, however if the adult does not have the funds to pay, they will need to be assessed as being eligible for adult social care funding.

Thank you for your question. It is understandable to feel uncertain about the next steps, especially when transitioning to adult social care.

Support for carers: As a carer, you can seek support from organisations like Devon Carers, which offers resources, training, and support groups like Parent Carers Forum Devon. They can provide guidance on navigating adult social care and help you prepare for the transition.

Contact the Transition adult social care team.

Additional resources: There are various resources available to help you and you are your young person during this transition. The NHS and local councils offer support and information for families of autistic individuals.

You can also join online communities, such as the one provided by Ambitious about Autism, to connect with other parents and carers for advice and support.

Preparing for adulthood transitions guide.

Devon’s Children’s Social Care do have a specialist service providing social work and targeted support for many, but not all, disabled children and young people known to children’s social care. Disabled children team and young people are also supported by other teams.

The Disabled Children’s Service review requests for assessment made to our front door, and work to agree the right pathway for assessment based on the information available. This may mean that assessments are completed by early help partners, or other teams with children’s social care. However, irrespective of the team undertaking the assessment, there is facility for practitioners to communicate, seek information and advice from our Disabled Children’s teams.

The service welcomes communications and discussions to help identify the right support for our families and can be contacted before making a request through our consultation line 01392 385276 – Option 1 – pre-referral and assessment consultation line. Option 2 – short breaks helpline.

You can find a quick guide to eligibility outcomes under the Care Act 2014. This provides details of the area’s we would look at to consider the outcomes of our young adults. This includes questions such as:

• do the needs arise from a physical or mental impairment or illness?
• do these needs mean that the adult is unable to achieve two or more of the listed outcomes?
• is there consequently a significant impact on the adult’s wellbeing.

There is a Care Act self-help tool you can go through.

No, unless the school or college consider the young person is at risk of abuse or neglect. The young person needs to consent, once this has happened anyone can fill in the referral form for the Transition Adult Social Care team.

The assessment to determine what a young person pays for in terms of social care and support involves evaluating their financial situation and needs. Here are the key aspects:

Financial assessment: The Local Authority conducts a financial assessment to determine the young person’s ability to contribute towards the cost of their care. This assessment considers their income, savings, and assets.

The assessment follows the social care – charging for care and support guidelines and the young person has minimum income guarantee and personal expenses allowance.

Young adults that were previously looked after may be eligible for additional support from the Council as a care leaver. This does not replace the role of adult services but may run alongside.

You can find more information at What is Devon’s Local Offer to Care Leavers?

We are sorry that you left feeling overwhelmed. At this point in their life there is a lot of change happening for the young person and therefore there is a lot to think about as the young person moves to taking responsibility for their own life.

Starting the planning early can help. Talking to the young person about their plans and goals and identifying what needs to be concentrated on first.

You do not have to do this alone, if you have a childrens worker involved or your young person is in education please talk it through with a professional that you and your young person trusts.

If you consider that information and advice will help, please contact DIAS (Devon Information Advice and Support).

If you would prefer you can contact the Transitions Adult Social Care team at transitionsadultsocialcare@devon.gov.uk and ask for a call back to talk it through with an adult social care worker or with a carer’s worker from Devon Carers.