At The Redway, we understand the prospect of your child leaving school can be filled with uncertainty as well as excitement. This page aims to provide you with an overview of the process and signpost to relevant services.
The Process
The following section outlines the consultation process for both educational and social provision.
If your child’s needs can be met within an educational provision after leaving school, this is typically offered for 3–4 days per week. The remaining days can be supplemented with social provision if you would prefer a full five-day provision. Where need cannot be met within an education provision, the offer will be solely social.
Further Education
During your child’s final year at The Redway, their Education, Health and Care (EHC) review will take place during the autumn term. As part of this review, we will discuss whether you would like to explore post-school education provision.
Following the EHC review, an application can be made. For the Milton Keynes Inclusive Education Programme, which operates from Entry Level 1, applications are submitted by parents. In most other instances, the school will request that the Local Authority (LA) consults with Milton Keynes College. The College will then assess the learner’s needs and liaise with its outreach partners, including MacIntyre and Walnuts College. These providers will observe your child in school, liaise with staff, and review relevant documentation, including care plans and reports to determine whether they can meet your child’s needs.
Links to further education provision can be found below:
Social Care
For your child to be able to access social provision, they must be known to adult social care. If your child is already under Children with Disability Team (CWDT) including short breaks, then this will automatically happen. If they are not known, a referral will need to be made as they approach 18. This can either be done by yourselves as parents, or you can liaise with school who will be happy to help. Please click here to make a referral.
If your child or young person is known to children’s and/or adult social care, relevant professionals may be invited to be involved in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment or review. This helps ensure that planning for adulthood is joined up and supports a smooth transition into adult services.
In addition to supporting post-school provision, Adult Social Care can also provide support with a range of services, including:
- Mental Capacity Assessments
- Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) paperwork
- Supported Living arrangements
- Deputyship applications
The adult Social Care Directory aims to ‘signpost’ to local and other help for people with care and support needs and their carers. A link to the directory can be found here.
Unlike Children’s Social Care, where a social worker is usually allocated on an ongoing basis, Adult Social Care typically assigns a worker to complete a specific piece of work, such as an assessment. Once this work is completed, the case is usually returned to the duty team rather than retaining a named worker.
If you need to contact Adult Social Care and your child does not currently have an allocated worker, you can contact the duty team on:
- waa.duty@milton-keynes.gov.uk
- access.team@milton-keynes.gov.uk
- Telephone: 01908 253772
- Emergency Out of Hours: 01908 725005
Deprivations of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS)
The deprivation of liberty safeguards apply to adults who lack consent to care arrangements that restrict their freedom. The purpose of a DoLS is to protect individuals from arbitrary restrictions of liberty, ensuring care is in their best interest. Further information on DoLS can be found here.
This is for interest of parents and carers as their child turns 18.
Care Act Assessment:
The Care Act Assessment gives a legal framework to assessing your child’s care and support needs and identifies the eligibility for assistance. The assessment considers the current situation, the ability to manage everyday activities, and the impact of needs on overall wellbeing. As part of this, your needs, as the carer, may also be assessed as you play a vital role in providing support.https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/help-from-social-services-and-charities/getting-a-needs-assessment/
Further information on DoLS can be here.
Deputyship:
Deputyship is the legal authority to make decisions for someone who lacks mental capacity. A person is considered to lack mental capacity if they are unable to make a specific decision at the time it needs to be made. This can vary—someone may be able to make decisions at certain times but not others. Reasons someone may lack capacity:
- Serious brain injury or illness
- Dementia
- Severe learning disabilities
A deputy is appointed by the Court of Protection and is authorised to make decisions on behalf of the individual. There are two types of deputy.
- Property and Financial Affairs Deputy: Responsible for financial matters, such as:
- Paying bills
- Managing bank accounts
- Organising pensions
- Personal Welfare Deputy: Responsible for decisions about care and wellbeing, including:
- Medical treatment
- Living arrangements
- Day-to-day care
Please note, you cannot become a personal welfare deputy for someone under 16.
Further information on deputyship can be found here.