Issue details

Proposed decision

To move the statutory functions delivered by the 18-25 section of the Strengthening Independence Service from the Children Young People and Education directorate to the Adult Social Care and Health directorate. This includes a transfer of workforce in services.    

Reason for the decision

Transitions involve facilitating young people’s move from children’s services to adult services and typically occur between ages 18 and 25. The Strengthening Independence Service (SIS) sits within the Children, Young People and Education Directorate and oversees transitions between 0-25 for those with learning and physical disabilities.

The Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) at Kent County Council (KCC) is accountable for assessing local needs and delivering a full range of adult social services. These services support individuals under the provisions of Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 and the law defines an adult as someone aged 18 or over.

The Director of Children's Services (DCS) at KCC has statutory duties outlined in Section 18 of the Children Act 2004. These duties involve ensuring the delivery of local authority social care functions for children and young people. This includes, but is not limited to, providing services that meet the needs of all children, youth, including the most vulnerable, and their families.?

Under the current arrangements the Corporate Director Children, Young People, and Education (DCS) is overseeing a group falling outside their statutory role.?

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To address this, the proposal is to transfer  the statutory functions delivered by the 18-25 section of the Strengthening Independence Service from  the Children, Young People and Education (CYPE) Directorate, to the Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) Directorate meaning young adults will receive support from adult social care to better support them for independence. ?

Background – Provide brief additional context

The transitions process centres around the young adult and often includes multiple services such as social care, health and education.There are at present three pathways for transition in KCC:?

·         Strengthening Independence Service oversees Transitions between 0-25 for those with learning and physical disabilities ?

o   Multi-Agency Collaboration?

o   Includes a Sensory and Young People’s Team?

·         ASCH Adults Operations manage Post-18 transitions?

·         Young adults within the Care Leaving Service (CLS) (18+ services)??

The Strengthening Independence Service (SIS) currently oversees Transitions between 0-25 for those with learning and physical disabilities. However, this means the DCS has responsibility for a cohort of people beyond their legal scope.

It is proposed to transfer the statutory functions delivered by the 18-25 section of the SIS from the Children Young People and Education Directorate to the Adult Social Care and Health Directorate from 1 April 2025. 

The changes will also align with the Making A Difference Everyday Adult Social Care vision in Kent which sets KCC’s direction of travel to support people to live as full and safe a life as possible and make informed choices. This reflects the core purpose of supporting people to lead the lives they want to live, and in a place they call home, by putting people at the heart of everything we do.

In addition, this change ensures alignment with the DASS' statutory obligations, providing greater oversight and promotes a more holistic approach to young adult well-being as they transition from children’s to adult social care better preparing them for adulthood.

The proposals will result in greater consistency in adult experiences across KCC against all aspects of intervention. The transfer of service will ensure the DASS has greater oversight of all adult experiences supporting enhanced equality, inclusion, equity and application of social value. Furthermore, the transfer of service will align our practices with the updated Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations which place a significant emphasis on the quality statement concerning safe systems, pathways and transitions. The function of safety and continuity of care is now a priority throughout people’s care journey and it is essential practices are aligned with the updated regulations to ensure the highest quality of care is provided to those we serve.

Staff moving between directorates are engaged and, although this won’t materially change the service, external partners will be engaged to make them aware. People who draw on care and support will be engaged and/or consulted with, should there be any proposals to make changes to the service in the future. 

The change of directorate will resolve DCS responsibility beyond their legal scope. This aligns with various legal and policy frameworks, including:?

• The Care Act 2014 and related adult social care legislation?
• ADASS roadmap?
• Mental Capacity Act 2005: DoLS Safeguards
• Think Local Act Personal strategic priorities?
• House of Lords report "A Gloriously Ordinary Life“?
• Kent County Council's strategic priorities "Securing Kent's Future" and “Framing Kent’s Future”
• Adult Social Care's co-produced strategy "Making a Difference Every Day"

There are a number of issues these proposals will address including:

·         Shifting Responsibility: When a child in Kent becomes an adult, the relationship with the council changes significantly. Parents previously made decisions, but at 16, young people gain legal rights and can make their own choices about social care and their future.?

·         Transition Gap: For many young adults in Kent, transition into adult social care  currently occurs at the age of 26 (it should be noted not all 18-25 years will come through SIS). There are exceptional cases of delay which will be avoided should the complete cohort of 18-25 sit within ASCH. The proposal to transfer the 18-25 service from SIS will contribute towards greater consistency in adult experiences of services aligned to ASCH’s co-produced strategy “Making a difference every day”.  ?

·         Improved Oversight: The DASS will have oversight and assurance on the impact of social care on people’s lives through the lens of equity of access, experience and outcomes for people who draw on care and support and unpaid carers, and alignment to key legal and policy drivers. ?

Implementation plans are developed to transfer the personnel and systems across the directorates and will ensure the transfer seamlessly integrates with the strategic objectives of the council and both CYPE and ASCH. Young adults who draw on care and support will not see or feel a difference and service continuity will be maintained with plans developed to minimize disruption to service delivery.

Concurrently with this proposed change, KCC is developing a vision for the transition system including:

• We are committed to delivering a seamless transition for all young people, regardless of their location or need.
• Our shared transitions framework will support us to work together with parents, carers and young people across teams and directorates. It will also foster collaborative work  with external partners including Health, Education, Voluntary Sector Community Organisations, Housing providers, District and Borough councils.
• We will create a culture of accountability, integrity, and purpose in KCC, and encourage professionals to strive for continuous improvement.
• We will work with young people to understand their ambitions for the future, and shape their transition to support their aspirations. Planning conversations will begin at 14 years old for all young people.
• We will give parents and carers information, advice and support to understand what transition may mean for the future, in time to adapt to these changes.
• We will support young people, parents and carers to connect with their communities, to ensure they are linked with the support and services it delivers
• We will support staff to work in a cohesive approach, enabling them through technology and systems to work efficiently and with compassion.

Options (other options considered but discarded)

• This does not need to be a detailed options assessment but should confirm that alternative approaches were considered.

There is the option to maintain the service within CYPE; however, this will continue to mean the DCS oversees a group falling outside their statutory role and the DASS will not have streamlined oversight of a cohort of people who will draw on KCC’s care and support.

Alternatively, the possibility of a matrix management approach was considered which would enable CYPE to retain the 18-25 SIS service and introduce additional reporting lines into ASCH. This option was not taken forward as it would require additional roles to be created to make a matrix-management approach feasible, which would not add financial value or create efficiencies to the same or greater extent than the proposal to transfer the 18-25 SIS service from CYPE to ASCH.

How the proposed decision supports the Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026

The proposed decision supports priority 4 within Framing Kent's Future - Our Council Strategy 2022-2026, with the commitment to ‘support the most vulnerable children and families in our county, ensuring social work practice supports manageable caseloads, reflective learning, joined up safeguarding and effective corporate parenting arrangements’, and explicitly to: “Act as a good Corporate Parent for those children in the care of KCC and improve support for young people as they transition into adulthood, whilst also improving support for those who transition into the adult social care system.”

One of the ways in which these commitments will be achieved is focussed on improving the support for young people as they transition to adulthood and the support received following transition into the adult social care system.

How the proposed decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026: Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf

Transitions is part of Securing Kents Future - Budget Recovery Strategy and this proposal supports the objectives for:

Preparing for adulthood/transition: Working across both ASCH and CYPE to optimise support for people between the ages of 14-25 as they transition from children to adult services, promoting independence in adult life. Working age people with learning disabilities are now living longer through better long-term management of medical needs, but this increases the need to promote independence earlier so long-term needs can continue to be met at reasonable cost to the council. Joint working with NHS partners will be critical given costs of support are incurred by both the NHS and social care.

This revised focus ensures alignment with the DASS's statutory obligations and promotes a more holistic approach to young adult well-being as they transition from children’s to adult’s social services.

Financial Implications

The budget for the statutory functions delivered by the 18-25 section of the Strengthening Independence Service will transfer from the CYPE Directorate to the ASCH Directorate. The budget to be transferred will include the 25-26 budget for 18-25 services, agreed as part of the Budget at County Council in February 2025, including budgets for both placement/support costs and related staffing budgets. The indicative total budget to be transferred, at the time of writing this report, will be approximately £59m, comprising £56m for package costs and £3m for staffing (based on indicative budgets for 25-26). 

Legal Implications  

The Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) at Kent County Council (KCC) is accountable for assessing local needs and delivering a full range of adult social services. These services support individuals under the provisions of Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 and the law defines an adult as someone aged 18 or over.

The Director of Children's Services (DCS) at KCC has statutory duties outlined in Section 18 of the Children Act 2004. These duties involve ensuring the delivery of local authority social care functions for children and young people. This includes, but is not limited to, providing services that meet the needs of all children, youth, including the most vulnerable, and their families.?

Under the current arrangements the Corporate Director Children, Young People, and Education (DCS) is overseeing a group falling outside their statutory role.?

If these changes are not implemented, the Corporate Director for Children, Young People, and Education (DCS) will continue to oversee a group falling outside their statutory role, and the DASS will continue to face a gap in oversight regarding the assessed needs and well-being of young adults aged 18-25 falling under their remit.