The cliff edge is real
Families consistently describe the move from children's to adult services as falling off a cliff. Children's services are (relatively) joined-up; adult services are not. Many supports simply stop at 18, and the new adult systems use different language, different thresholds and different funding.
What changes at 18
- Children's social care → Adult social care (new assessment, often higher threshold)
- CAMHS → Adult Mental Health Services (often a gap or refusal)
- Paediatrician → adult specialist (often discharged with no replacement)
- DLA → PIP (new application, new assessment)
- School/college EHCP → adult education or no plan at all
- Parental decision-making → Mental Capacity Act applies
- Child benefit may end
Start early — age 13–14
Transition planning should begin at the Year 9 EHCP annual review (around age 13–14). By law, EHCPs must include a transition plan that covers:
- Employment — paid work, supported employment, voluntary work
- Independent living — where and how they will live
- Community inclusion — friends, hobbies, belonging
- Health — moving to adult services
The four pathways
- Higher/further education — university, college, supported internships
- Employment — Access to Work, supported employment, apprenticeships
- Adult social care — personal budgets, day services, supported living
- Continuing healthcare — NHS-funded care for complex needs
Mental Capacity and decision-making
At 18, your child is legally an adult. If they have capacity, they make their own decisions. If they don't (assessed decision-by-decision), you may need:
- Lasting Power of Attorney (if capacity exists)
- Deputyship via the Court of Protection (if it doesn't)
- Appointeeship for benefits
Do
- Start asking "what happens at 18?" from Year 9
- Request a Care Act assessment at 17.5
- Keep written records of every promise
Don't
- Don't assume someone is coordinating it for you
- Don't wait for adult services to come to you
- Don't sign anything you don't understand
Transition is a marathon, not an event. Start early.