National Transitions to Adulthood Strategy for young disabled people: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

6. What changes have been made as a result of this assessment?

As a result of this assessment, we have thought about the impact that the Strategy may have on children’s rights – in particular, we have considered the impact across each of the priority areas of the strategy. We know that transitions to adulthood can involve changes in every area of life (e.g. employment, health, social care, education, relationships, active citizenship, and independent living), and there is already a range of legislation, plans and policies in place that support the objective of improving outcomes for young disabled people.

The Strategy aims to complement and help bring a more co-ordinated and joined-up approach to this broader landscape so that young people, their families and the practitioners who support them are better able to navigate it. The experiences of young disabled people as they transition into adulthood are unique to each individual. As such, the impact assessments undertaken to support development of the Strategy take account of the range and diversity of experiences young disabled person have, and require support in, to experience a positive transition to young adult life.

The Strategy seeks to embed the broad principles of good transitions to help guide, inform and smooth transitions processes in all areas of a young disabled person’s life, rather than focussing on specific destinations, sectors or services.

An example of how the evidence collected and assessed for this impact assessment impacted on the policy is the influence of the Seen, Heard, Included report. This report highlighted that young disabled people with complex needs and their families often feel that their voices aren’t heard, and demonstrated how to best support engagement with this cohort. By taking onboard the successes of this report the Strategy adopted a conversational approach and encouraged engagement with various audiences to ensure evidence shared with the team during the engagement on the Strategy’s development influenced the final publication and its priorities and ambitions.

This is demonstrated by:

• Acknowledging at the forefront of the Strategy the experiences shared about the how transitions feel, alongside the concerns and challenges being faced from a wide breadth of individuals involved in young disabled people’s transitions (including young people, parents, families, carers and practitioners).
• Advocating and promoting in the Strategy the importance of choice and informed decision making for those planning their transition. Enshrining the rights of the child and encouraging positive engagement and early planning to support ambitions and desires of those experiencing the transition.
• Additionally, the Strategy recognises its limitations and highlights that further data and communication challenges should be addressed for the benefit of young disabled people. This is further evidenced by the evidence gaps identified and where further consideration particularly on clear communication and data collection will be considered further during the Strategy’s implementation and towards the initial progress report.