Purpose

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.?
??
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.
 

Decision

Cabinet agree to:
 
A.       
TRANSFER the statutory functions delivered by the 18-25
section of the Strengthening Independence Service, including the
transfer of workforce in services, from the Children Young People
and Education Directorate to the Adult Social Care and Health
Directorate from 1 April 2025; and
 
B.       
DELEGATE authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social
Care and Health in consultation with the Corporate Director
Children, Young People and Education to take the relevant actions,
including but not limited to, awarding, finalising the terms of and
entering into the relevant contracts or other legal agreements, as
necessary, to implement the decision.