Helping young people become adults

EAST Cambridgeshire youngsters with special needs could benefit from a nine month review of services designed to help them move into adult life. The review team visited young people, their parents and carers, schools, social training groups and an employe

EAST Cambridgeshire youngsters with special needs could benefit from a nine month review of services designed to help them move into adult life.

The review team visited young people, their parents and carers, schools, social training groups and an employer to find out what life was like for these young people as they planned to leave school.

Members were impressed by the range of opportunities for youngsters with learning difficulties in Cambridgeshire and the commitment of those working on their behalf.

But they want to see improvements in information sharing between education, social care and health and have asked for the shortfalls in appropriate housing to be addressed.

Now Cambridgeshire County Council's children and young people's services scrutiny committee has agreed to take forward the team's recommendations.

Cllr Shona Johnstone, cabinet member for children and young people's services, thanked the scrutiny committee for highlighting the issue of funding the one-to-one adult support required to enable young people with disabilities to access further education.

"There is a danger of double standards developing, where post-16 students with disabilities attending maintained special and mainstream schools have their need for one-to-one personal care support met through education budgets, but not if they attend further education establishments," she said. "Such support is an essential part of ensuring students participate in the full curriculum of an educational establishment.