Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Minister for Schools and Learners, today formally launched the Aiming High for Disabled Children Transition Support Programme (TSP) for disabled young people aged 14-19. During the launch the Minister confirmed that every local authority area is receiving £10,000 to assess their current support for transition including drawing in the views of young people and families and completing a self assessment questionnaire; and 13 LAs are receiving an additional £37,500 to extend their practice in the following areas:

- engagement with disabled young people and also their families
- personalisation
- joint assessment processes in children's and adult services
- education, employment and training options at 16+
- strategic partnership working

The national transition support team (ntst), a coalition lead by the Council for Disabled Children, brought together a range of professionals, young people and parents to celebrate the investment in transition.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry, Minister for Schools and Learners, said:

'We are investing £19m over three years (2008 - 2011) in transition services through the Transition Support Programme which aims to ensure that all services meet minimum standards and provide opportunities for some to extend their practice across England. I am pleased to award £37,500 this year to the 13 areas identified by ntst as ready to extend their practice. These areas, with the support of the national support team, will continue to develop good practice and their improvement will help to inform improved transition services in every local area.

The national transition support team are well positioned to work with the key local and regional agencies to help make the necessary changes that will make such a difference to many disabled young people' ntst has three main roles:

- Drive and shape the TSP in local areas through work with regional advisers, and disabled young people and their families;
- Engage with and exchange good practice in transition through websites, targeted information sheets and other resources to help build capacity; and
- Identify the support needs of local areas and work in partnership with regional advisers, the Department for Children Schools and Families and the Department of Health to improve transition practice.

Speaking at the launch, Helen Wheatley, programme director, CDC said:

'This is a golden opportunity for the sector to work together to radically improve the services for disabled young people. One crucial objective of ntst is to change culture - this can only be achieved if disabled young people are involved in the transition process. The funding awarded by the department will improve services but we will need to go further and reach out to disabled young people and engage with local advocacy groups, providing them with a range of tools and support options.'

ntst will work with local areas and regional support agencies to improve existing tools and mechanisms of practice and sharing learning.

Notes

1. The 13 areas are Birmingham, Cornwall, Coventry, Devon, LB Redbridge, LB Richmond, Leicester City, Medway, North East Lincolnshire, North Tyneside, Nottinghamshire, Oldham, & Suffolk.

2. The areas were selected by the ntst using existing evidence from Children and Young People's Plans and inspection reports, regional support agencies and CDC's practice based transition mapping exercise with 60 local authorities and PCT partners.

3. The national transition support team (ntst), a coalition led by the Council for Disabled Children which includes the Association for Real Change (ARC), Association for Children's Palliative Care (ACT), Children's Society, National centre for excellence in residential child care (NCERCC), Speaking Up, Scope, Treehouse, and Paradigm, have been awarded the contract to support the Transition Support Programme by the Department for Children Schools and Families over the period of 2008-2010. For further information visit transitionsupportprogramme or email ntstncb

4. The Transition Support Programme (TSP) was developed in response to the Aiming High for Disabled Children review (2007) which found that more needed to be done to co-ordinate services for disabled young people in transition to adult life. The TSP will seek to raise the standards of transition in all local areas with £19m allocated to the programme over the CSR period (2008 - 2011). TSP consists of two main elements:

The national transition support team, which will coordinate the work with local authorities, PCTs and regional advisers and existing experts; and

Support for change at local level through a combination of direct grants and regional adviser activity.

For further information visit everychildmatters/socialcare/ahdc/

5. The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) provides a national forum for the discussion and development of policy and practice issues related to services and support for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs. CDC is based at the National Children's Bureau. For further information visit ncb/cdc.

6. NCB's mission is to advance the well-being of all children and young people across every aspect of their lives. As a membership and infrastructure support agency for the children's sector in England and Northern Ireland, NCB provides essential information on policy, research and best practice for our members and the members of our wide range of partnership bodies which operate under our charitable status and are based in our London headquarters. For further information visit ncb

7. The Transition Information Network (TIN) is an alliance of organisations and individuals who work together with a common aim: to improve disabled young people's experience of the transition to adulthood. TIN is a source of information for disabled young people, families and professionals. TIN forms the hub of the information provision delivered through the national transition support team (ntst) which in turn supports delivery of the governments Transition Support Programme. For further information visit transitioninfonetwork

Join NCB Membership today and be part of the largest multi-agency Membership network of professionals in the UK. Log on to ncb/members for more details. As a leading publisher in the children's sector, NCB offers a range of accessible publications on key issues. ncb/books

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