Supporting young people into adulthood
Fundamental and far-reaching changes are taking place in how young people with special educational needs are supported into adulthood.
The Children and Families Act 2014 brings into being a radical new Special Educational Needs Code of Practice for children and young people from birth to 25 years, which puts them, and their parents and carers, at the heart of all discussions and decisions about every aspect of SEN planning and provision.
The Act focuses on outcomes for the young person – including employment, independent living and community participation. The definition of SEN is extended to include young people up to the age of 25 and it includes ‘learning difficulties’ and ‘disabilities.’
Local offer requirements
Under the new legislation, every local authority must publish a list of education, health and care services available to children, young people and their families as their ‘Local Offer.’
There is a requirement for local authorities to include services that are local in origin and also services outside the local area that they expect are likely to be used by children and young people for whom they are responsible i.e. services that can respond to local need.
As a national charity operating from a Lincolnshire base, Linkage delivers specialist further education services through its independent specialist college, attracting young people from across the country, as well as young people living in Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Our education Local Offer is therefore included in the list of services being published by different local authorities throughout the country.
As well as publishing information on what further education colleges and independent specialist colleges such as Linkage, can provide, local authorities are also required to list services available to support young people in preparing for adulthood. This includes preparing for and finding employment such as supported internships, apprenticeships and traineeships and sources of information, advice and support.
Linkage College is on the Secretary of State’s approved list S41
This means that local authorities must include information about Linkage and other approved specialist colleges in their Local Offer. Young people, and/or their parents can name Linkage or another approved college on their Education, Health and Care Plan. The local authority must then secure the place and the college must admit them. This means that S41 specialist colleges such as Linkage are being treated the same as any general further education college. If young people and/or their families are considering a specialist college you have some additional rights if the college you choose is on this approved list.
Linkage’s Local Offer
In addition to our independent specialist college, Linkage also delivers the following to young people with learning disabilities and these all make up our Local Offer: Adult Day service, Residential Care, Supported Living, Community Support and Employment Services.
Students have the experience of a 24-hour curriculum and move on, post-college, to live in Linkage supported accommodation and gain paid work with the support of Linkage’s Employment Services.
With 40 years’ experience of working with this client group, Linkage currently supports approximately 230 clients in Care and Community Support services and 150 post-16 students in our independent specialist college on both a daytime and residential basis. Working with a network of more than 140 employers, Linkage currently supports around 50 clients to sustain paid employment and enables more than 200 individuals to access work experience. Many of our clients are able to build their confidence, comfort and capability in one of our Linkage-managed social and commercial enterprises.
Local offer contacts
For more information on the SEND Local Offer of the Local Authority’s in the Lincolnshire region please see below:
North East Lincolnshire Council’s Local Offer
North Lincolnshire Council’s Local Offer
Lincolnshire County Council’s Local Offer
East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Local Offer
Additional resources
<p style=”padding-left: 40px;”>Further education: guide to the 0 to 25 SEND code of practice</p>