Moving into adulthood

Moving into adulthood is an important stage of your life. You will need to make plans for your future care and support, so you can live as independently as possible.

We know that even though you will be an adult at age 18, you will still be learning and developing. We will support you to build on all the things that you are good at and help you to develop the things you are not so good at. This will help you to become as independent as possible. We call this ‘Progression’.

If you are not able to make specific decisions about what your care and support should look like, and you are over the age of 16, then other people can make those decisions for you.

This is done under something called the Mental Capacity Act 2005 - find out what the law says about supporting people to make decisions about their lives.

How to get support from us

If you are receiving support from Northamptonshire Children’s Trust, including Leaving Care Services, please speak with your worker, who will contact us to ask us to meet with you and find out more about you (this is called a referral).  

This usually happens once you reach the age of 16.

For more information about what children’s services need to support you with to prepare you for when you are 18, (this is called Preparing for Adulthood), please see the Local Offer.

If you don't already have support from Northamptonshire Children’s Trust 

You can contact us through the adult social care referral page. You can do this yourself if you are over the age of 18, or you can ask your parent/carer or school to make contact if you are under 18.

If you have an Education Healthcare Plan (EHCP), your school should already be helping you to prepare for when you are 18. To find out more please see the Local Offer.

What happens next

Once we have received your referral, we will work out which is your Adult Social Care local community team (hub).

If you have a learning disability, there are specialist community hubs in Daventry and Northampton.

We will have a Moving into Adulthood (MIA) conversation with you, and this usually takes place within 10 working days of the hub receiving your referral.

The MIA conversation helps us to find out a bit more about what you might need when you are 18 and provides you with information about adult social care.  

Together we can then decide when the best time is for us to contact you again to start planning what support you might need from us when you reach adulthood.  

Some of the questions you might want to think about include:

• how do you feel about the support you currently receive and does it work for you?
• what would you like to do as an adult? - for example, getting a job or voluntary work or going to college
• what type of social activities would you like to be involved with? - things like joining local groups, meeting new people, developing your interests and hobbies
• what else would make you happier and healthier?  
• what else do you need help with to become more independent or manage on a daily basis?

Find out more about your options for arranging adult care.

Last updated 13 November 2023