“Practical, motivating, well paced and useful” was just one delegate’s feedback from the transition support event held at Doncaster Race Course on 19th of January that was hosted by the Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Partnership, the Valuing People programme and the National Strategies team. 
Transition is big news at the moment. The Department of Health recently published ‘Transition: moving on well’ which states all young people with learning difficulties must have a person centred transition plan.
The conference aimed to help make a positive difference in the lives of young people who are making the transition from children’s services to adult services (transition).
Delegates included children's and adult commissioners from health, Local Authority and third sector (voluntary services), service managers, communication managers, transition leads and young people who use services. The day was aimed at strategic and operational managers who could influence the development of person centred planning in transition for young people.
The event focussed on person centred planning, innovative planning tools, lessons transferable from services and people in the adult world and web based information sharing. Localities from across the region were brought together to share best practice and forward plan for next steps in transition improvements for young people. Speakers including Katie and Nadia Clarke, (1 Voice and disabled young person of the year candidate), Tom MacLean (advocate and representative of Crossroads) and Jackie Warne (head teacher of Ellen Tinkham school in Exeter) inspired and informed action planning. The teams attending used the time to agree a number of priority areas for their locality, including:
- person centred plans for all looked after children by April 2011
- parent empowerment programmes
- development and trial of a communication contract; and
- young people and families being invited to sit as representatives at strategic transition board meetings
Ends
Contacts
To find out more about the conference and the work of the YHIP transition support project, contact sonja.fretwell@yhip.org.uk / 07795 602878.