The step between childhood and adulthood can be a tough time for anyone. Finding a partner, employment, housing as well as the important things in life such as making sure you reach home after a long night on the booze, trying not to overdose on drugs and dumping your girlfriend with that unwanted pregnancy.
Having a disability can add to the pressure young adults face and the lack of support has been noted by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. The group are trying to make others face up to the fact that when a disabled person blows out his 18 Birthday candles the flame of the care they had through childhood goes out.
The lack of funding for young adults is the main problem as most of the money is being spent on disabled children according to half the 52 authorities which were surveyed. Dame Denise Platt is the CSCI chairman, she said,
"Our study shows that councils need to start planning early to ensure that young people with disabilities have the chance to lead as independent a life as possible once they reach adulthood.
"Young people should expect to maintain their quality of life as they move into adults' services.
"It is a waste of resources - as well as a waste of young people's potential - if the support they are given as children is not continued into adulthood, and if they end up in expensive residential care that restricts their independence, often many miles away from their own home."
Pressure is being put on councils and primary cases to work together and improve the situation. The director of policy and communications at the DRC, that's the Disability Rights Commission, Agnes Fletcher also had quite a bit to add. Making this report a piece of cake for us to write! He said,
"This report exposes the effects that the cold, dead hand of adult social services has on young disabled teenagers wanting to make their way in adult life.
"Many of these young people will be forced to forget their aspirations of going on to further education or being supported to live independently.
"Families have to negotiate a cats cradle of costly red tape, but tightening eligibility criteria mean that incredible strains are placed on parents to negotiate support from a system that rarely provides what is actually needed.
"Without the proper investment in these services, these families are steered into a spiral of dependency and poverty.
"Young adults are forced back on their parents to meet their care needs, parents are forced to give up work and on to the benefit system with no possible means of escape."
Another long winded quote came from John Coughlan who is from a organisation about Children Services and directors, or something similar. To be honest we've lost interest with this dull story, but sod it! The reason why this story is so boring and full of random quotes is because we are off to New York tomorrow to write a Yank interview and really not in the mood to write any stuff today. If you look over on our entertainment page all we have done there is copy and pasted the nominations for the NME Awards. Anyway we will leave you with what John said,
"We acknowledge that where barriers are drawn between age groups, then the closest attention possible has to be focused on ensuring that people supported by social care services and moving from one age range to another are carefully monitored.
"There are bound to be 'conflicts of eligibility criteria' not just for services as between age groups, but between different local authorities geographically.
"It is vitally important that adults and children's services persistently keep their eye on the transitions ball, especially now that two, instead of one, local authority department are responsible for commissioning and providing social care."
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