Introduction

The separation of social service organisations into separate departments for children and for adults has prompted much of the recent discussion around transition. While points of transition have always required careful management, this is even more the case now that the responsibility for individuals may move from one department to another. For example, the needs of young people with learning disabilities become the responsibility of a different department once they reach adulthood, with potentially different procedures and eligibilities. More widely, transitions for individuals may also require management of boundaries and partnership working between traditionally separate departments, for example housing and social services, health agencies and the voluntary sector, the benefits agency and training providers. This chapter will map the key organisational contexts that create many of the transition experiences. Statutory service configurations for social services and health across the constituent countries of the UK will be considered first, followed by other organisations commonly involved in transition.

England

Social services

The delivery of social services support in England is the responsibility of the 152 local authority councils with social services responsibilities. Traditionally, a single local authority department had responsibility for both children's and adults’ services. The pursuit of the 2003 Every Child Matters agenda (DfES, 2003) and the 2004 Children Act, however, triggered a reconfiguration of the landscape, with an increasing separation of the services and the creation of two distinct directorates. The 2004 Act required all local authorities with responsibility for educational and social services to appoint a Director of Children's Services (DCS), with responsibility for coordinating and managing the provision of local children's services across education, health and social services. The creation of this new statutory post was designed to ensure a coordinated approach to meeting the needs of all children and young people in the wake of the shortcomings revealed by the Laming Report on the Victoria Climbié case (Lord Laming, 2003).

Detailed guidance was produced in 2005 on the role of the DCS and the associated Lead Member role (DCSF, 2005). A consultation on an updated version of this guidance has just closed at the time of writing (February 2009) (DCSF, 2008).