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Social Exclusion Unit Report

Today the Social Exclusion Unit in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is publishing a major report entitled ““Transitions: Young Adults with Complex Needs””. The report proposes:"a renewed focus on the 16- to 25-year-old age group, building on the""Government's successful programmes for disadvantaged children and families;""a focus on the invisible early twenties, the age at which youth policies have tended to end;""the need for all young adults to have a trusted adult in their lives to help negotiate their way around different agencies; and,""smoother—and therefore better—transitions between services by joining up vertically to promote continuity of service from adolescence to adulthood." The report highlights three key themes: Thinking and Behaviour."For young adults, issues around thinking and behaviour are particularly critical because decisions made during the transition to adulthood—particularly in areas like education and employment—are some of the most important and far-reaching decisions taken at any time of life." Age-bound services."The importance of the issue of age boundaries was reinforced aduring this project by practitioners and young people alike. Two issues dominated the discussion of this area: the often abrupt ending of services once a young person reaches a certain age, and the sometimes poor transition between youth and adult services." Holistic services and the ‘trusted adult'."Young adults with multiple problems may lack the skills and resilience needed to make the transition to adulthood. Support, advice and guidance are crucial in order for young adults to make a successful transition. For many young adults this will come from their parents, relatives, guardians, or teachers—but not all young adults have these sources of support. For them, this supporting role may be filled by a personal advisor or mentor— or someone else acting in the role of ‘trusted adult'." The report contains 27 action points to be taken forward by Government Departments. The Implementation Team in the Social Exclusion Unit will monitor the progress made by the Departments on individual action points and will work to ensure that the overarching goals contained within the report are pursued across Government. Baroness Andrews, Parliamentary Secretary in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will chair an ad-hoc group of Ministers from key Departments to oversee progress towards the action points contained in the report. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses. Further copies can be downloaded from http://www.socialexclusion.gov.uk/ downloaddoc.asp?id=785