Transition to adult services

Around 16 to 18, children's health, care and mental health services hand over to adult ones. The age differs by service and by area, and the adult service is not always a like-for-like replacement: thresholds change, and some support that existed in childhood has no adult equivalent.

National guidance says transition Transitions A change from one thing to another. Schools use this one word for small changes, like moving between lessons, and big ones, like moving to secondary school. Read the full definition of Transitions should be planned in advance with the young person involved, with a named worker to coordinate it. In practice it often is not, so it is worth asking each service directly, from about age 15 or 16: when will transition happen, which adult service takes over, and what happens in between. Keep copies of diagnosis letters and reports safe, because a diagnosis made in childhood is not always carried across automatically and you may need the paperwork again.