How do I apply for adult social care for my disabled teenager?

Contact your council's adult social care team to request a Care Act transition assessment. Your teenager has the right to one once it is likely they will need adult care after turning 18, and you can ask from Year 9.

The steps, in order

You do not wait for the council to come to you, and you do not wait for your teenager to turn 18. You make the request now.

1. Contact your local council's adult social care team (sometimes called the transitions team) and say you are requesting a transition assessment under the Care Act 2014 for your child. You can ring, email, or use the council's online form. The young person can ask for themselves, or you can ask on their behalf.
2. Ask for your own carer's assessment at the same time. A parent caring for the young person can request a child's carer's assessment of their own support needs as part of transition (Care Act 2014, s.60). It is a separate assessment, and you are entitled to it.
3. The assessment is carried out by the council, usually by a social worker or occupational therapist. It looks at what your teenager will need as an adult: support to live independently, to work or study, to have a social life, and to stay well.

You do not need a formal diagnosis for any of this. Adult social care under the Care Act is needs-based, not diagnosis-based. The test is whether your teenager is likely to have needs for care and support as an adult, not what label they have.

The timeline: start from Year 9

Transition planning is meant to start early, from Year 9 (around age 13 to 14). Once you make a request, the council must carry out the assessment where it would be of significant benefit to your teenager and the consent condition is met (Care Act 2014, s.58). They cannot simply tell you to come back when your child turns 18. If your teenager has an Education, Health and Care plan, this runs alongside the EHCP's Preparing for Adulthood review from Year 9, not instead of it.

The 18th birthday safeguard: no cliff edge

This is the part most guides leave out, and it is the one that protects you. If the council has not finished the adult assessment and decided how needs will be met before your teenager turns 18, the children's services they already receive must continue with no gap until the adult decision is made and acted on (Care Act 2014, s.66). You do not have to accept a break in care. If anyone tells you support stops on the 18th birthday, that is wrong, and you can say so in writing and quote section 66.

If the council refuses to assess, delays, or tries to make you wait until 18, put your request in writing and ask for the decision in writing too. You can get free help from your local SENDIASS or a charity adviser, and if the council still will not act you can use its formal complaints process and then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.