Preparing for adulthood team

The Preparing for Adulthood (PfA) Team works with children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) to prepare for their journey into adulthood.

We support young adults to make the best use of the services around them, either while living at home or independently within their community.  

The PfA team works from year 9, with 13 up to 25 year olds, offering a short-term service of up to 26 weeks.

The team works across four ‘pathways’, helping young people by:

• Offering support and guidance when considering next steps and to gain skills and prepare for further education, employment, training, or volunteer work

• Guiding and supporting young people to develop skills that allow them to live independently

• Helping young people feel a part of their community, building confidence and make friendships

• Guide young people to stay safe, maintain wellbeing and remain healthy, and connect young people with health or wellbeing services where appropriate.

We focus on the strengths of the young person, providing direct one-to-one support and working with other professionals, to provide lasting outcomes which meet their identified goals.

The PfA team also deliver a Travel Training service, which works to build young people’s skills and confidence to travel independently.

More information

The PfA team have produced booklets against the four pathways above, which have been made available as part of our online SEND local offer. 

For more information on preparing for adulthood please visit the SEND local offer 'Preparing for adulthood' section.

Eligibility

To receive this service a young person must be aged between 13 - 25 with a special educational need and/or disability AND:

• a current Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP), OR
• an allocated social worker.

Indirect work can be undertaken to support a young person who has not received services from social care and does not have an EHCP, in exceptional circumstances, if deemed to be preventative.

How to access

PfA support can be requested by a supporting professional, such as a school or social worker, by emailing: PreparingForAdulthoodTeam@southglos.gov.uk.

Referrals for Travel Training can be made via self- referral or by Schools, Colleges, Social Workers, SEND Team professionals, or from within the PFA team.