Young people with disabilities

Thinking about “transition” clients - young disabled people moving from children’s to adult social care. The majority stay in education until their 20th birthday so parents can continue getting ChB and CTC. The parents are offered advice about the possibility of the young person claiming ESA/UC in their own right. Most of our clients get DLA/PIP with high/enhanced care/daily living so CTC can be a lot and it’s a big drop to ESA/UC especially in the assessment phase so most parents understandably decide to hang onto the CTC as long as possible.

We don’t have full service UC yet and are among the last areas to go. However I’m wondering about the value of parents giving up ChB and CTC early so as to keep the young people out of it. This is partly about the deficiencies of the UC system generally and partly to protect EDP/SDP.

What are people’s experiences so far in full service areas when a young disabled person claims UC? I’m thinking of the period up to when they go through the work capability assessment - are work coaches OK about not imposing any work related requirements? How do they deal with the appointee (usually parents, may be corporate) We would expect the majority to have LCWRA once assessed.