Support from adult social care

If you have health and care needs that will continue once you are 18, you can have an adult social care needs assessment. This can help you decide what kind of housing and support is right for you.

You don’t need to currently get help from children’s social care to ask for an adult social care needs assessment.

Get an assessment

Once you are 14 years old, the Preparing for Adulthood Team can help you get an assessment.

Find out more about assessing needs for adult care.

After an assessment

We will work with you to agree on the support you need and explain housing options, such as:

Living at home with support

You could carry on living with your family and get support from care workers. You could also move into your own home and get this support.

Care workers can help you with:

tasks at home
going out and about

We can arrange this support for you, or you can choose to get direct payments and hire your own carer or personal assistant. Find out more about direct payments and hiring a carer.

There are different options for moving into your own home, including joining the housing needs register from the age of 16. Find out more about options for renting or buying.

Supported living

This can be a good option if you want to live independently but need support available 24 hours a day.

There are two types:

Shared houses where 3 to 4 people live together. Everyone has their own bedroom and shares areas like the kitchen and living room. You would also share support.
Your own flat or bungalow, often in a group of homes close together where support is onsite.

Residential care

If you need a higher level of support, a residential care home or nursing home might be right for you. These are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Search for local residential homes on the CQC website.

Making your own decisions about where to live

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is a law that protects people aged 16 and over when it comes to making decisions.

It says:

Everyone has the right to make their own decisions as much as they can, no matter what disability they have.
People should get the help they need to understand and make decisions. This might mean explaining things in a different way.
If a decision is too complicated for a person make, even with support, someone else can decide for them, but it must be in the person’s best interests.

If someone can’t make their own decisions

You can apply to be someone’s deputy if they aren’t able to make a decision when it needs to be made.

This is called ‘lacking mental capacity’.

They might still be able to make some decisions at other times.

As their deputy, you’ll be legally allowed to make decisions for them, in their best interests.

You can speak to your child or young person’s social worker or other professionals for advice about deputyship.

Find out more about deputies on GOV.UK.

Support from adult social care