with Julie Pointer, Children and Young People lead at the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi)
The recent House of Lords Public Service Committee report looks at the barriers and solutions to supporting young disabled people into work. In this response, Julie Pointer of the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) reflects on both the report and the follow-on article written by SNJ’s co-Director, Sharon Smith
We’ve been talking about employment pathways for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) for decades now. NDTi has supported several government-funded programmes to ensure all young people with additional needs enjoy the same rights (and responsibilities) as other young people. That includes paid work.
As part of a previous programme called “Getting a Life” we captured in this graphic what over 400 young people and their families across the country told us was needed, to help them to get into paid work. Not surprisingly, they spoke about the other things that were important to them, and this led to Preparing for Adulthood being a major theme in the 2014 Children and Families Act and SEND Code of Practice 2015. Since then, NDTi has delivered the Preparing for Adulthood programme.
For most of us, alongside the economic benefits, work brings a sense of belonging and responsibility and a feeling that we have a role to play. When people have their own money to spend, it puts money back into the economy. Paid work can support people to have a home, make friends and relationships, enjoy activities in their local area and can provide both physical and mental health benefits
The art of possibility
The Think Work First report mirrors NDTi’s findings of what works to support young people with SEND into employment. It talks about the responsibility of the education system to ensure the curriculum provides the right tools for young people to think about work and to understand what the world of work might look like for them.
Perhaps what is missing is how to think right from the beginning about how parents/carers are often treated when they have a disabled child; not to expect too much of their child or have high hopes for the future. This is alongside what is currently a deficit-focused approach to claiming benefits to support young people and their families. There is often a parallel system of expectations for this group of children and young people that they won’t do well in school, that they won’t gain employment, or live fulfilling and meaningful lives.
If we can flip this narrative to the art of possibility, we know that disabled young people (and adults) can become amazing employees who will work conscientiously and with commitment and loyalty to their employers, as well as create a much more positive and diverse work environment.
We welcome the report’s recommendation that there continues to be a need for support to grow the number of supported internships available to young people with SEND across England.
Internships Work
NDTi is currently working on Internships Work with our partners at BASE and DfN Project Search, to help double the number of supported internships in England by March 2025. You can find out more about what we have learnt on our website, along with an external evaluation report being written by Cooper Gibson, which should be out by the end of this year.
We also believe that the Curriculum and Assessment Review needs to carefully scrutinise what support children and young people with SEND receive through their education that helps them to move into the world of work, and to live a meaningful adult life. For some young people, gaining recognised qualifications in more traditional academic subjects isn’t right for them, but this doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to work. The curriculum needs to recognise this and not penalise education providers who are creative and adaptive and who offer differentiation to enable this group of students to learn.
The review needs to consider how we can ensure disabled children and young people and their families understand their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and how to push for reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act.
We need to use the report recommendations and the opportunity of the Curriculum and Assessment review to ensure preparing for adulthood outcomes are embedded in all plans (not just Education, Health and Care Plans) from at least Year 9.
Pathways into work for disabled young people
We love a graphic at NDTi! The graphic above helps us to think visually about what the pathway into work could look like for disabled young people.
It starts with raising aspirations from the very beginning, working in a person-centred way that understands that every child/young person is different, with their own unique skills (and challenges). It then draws on everything we know works to help young people into employment:
- Vocational profiles – created with young people to truly capture work-related information about them.
- Information for young people and their families
- Work experience, work tasters and exposure to the world of employment
- Great careers education, information, advice and guidance
- Employment pathways that work for young people, including apprenticeships, supported internships and supported employment that is properly resourced and financed.
- Job coaches to support young people in the workplace and Access to Work funding to help financially
- Ongoing support post-employment, reasonable adjustments and career reviews to allow for growth and development and change!
- Financial support and a safety net for disabled young people for those times when they might be out of work.
Also read:
- The Lords publishes a “blueprint” to help young disabled people “thrive in work” saying too many are “written off”
- The stark inequalities of social mobility of disabled young adults in England
- Making Supported Internships work so young people with learning disabilities and autism can thrive
- Why Preparing for Adulthood outcomes, from the earliest years, must be an integral part of the new national EHCP template.
- Why Person-Centred Planning is vital for better lives for children and adults with disabilities
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