Supporting young people from minority communities Bridget Fisher Head of BME Services ARC

1. Supporting young people from minority communities Bridget Fisher Head of BME Services ARC Transition and Best Practice Hallam University 29.01.10

2. Lots of Hope for the Future

3. Outline • It is difficult to plan services and improve outcomes if it is not known who for and how many • 7.9% of the population in 2001 classified themselves as belonging to a BME community. • However there is a statistical skew which means a higher proportion of young people are from minority communities • The prevalence of LD in people aged between 5 and 34 is 3 times higher in the South Asian communities

4. “Those who have Mixed heritage have the youngest age structure where 50% are under the age of 16. The Bangladeshi, Other Black and Pakistani groups also had young age structures: 38% of both the Bangladeshi and Other Black groups were aged under 16, and 35% of Pakistanis also fell into this age group. • This was almost double the proportion of the White British group where one in five (20%) were under the age of 16.” www.statistics.gov.uk

5. Every Child Matters The Government's aim is for every child, whatever their background or their circumstances, to have the support they need to: be healthy stay safe enjoy and achieve make a positive contribution achieve economic well-being.

6. Facts and Figures In England there are an estimated 12.3 million children aged 0 – 19. It is estimated that 2.8% of children have a learning disability. There are 346,000 children aged 0 – 19 with a learning disability. (Mencap July 2008)

7. Facts and Figures There are 85,000 children aged 15 – 19 with a learning disability. (Mencap 2008) From 2009 20% of new entrants with learning disabilities to adult social care will be from ethnic minority communities. (Emerson & Hatton LDC 2008) This gives an estimated 17,000 young people from minority communities in transition to adult services.

8. Only 42% of the senior managers in children’s services and education were able to provide details of young people’s ethnicity in out of area placements. The needs of young people and their families from ethnic communities were less well addressed in protocols, commissioning documents and during the interviews. Councils covering diverse populations told us that their ‘practice was ingrained’ in meeting the needs of all communities. Overall, however, there was little evidence that councils had given diversity issues sufficient attention. (Growing Up Matters: Better transition planning for young people with complex needs, Commission for Social Care Inspection, January 2007)

10. Young People

11. Young People Culture is a key part of young people’s identity: ‘The majority of young people identified themselves primarily according to their cultural identity and not according to the fact that they had a disability or learning difficulty. Many strongly resisted any suggestion that they had a disability or learning difficulty. This contrasts with the way staff in services view them.’ (Aasha: working with young people with a learning difficulty from a South Asian background, 2003)Y

12. ‘Generally…impairment is only one part of a young person’s identity. Other social factors, including culture and religion, being male or female and the experience of racial discrimination influenced how they experienced disability and impairment.’ (South Asian disabled young people and their families, Social Care: Race and Ethnicity Series, 2002)

13. On the whole children and young people were clear about what they wanted to do; their parents were less certain what options would be available and how it would work in practice. Some honesty and sensitivity is needed as children and young people become aware of the reality of their own disabilities. (My School, My Family, My Life:Telling it like it is,DRC, 2006)

14. Adolescents and adults with a learning disability from South Asian communities reported that “double discrimination” led to a lack of culturally appropriate services, limited friendships and a lack of leisure activities (Azmi 97). Many of the young people were socially isolated and many had negative experiences at school. (Aawaaz project, Mencap 2007)

15. Therefore we are looking at supporting an increasing number of young people, educated here, who are possibly in the difficult position of having all the issues of moving into adult life combined with professionals’ expectations of adulthood and their own family expectations.

16. Families

17. Some families may never have had learning disability explained to them. They may be hoping for a cure. They cannot therefore adequately plan a future for their disabled child. Their aspirations may not be appropriate for their child.

18. Families are often unaware of the route of transition. They frequently do not know about transition planning, connexions services, or specialist services. The transition process seems to have passed them by.

19. ‘While transition plans for children with disabilities aged 14 and over are a current policy, no parent in our study reported being aware of a transition plan for their teenager. However, transition plans are urgently required, as parents reported great uncertainty and anxiety about services for their child after education stopped. Greater consistency between child and adult services is also required, as some parents reported that adult services that had been offered to them did not meet the language, cultural or religious needs of their child.’ (From Supporting South Asian Families with a Child with Severe Disabilities, Hatton et al, JKP, 2004)

20. In addition, findings from the Aasha action research project indicates the extent to which some families from BME communities are disenfranchised by financial difficulty and limited access to English language: ‘There are high levels of poverty in this group. Many of the parents speak little English and have difficulty accessing the support that is available because they do not understand social services bureaucratic procedures.’ (http://www.skill.org.uk/)

21. Families/carers from minority communities are frequently very concerned about the safety of their young person with a learning difficulty and can view drives towards independence as actually neglect. • A lack of enthusiasm from a South Asian parent towards greater independence for their child does not automatically indicate a failure of the parent to want best outcomes for their child. Their understanding of ‘best outcomes’ may differ from that of professionals.

22. Research findings show that professionals need to make themselves aware of the different range of attitudes that may be held by parents and carers who are thinking within their personal value system and the culture of the community to which they belong.

23. There is little evidence to suggest that informal networks were available to meet the considerable support needs of families. In a survey of Asian family carers, when asked to whom they would turn in a crisis 21% of carers did not know of anyone.

24. Talking about the future

25. ‘A student had a transition meeting in Birmingham which was held in the family’s community language then translated into English for the English speaking support workers. This was possible because a facilitator who spoke the family’s language was used.’ Every meeting should be geared to the young person’s background and their individual cultural needs are identified.

26. Bradford Project “…families who had received support from the liaison worker felt better-equipped to help their son or daughter, whereas those who did not receive help reported continuing difficulties in gaining necessary access to services, help and support” “Making Us Count” FPLD 2005

27. So a key issue for workers supporting young people at transition is to help them make the decisions that are right for them in their own cultural context. • To this end the information and support offered to them as individuals should be fully explained to their families. • Much evidence points to the need for families supporting young people to have a link worker at transition who understands the culture and the various different pulls that the young person may be experiencing.

28. Resources to Help

29. Valuing People Now is based on the recognition of the human rights of people with learning disabilities. It emphasises their rights as citizens: To be socially included To have choice in their daily lives To have opportunities to achieve independence.

30. There are currently many initiatives looking at ways of improving services for people from minority communities. The National Advisory Group on LD and Ethnicity meets 8 times a year to discuss policy/strategy plans and comment on them.

31. Transition Information Network • The Transition Information Network (TIN) is an alliance of organisations and individuals who come together with a common aim: to improve the experience of disabled young people’s transition to adulthood. TIN is a source of information and good practice for disabled young people, families and professionals. The information is provided through a website, magazine, e-newsletters and seminars.

32. TIN Provides: • A first point of contact for anyone needing information about the transition process. Many pieces of legislation and guidance cover the transition process. They are from areas including: education, social care, health, transport, leisure and employment. • A focus for people accessing information about legislation and guidance • A focus for accessing information on good practice so others can use it. Articles, research reports, guides and protocols about transition are produced regularly. TIN records these resources, keeps them up-to-date and provides information on them for others to access. • A website www.transitioninfonetwork.org.uk, a magazine “My Future Choices” and an e-newsletter “Getting a Life”

33. National Transition Support Team The programme is running from 2008 to 2011 with a budget of £19 million. The aim is that by 2011 all areas will have a transition process in place which meets minimum standards and with many areas achieving good practice in transition support; and to be able to demonstrate higher level of user satisfaction. (E.g. disabled children’s services indicator NI54)

34. National Transition Support Team The National Transition Support Team has three main roles:  Drive and shape the programme in local areas through work with regional advisers, and disabled young people and their families; Engage with and exchange good practice in transition through websites, targeted information sheets and other resources to help build capacity; and Identify the support needs of local areas and work in partnership with regional advisers, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department of Health to improve transition practice.

35. National Transition Support Team Year 2 24 local areas received an extra direct grant of £37,500 to develop best practice and improve support across transition in other areas (Oldham). The 24 local areas who receive direct grants will work directly with the national transition support team to further develop effective practice. All other local areas will be offered a range of support and will be contacted by National Strategies and CHaMP to look at what will be most helpful to each local area.

36. ARC Member led organisation (mainly voluntary orgs) Offers members a voice and representation at a national level News and policy updates Various training LDQ - NVQ etc CRB/POVA Undertakes a wide range of projects of interest to Members BME Services Unit promoting good practice with ethnic minority communities.

37. Moving On Up We have a website www.movingonup.info for young people at transition. It is a multicultural site. An emailed newsletter for professionals Moving On Update. A guidance booklet based on the website has been produced for families. A guidance booklet on key cultural issues for professionals has been produced. We have held fundays for young people in Tower Hamlets, Bradford, Oldham, Leicester, Luton, Leeds, Durham and Birmingham

38. Making Things Better

39. Young people from BME communities face more difficulties than most: • Poorly prepared • Different demands/expectations of them • Lack of good support for their families • May not be supported/encouraged into independency e.g. work or independent living. • Want to have the same things as other young people – security a place in society and a chance to find their dreams.

40. NTST Guide and Framework With funding from the ntst, Arc has produced a Framework document with straight forward tips on improving transition to adulthood services for young people from BME communities. It has also produced a Guide called “A Guide to improving Services for Young People from Black and Ethnic Minority Communities at Transition to Adult Life” which gives more in depth explanations on why and how to improve practice. These are being launched at an event on January 29th at Hallam University ,Sheffield.

41. Giving us a Voice This project started November 2009 and is funded for 18 months by the Department For Communities and Local Government under its Tackling Race Inequalities Fund. The competition for this was extremely fierce. This is the first project to be done jointly by ARC, BILD and Mencap. Each organisation is appointing two project workers to work across the regions

43. Good Practice in Summary • Review numbers and start planning now • Liaise and build relationships with families over a long period of time • Use link workers and facilitators as much as possible • Make sure all staff (including interpreters) are trained in both cultural and learning disability issues • Person Centred Planning at transition is meaningful • Make all records and plans clear and understandable to all involved • Research and use the resources currently available and keep up-to-date with developments • Set out the procedures clearly

44. Contact Details Telephone: 01246-555043 Email: bridget.fisher@arcuk.org.uk

45. Thank you