Calls for more support for young adults with learning difficulties and complex needs in Mid Ulster

SDLP Mid Ulster MLA Patsy McGlone, has called on the Executive to provide more support for young adults with learning difficulties and complex needs in Mid Ulster. The Mid Ulster MLA was speaking after an Assembly adjournment debate on the topic on Tuesday.

Mr McGlone said: “There is a clear need for the Executive to provide greater support for young adults with learning difficulties and complex needs in Mid Ulster.

“For all young people and their families, the transition to adulthood is one of the most important and potentially stressful times in their lives. For young adults with learning difficulties and complex needs, that is particularly true. They may face changes to their education, employment, housing and health services. Added to that is their expectation of greater independence and the challenge of navigating complex systems of support. Their families will have concerns about all of those areas. They will also have the added worry of how their loved ones will cope with the changes and what will happen to them when they are on their own. Many of those young people face a cliff edge as they reach 18 or 19 years of age, with few clear, meaningful pathways for them into adulthood.

“It is essential that support services are readily available and accessible during this time. However, in a rural constituency such as Mid Ulster, that is not the case. Living in a rural area can result in those young people feeling and becoming isolated. There are fewer clubs, groups and inclusive community spaces to help to build their sense of independence.

“Mid Ulster's limited bus schedules are infrequent and often do not fit with college timetables and make it difficult to access services and supported employment opportunities. Key services are often based in Belfast or Derry, meaning that there will be delays in accessing them, and long and tiring trips to do so, even with access to a car. While members of staff drive their service as best they can and truly live their lives as a vocation, underfunding and staffing pressures in the services that are available also mean that access is inconsistent.

“There are also problems in finding appropriate roles with employers in rural areas such as in Mid Ulster. Shortages in specialist provision can often mean that young people are placed in settings that do not meet their needs.

“While South West College and Northern Regional College can offer some educational support, they may not have the resources or the staff to support complex needs, and the poor provision of broadband in some of our rural areas can limit access to online learning or remote support.

“Young adults with complex needs frequently experience anxiety, depression or behavioural challenges, but rural mental health services are stretched, and the provision of respite care and short-term breaks is sparse.

“There is a shortage of joined-up planning in education, health and social care, creating a real danger that the lack of coordination between agencies in the transition between school and adulthood can leave young adults without continuity of care during that particularly vulnerable time.

“The fundamental problem is a long-term lack of investment in rural provision. As well as the need for increased, long-term funding in all these areas, a new model of support for young adults with recognised learning difficulties and complex needs is required. Support services need to be reassessed, with families and young adults involved in the new design, evaluation and commissioning process.

“There must be improved transport links and accessibility to support in our rural areas; better provision and better coordination of those local services; better planning and collaboration between agencies to improve the transition to adulthood for the young people concerned; more employment and training opportunities through supported partnerships with local employers; and the development of a rural version of Project SEARCH, based in Mid Ulster, alongside employment pathways in our local, small-scale enterprises.

“When necessary, supported residential accommodation must be available and provide a safe and happy place for people to live the way they want and to be able to carry out their activities freely.

“None of those solutions is a quick fix, but they are necessary if we are to properly support all the young people in our society, particularly those who are most vulnerable and those who fall outside the safety net that is there for many others.”