Social care support when an EHC Plan ceases

Created: 11 July 2025

What is an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHC Plan)?

An Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHC Plan) is a legal document in England designed to support children and young people aged up to twenty-five who have significant special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. It outlines the child or young person’s needs and sets out the support they require to achieve specific outcomes in education, health, and social care. EHC Plans are required where the SEN provision usually provided in schools and colleges is not sufficient to meet the child or young person’s SEN. The purpose of an EHC Plan is to ensure that children and young people with complex needs receive coordinated and tailored support and are holistic, including not only special educational needs and provision but also health and social care needs and provision as well.

The EHC Plan process begins with a request to the local authority for an EHC needs assessment, usually made by a parent, carer, school, or healthcare professional. The local authority then decides whether to conduct the assessment based on evidence that the child may need more support than is normally available through SEN support. If the assessment goes ahead and it is determined that an EHC Plan is necessary, the local authority drafts the plan in consultation with the child or young person, their family, educational professionals, and relevant health and social care departments.

The EHC Plan contains several key sections, including: a description of the child’s needs; outcomes desired for the child or young person; the special educational provision required; health and social care needs and provisions; and the name of the school or setting that will deliver the support. EHC Plans are reviewed at least once a year through an Annual Review, where progress is monitored and the plan is adjusted if necessary. The aim is to ensure the support remains relevant and effective as the child or young person develops. Overall, EHC Plans are intended to give children and young people with SEN the best chance to achieve their potential and lead fulfilling lives, with appropriate support tailored to their individual needs.

Social Care Provision for Children and Young People

Section D in an EHC Plan details the social care needs of the child or young person. For children, identifying social care needs can be complex because all children require a degree of support or assistance from adults, particularly very young children. Section D of an EHC Plan should not be a general description of age-related need that all children have irrespective of whether they live with SEN. Instead, section D must specify any social care needs identified through the EHC needs assessment which relate to the child or young person’s SEN or which require provision for a child or young person under eighteen under section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970. Section D may also specify needs that are not connected to the child or young person SEN or disability, such as those identified in a Children and Family Assessment usually undertaken under section 17 of the Children Act 1989.

EHC Plans can run until a young person reaches the age of twenty-five. However, social services departments are usually divided into children and adult departments. Sometimes they have a transitions team which follows a similar pattern to EHC Plans, these teams support young people from the age of 16-25 to support them during the transition from children’s social care to adult social care.

What happens when the young person reaches the age of eighteen?

When a young person reaches the age of eighteen, everything changes as far as social care is concerned. Whether a young person has an EHC Plan or not, when they reach the age of eighteen their care and support needs are assessed by social services as an adult and the concept of parental responsibility ceases. Parental responsibility encompasses all the legal rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and authority that a parent has in relation to their child and their property. Therefore, when a young person reaches the age of eighteen, there should be no assumption from local authorities that their care and support needs will be met by their parents, even if they continue to live at home.

Transitions at this stage can be both exciting and daunting for young people and their families. To ensure the move from children’s to adult services is as smooth as possible, careful transition planning is essential. Local authorities, care providers, and families must work together to create a tailored support plan, considering the individual's aspirations, preferences, and evolving needs. Regular reviews and person-centred planning meetings become crucial, offering opportunities to adapt support arrangements and address any gaps that emerge as the young person navigates adulthood.

It is important that young people are empowered to express their wishes and participate actively in decisions about their future. Advocacy services can play a vital role here, ensuring the individual's voice is heard and respected. The aim is always to promote autonomy, dignity, and a sense of belonging—whether the young person chooses to pursue further education, employment, meaningful relationships, or greater independence at home. By maintaining a flexible and responsive approach, local authorities can help young people forge their own, unique paths into adulthood, supported to thrive in all aspects of life.

When a young person aged eighteen or over has care and support needs, a different assessment criteria is used and it can be found in the Care Act 2014. In practice, a young person’s care and support needs should be assessed before they reach the age of eighteen if they are likely to have care and support needs when they reach the age of eighteen. One of the guiding principles of the Care Act is the concept of well-being. Well-being, in relation to an individual, means that individual's well-being as far as relating to any of the following:

When conducting any of their functions, local authorities must consider the young person’s wellbeing and whether their actions are promoting young people’s wellbeing.

What happens when an EHC Plan Ends?

At the latest, a young person’s EHC Plan will cease at age 25. However, many young people still have social care needs beyond that age. When an EHC plan ceases, the young person’s social care needs should be adequately met in a provision in section H2. It is often the case the provision in section H2 continues into adulthood with the young person’s care and support needs being reviewed annually to ensure the provision still meets their needs. Provisions for adults when their EHC Plan ceases can include where they live and the type of support they require at home, the support they require to gain and maintain employment, the support they require to develop and maintain friendships and romantic connections… in fact, any support they require to live as fulfilling and rewarding a life as possible.

In cases where young people have lived in residential schools, when their EHC plan ceases they usually leave the school and move into a new home. It is rare, although not impossible for a school placement to be funded by social services rather than education if the placement is meeting specific social care needs, particularly the development of independent living skills. This is only ever the case where a young person is still young enough to attend the school. Often, when a young person leaves a residential school, they have developed independent living skills and have been prepared to live with a greater degree of independence. They may move into a supported living provision or live more independently with friends. Other people’s needs are such they require a residential care home, living with other young adults and continuing their adult life in a new environment with new opportunities.

The end of the EHC plan process can be daunting, worrying, frustrating or exciting for young people and their families. Families are often concerned what lies ahead for their loved ones. However it is inevitable that a young person’s EHC plan will cease, they cannot continue beyond the age of twenty-five, and good EHC Plan will prepare young people for adulthood after their EHC Plan ceases and prepare the young person and their family for the social care provision needed once the EHC Plan ceases.