Transitional safeguarding
“Those working with adults should be curious about the childhood of the adult they are supporting. And those working with children should be ambitious about the adult they are helping to create”
(Dez Holmes, Director of Research In Practice, 2021)
The transition between childhood and adult life sees the law and support systems change quite dramatically from when you are considered a child or young person, to when you turn 18 and are considered 'adult'.
Watch this short video to learn more Research in Practice video on transitional safeguarding
Dez Holmes also led this longer (1hr 24 min) webinar in 2025:
NSAB and Norfolk Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP) have developed guidance on the similarities and differences between child and adult safeguarding, which you can read here:
Child and adult safeguarding guidance
NSAB have also created a 7 minute briefing about transition which you can find here:
7 minute briefing transitional safeguarding
September 2025
Our Locality Safeguarding Adults Partnerships (LSAPs) joined up with the Locality Safeguarding Children Groups (LSCGs) for 5 face to face sessions for the chance to do some ‘slow thinking’, to really focus on one topic for that couple of hours – transitions and transitional safeguarding.
What really came across is that there is a lot of good practice happening where it can, with flexibility one of the key enablers, and often local knowledge is key too. Supporting that progression from adolescence through to adulthood more smoothly isn’t just the responsibility of any one agency, it needs a network where an individual’s needs can be better understood and met in the way that will be most meaningful to the person.
While some statutory services seem the most obvious, we had excellent examples from the community / voluntary sector and others too, who can often be nimble and flex to meet changing or less obvious needs. It can be hard to keep track of what services / support / organisations might help in different areas – the meetings really helped with some of that knowledge sharing and connection.
Most of all it is about everyone working together, sharing information, early intervention, and really thinking about what each young person needs to become confident, independent and resilient adults, who are then less at risk of abuse, harm, exploitation, poor mental health, substance misuse, homelessness. Relationships and trust are so important - many of the examples were around ‘soft’ handovers, where the transitions between services or workers took place over a period of time, or reviews to ‘check back’.
Here is some of the comments and ideas the groups came up with:
2024 - Impower and ADASS - Preparing for Adulthood report "key challenges, best practice and recommendations for local and national change".
May 2023 - Partners in Care and Health (the Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services) have created a new one-stop shop of transitional safeguarding resources aimed at practitioners looking to support young people to transition into adulthood and safeguard them from harm and exploitation.
The page contains links to films and briefings from some of the leading thinkers in the field.
You can find this page here:
Transitional safeguarding resources | Local Government Association