Effective Pathway Planning

Overview

Effective Pathway Planning is essential to helping young people prepare for adulthood and make a successful transition from care towards greater independence. A strong Pathway Plan should be more than a statutory document or administrative exercise; it should provide a meaningful, evolving framework that reflects the young person’s needs, strengths, aspirations, relationships, risks, and goals for the future.

This practical course explores how professionals can develop and implement person-centred, realistic, and outcome-focused Pathway Plans that actively support young people’s progress. Participants will consider how to move from process-driven planning towards a dynamic and relational approach in which young people are meaningfully involved in decisions about their lives.

📅 Date & Time: 24th September, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
📍 Live Online via Teams
📢 Early Bird Price: £54 (VAT included) – Register 2+ weeks before
🎟️ Standard Price: £74 (VAT included) – Group Discount available for groups of 5+

The session focuses particularly on ensuring that Pathway Plans remain relevant in practice, connect with other assessments and plans, and provide a clear framework for supporting young people as their circumstances, abilities, aspirations, and support needs evolve.

Course Content

The course explores the purpose, development, implementation, and review of effective Pathway Plans for young people preparing for adulthood and care leavers.

Key areas include:

• Understanding the purpose of Pathway Planning.
• Legal and professional responsibilities within the Pathway Planning process.
• Developing person-centred rather than process-driven plans.
• Meaningfully capturing the young person’s voice, identity, wishes, and aspirations.
• Assessing strengths, needs, risks, and areas requiring further development.
• Setting realistic, individualised, and outcome-focused goals.
• Planning for education, training, and employment.
• Supporting health and emotional wellbeing.
• Relationships, family, social networks, and community connections.
• Accommodation and preparation for independent living.
• Developing practical independence and life skills.
• Financial capability and preparation for adulthood.
• Linking Pathway Plans with risk assessments, care/support plans, and other relevant planning.
• Reviewing plans as circumstances and needs change.
• Identifying common weaknesses in Pathway Planning and how these can be improved.

The course emphasises the importance of seeing the Pathway Plan as part of the young person’s journey rather than as an isolated document.

Practice Application

Throughout the session, participants will explore how to translate Pathway Planning requirements into meaningful work with young people.

Through practical examples, scenarios, and discussion, participants will consider how to:

• Engage young people meaningfully in developing and reviewing their Pathway Plan.
• Translate aspirations into realistic goals and practical actions.
• Identify what progress towards independence actually looks like for an individual young person.
• Develop actions that clearly identify responsibilities and timescales.
• Connect key working and direct work with Pathway Plan outcomes.
• Use everyday experiences as opportunities to develop independence.
• Recognise when expectations of independence need to be adapted to a young person’s needs and circumstances.
• Connect Pathway Planning with risk management and safeguarding.
• Record progress, barriers, and changes meaningfully.
• Review plans when needs, risks, circumstances, or aspirations change.
• Use the Pathway Plan to support continuity during transitions between services and into adulthood.

The emphasis is on ensuring that the plan influences the support a young person actually receives rather than becoming paperwork that is periodically reviewed but has little impact on everyday practice.

Regulatory and Professional Context

Pathway Planning sits within the statutory framework for supporting eligible, relevant, and former relevant children and care leavers as they prepare for and transition into adulthood.

The course considers the legal and professional expectations surrounding Pathway Plans, including the responsibilities of local authorities, Social Workers, Personal Advisers, and other professionals contributing to the young person’s support.

For providers supporting looked after children and care leavers, particularly within Supported Accommodation and Children’s Homes, the session considers how the provider’s own support, risk assessment, key working, and independence planning should connect with the young person’s statutory Pathway Plan.

Participants will consider the importance of effective partnership working and information sharing between young people, local authorities, providers, education and health professionals, families, and other relevant agencies.

The course also explores how effective Pathway Planning supports wider expectations around safeguarding, participation, preparation for adulthood, stability, progress, and positive outcomes.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the purpose and importance of effective Pathway Planning.
• Understand key legal and professional responsibilities within the Pathway Planning process.
• Develop person-centred and outcome-focused approaches to planning.
• Meaningfully involve young people in developing and reviewing their plans.
• Capture young people’s strengths, needs, identity, wishes, and aspirations.
• Develop realistic goals, actions, responsibilities, and timescales.
• Connect Pathway Plans with risk assessments, care/support plans, key working, and independence development.
• Use planning to support progress across education, employment, health, relationships, accommodation, and independent living.
• Recognise common weaknesses in Pathway Plans and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Use review processes to respond to changes in circumstances, progress, risks, and needs.
• Understand how effective Pathway Planning can support positive and sustainable transitions into adulthood.

Intended Audience

This course is suitable for professionals involved in supporting young people preparing for independence or contributing to the development, implementation, or review of Pathway Plans.

It is particularly relevant for Personal Advisers, Social Workers, Key Workers, Supported Accommodation Practitioners, Residential Childcare Practitioners, Team Leaders, Deputy Managers, Registered Managers, Service Managers, and other professionals supporting looked after children and care leavers.

The course will also benefit professionals responsible for overseeing the quality of support and ensuring that young people’s day-to-day interventions remain connected to their wider plans, aspirations, and intended outcomes.

Course Facilitator

Pravina Patel is a senior leader in children’s social care with more than 20 years of experience across children’s residential care, Supported Accommodation, safeguarding leadership, and education services.

She has extensive experience in regulatory compliance, Ofsted registration, and leading multi-site services supporting young people with complex needs. Pravina is particularly experienced in trauma-informed practice, contextual safeguarding, and strengthening governance systems that promote safe and high-quality services.

Her extensive experience supporting young people within residential and Supported Accommodation services provides a strong practical foundation for this course. Pravina brings a focus on ensuring that planning translates into purposeful everyday support, meaningful preparation for independence, and positive outcomes for young people.

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