Debate contribution: Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support

Debate contribution by Mrs Michelle Guy on 18 May 2026.

MLA: Mrs Michelle Guy
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 18 May 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Opposition Business
Heading: Post-19 Special Educational Needs Support
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5548922

Text

It is an extraordinary achievement that, when anyone hears the words "post 19", they think of Caleb's cause. As we have acknowledged, credit for that goes to Alma White, who is a force of nature, and the community of families who stand with her and Caleb. It is a community that forces us to see it and the crisis that it is in, because we have an incoherent, disparate system that, it feels, is set up to frustrate and defeat families into giving up rather than guide them towards support. The motion is welcome, but it is a source of frustration that, at this stage of the campaign, neither the motion nor the amendment includes the words "complex needs". There is also a sense that the Health Minister is best placed to make progress on the key asks of Caleb's cause and should be here responding. However, at the end of the day, whom we are fighting with for support is less important than those whom we are fighting for. We are, of course, advocating for the full range of special-school-leavers who are being failed post 19, but, given the limited time for the debate, I will focus on the young people such as Caleb who have complex needs and are especially susceptible to the cliff edge. Whilst the Caleb's cause campaign is around only two years old, Alma recognises that the cause is over a decade old. In 2016, the Post 19 Lobby Group secured a Committee report and a debate on the issue. Ten years on, with two Assembly collapses consuming half of that time, little progress has been made, and, today, we find ourselves in a full-blown crisis. The number of special-school-leavers annually is in the hundreds, not thousands, with 300 estimated to leave this year. That number will grow in the coming years, so we must start planning now to deliver on current and future demand. The key call is for person-centred, legally enforceable care plans that consider lifelong support needs for every young person with complex needs at the point of transition. That is where the conversation is now. Too many families live with unimaginable fear and anxiety. I had a mother tell me, "My career has an expiration date. I have nine years left". She has nine years left before her child leaves school, and, after that, she sees nothing. I have sat with parents who say, "We simply cannot die because, when we are gone, who will step in and care for our child?". I have spoken to siblings, who are young people themselves, who are limiting their careers and ambitions because they know that they may one day become the full-time carer for the brother or sister whom they love. Other parents are utterly broken, isolated and exhausted and are contemplating something much darker for themselves and their child. We cannot let it come to that. At the end of the day, empathy is not getting it done. Action is needed, and it is shamefully overdue.

504 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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