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Home: Children and families: Young people

Leaving Care Entitlement

Robert Eabry - April 2010
gatewaytocare@kirklees.gov.uk

Who is eligible for Aftercare support?

A person is eligible to receive aftercare support if they have been looked after by the Directorate for Children and Young People for thirteen weeks or longer since their fourteenth birthday, and they are a young adult aged sixteen or seventeen still being looked after in care.


What financial support is available?

The new law says that if a person leaves care before their eighteenth birthday and that they were an eligible young person then they go on to being a relevant young person

If they are a relevant young person they are entitled to the following:
  • Leaving care grant.
  • Setting up home starter pack.
  • Directorate for Children and Young People to pay the rent, this amount should be the same or above the amount you would of received from Housing benefit.
  • Living allowance this must be above the level they would have received if they were claiming benefits.
  • Incentives for attending training, education or work.
  • If they are pregnant, disabled or a parent then they will still be able to claim the necessary benefits i.e. income support, but the rent will still be paid by Children and Young People's Service until they turn eighteen.

The Directorate for Children and Young People must consider the following:
  • Travel costs i.e. education.
  • Materials and/or special equipment for education or training.
  • Any other costs associated with education or training.
  • Costs associated with pregnancy or a disability.
  • Childcare costs.
  • Clothing.
  • Counselling and therapeutic costs.
  • Contact with family or close friends.
  • Cultural and/or religious needs.
  • Holidays and/or hobbies.

This does not mean that they will get all the things they want from the above list, they may only get one or two things.

When the person leaving care turns eighteen they are known as a former relevant young person. This means that the Directorate for Children and Young People will no longer give them a living allowance or pay their rent, this means they will have to claim benefits, student loans or employment.

They are however, entitled to the following financial support:
  • Help with educational, training or employment costs.
  • If they are doing a higher education or a further education residential course, then they are entitled to vacation accommodation.


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Who is a Relevant Young Person?

A person leaving care is a relevant young person if they are under the age of eighteen, were formally an eligible young person and are no longer in care. They are a relevant young person and are entitled to the following:
  • A Personal Advisor.
  • A Needs Assessment.
  • A Pathway Plan.
  • Accommodation and personal allowance.
  • Support and advice to help them achieve the goals set out in their Pathway Plan.
  • Directorate for Children and Young People must keep in touch with them


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What happens when a young person turns 18 years old?

After turning eighteen the person leaving care becomes known as a former relevant young person. This means that they are entitled to the following:
  • Their Personal Advisor to keep in touch with them.
  • To have their Pathway Plan regularly updated.
  • To still get support and advice.
  • To get some help with the costs associated with employment.
  • To get some help with the costs associated with education or training.
  • The Directorate for Children and Young People to provide them with somewhere to live during the university holidays.


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What accommodation help is available?

If a person has left care and is under the age of eighteen the Directorate for Children and Young People must provide them with suitable accommodation. This takes into account their individual needs and wishes. The Directorate for Children and Young People will do a check on the landlord or landlady before they move into the accommodation to make sure that they are suitable. The Directorate for Children and Young People will also pay their rent. It is the job of both the Social Service Department and the Housing Department to help them with accommodation should they choose to live independently.

They should have a choice about where they live and it should be safe and affordable. Accommodation choices should include:
  • Staying in care - foster care, a children's home or another sort of care.
  • Converting their foster placement into a supported lodgings placement so that they can stay there.
  • Supported lodgings.
  • Accommodation with support so that they can learn the skills needed to live independently when they are ready.
  • Specialist accommodation for young people with particular support needs such as disabled young people, pregnant young women or single parents.
  • 'Foyers' and other supported accommodation, which combines accommodation with opportunities for education, training and employment.
  • Their own flat or house with support.
  • Their own tenancy.
  • A self build scheme, where they can help to build the flat or house to live there


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What if it all goes wrong?

If the person's accommodation is not meeting their needs, or for whatever reason staying there is not an option, then they need a 'Plan B'. This is called contingency planning in the Children Leaving Care Act 2000. All young people leaving care will have worked out a Plan B with their Personal Advisor. This is a back up, just in case the first plan, doesn't work out. This will be part of their Pathway Plan, and will be reviewed and updated with their Personal Advisor.

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How old does a person need to be to live independently?

To live independently a person must be at least sixteen years old. Before they leave care to live independently their foster carers or residential workers should help them practise cooking, washing, ironing, budgeting and food shopping skills, so that they are ready to live on their own. If the person is fifteen years old then they should ask their carers when this is going to start, so that they know that they will be ready for when they start to live independently. There are also some independent and semi - independent living schemes that the person leaving care could move into. To find out more about these they should consult their Personal Advisor.

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