Who is a Care Leaver and what support is available?
Who is a Care Leaver?
A Care Leaver is a young person aged between 16 and 25 who has previously been in the care of a local authority. The type of support we can offer you will depend on when and for how long you were in care, for further information please contact the Leaving Care Service.
Advice and Support from a Personal Advisor (PA)
Your Personal Advisor will be there to support you on your journey towards leaving care. You should meet them when you are 16 and you will be able to ask them for support until up to the age of 25, depending upon your needs.
Once allocated your Personal Advisor will contact you within two weeks to arrange to meet you.
We will try and make sure you have the same Personal Advisor during your time with the service, but if this does need to change, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.
Your Personal Advisor is there to:
- Provide advice and support to you on a regular basis
- Talk to you about what support you need and record this in your pathway plan
- Help you to prepare to live independently and to offer advice and support as you leave care
- Help you with access and provide support to: -
- Accommodation
- Education, Training, and Employment
- Manage your finances
- Health and Wellbeing
- Manage your relationships
- Attend events, groups and activities
- Have a voice within the Leaving Care Service and participate in all of your life
Pathway Plan
Your Pathway Plan will look at what your goals and ambitions are for when you leave care and live independently and set out the support that you will be given once you have left care.
Your Personal Advisor will work with you to assess your needs and skills to make sure your plan includes areas you need help with to achieve your goals.
Your Pathway Plan will include details of:
- Support to develop practical and other skills to live independently.
- Support for your physical, emotional and mental health needs.
- Support for your further education, training or employment.
- Information on your ability to control your money and any support you might need
- Arrangements to provide you with suitable accommodation
- Support to stay in contact with family and friends
A Pathway Plan will be in place and regularly reviewed up until you turn 21; at which stage you can choose whether you need a Pathway Plan to help you with your future.
The amount of support that you receive from your Personal Advisor will depend on what you want and your current circumstances. This will then inform how often your Personal Advisor visits you, which will be recorded within your Pathway Plan.
“My Personal Advisor prepared me for living independently”