Support

Planning your future

As you get older you will be thinking about what you want to do in the future, part of this is thinking about training and employment opportunities and where you want to live and what is available to you.

To help with this, at 16 we will start your Pathway Plan assessment. This looks at what you want to do and all the things you need to move towards adulthood. We know these things can change so your plan will be reviewed every six months but if your plan changes or you want to review it before six months, a record of changes will be kept or your review can be brought forward. Up until age 18 your review will still involve your IRO (Independent Reviewing Officer).  You can choose who you want to have at your review and where and when you want this to happen. Your IRO will go through the pathway plan with you and check if you are in agreement with it and whether there is anything you feel needs to be in place to support you now and into adulthood. If there are things you would like to be changed or put in place then the IRO can help take this forward with you, or on your behalf.

Your pathway plan

This sets out what support is available to you and what everyone will do, including you, to reach your goals. This is about you and will focus on your needs and interests in the areas below but will also add any other things that are important to you:

• Where you live

• Your education training and employment

• Feeling safe and well

• Your family and support network

• Looking after yourself

Planning for your future also helps us think about what happens if things change or go wrong.

Seeing your social worker or personal advisor

Up until age 18 your social worker will visit you every six weeks until you are settled in a long-term placement and then they may visit you every six months. If you need anything your social worker can see you more often than this and you can always ring them to ask questions.

You will be introduced to your personal advisor at 17 to give you time to get to know them before joining the Leaving Care Team at 18. Your social worker will complete a Young Person’s Profile which checks that everything you need is in place, for example that you have a bank account and a passport, and this will give a good handover to your personal advisor.

Come and see us at the Lodge.

Call in for a cuppa and a chat, we’d love to see you!

Ask your PA about our brunch sessions where you can come and spend some time with us and have some food.

When you’re 18

Even though you’re not in care anymore at 18, we don’t want you to leave us! You are entitled to support up to the age of 21, or 25 if you still want support and are eligible for it (where you have been in care for 13 weeks after your 14th birthday).

When you join the Leaving Care Team your personal advisor will see you every eight weeks unless you ask for this to be changed. They will be happy to see you more than this and are always available to talk to; if your personal advisor isn’t around then a duty service is available, and you are always welcome to call in to the Lodge. The address and duty number are in the Contact section.

You will still have a Pathway Plan review every six months, or sooner if you want to, that will plan what you want to achieve. You can choose who you want to invite to your review.

As you get older, you might not need or want all areas of the pathway plan to be reviewed.  For example, you might have settled in your career of choice.  You can then choose not to review that area of your pathway plan if you do not need further support in that area.

The plan also gives us a good way to look at your achievements and the progress you are making.

And at 21

At 21 if you are a Former relevant young person, we will ask you if you want support to continue – you can choose to stay with your personal advisor up until 25 or to step back from formal involvement and stay in touch.  Even if you just want to stay in touch we are here to help you and will contact you every now and then.  You also have the right to step back completely but we hope you will stay in touch to 25 and longer.  If you completely end involvement, we will contact you at least every year to see how you’re getting on.  If you want to come back to the service after 21, we will do an assessment to see what level of help we can offer you.

After 21 you might not need support in all areas and we will focus your pathway plan only on the areas that are still important.  If you do not want to have a pathway plan review, we will respect this but keep a record of the support we offer either in the plan or in notes.

If you are in full time higher education that started before age 25 but continues after that age, we will continue to support you as long as that course of education was agreed in your pathway plan before you started (see Education section).

If you are a Qualifying young person, your formal support will step back at 21 but we are here to offer you advice and would love to hear from you for as long as you want.

If you go back home

If you return to live with your parents under 18 before being a child in care for 13 weeks, and this is in your best interests, we can help you by continuing to support you for six months to make sure everything is going well.  You are considered as a Relevant child and you can still have a pathway plan.  After 6 months you become a Qualifying child so you no longer have a pathway plan but you can always ask for advice if you need further help.  We will continue to stay in touch every year until you are 21.

If you are over 18 and return to live with your parents when you are already involved with Leaving Care, we will keep in touch with you regularly.  If you are a former relevant young person at this point you remain entitled to the contents of the local offer until age 25 and we will agree how best to support you with this.  We understand that you might not want regular involvement when you return home but we will be available for you up until age 25 and longer if you wish.

We will stay in touch with you and visit you no matter where you move to!

Stepping back

You have the right to step back from involvement with us, but we hope that you don’t. Even after the age of 21 or 25 we hope you will stay in touch, and we are there to offer advice if you need anything. If you have stepped back but want to come back for support, up to the age of 21 or 25, a member of the team will assess your needs and either restart the relevant area of your pathway plan or signpost you to other services.

And after 25

At any age, we love to hear from you and we are always available to provide supporting letters, proof of ID or advice to signpost you to services that can help you.  You can stay in touch with your PA and the team and you are welcome to come to eh Lodge even just for a cuppa.  We may contact you from time to time to see if you want to be involved in any opportunities we have across the council.