Useful information for care leavers
To be a care leaver, you need to have been in care for a period of at least 13 weeks (or periods which add up to 13 weeks) which began after you turned 14 years old, and includes some time after your 16th birthday. We give you different names to describe your age and whether you're in or out of care, and these are described in the following table.
| Name | Your situation |
|---|---|
| Eligible child | You're 16 or 17 years old and still in care |
| Relevant child | You're 16 or 17 years old and have left care |
| Former relevant child | You're over 18 years old |
| Former 'relevant' child (over 21) | You're over 21 years old and pursuing education or training |
| Qualifying young people | You're between 16 and 25 years old and leave care after 16 years old to live with family, or you've been privately fostered, or you were in care before being made subject of a special guardianship order. You could receive discretionary financial support on the basis of assessed needs (in which case a pathway plan should be drawn up and reviewed as long as support is provided). |
If you're a care leaver over 21 years old, you can ask for support from your Personal Adviser (up until you turn 25 years old), to help access education and training whether in education or not.
If you're not sure you qualify as a care leaver, please ask your Personal Adviser or social worker in our Children in Care and Moving on team, by calling 01225 39 69 30.
Extra help
Extra help is also available to support you in the following ways:
- With the cost of obtaining a passport (new or renewal) and provisional driving licence (new or first time). If your driving licence is lost or you're disqualified from driving, we will not pay for a replacement.
- With glasses and dental treatment (these are normally free for young people, but where there are necessary additional costs, we may be able to help still).
- Maintaining contact with families (we can help towards the cost of maintaining contact with your family, if these costs are exceptional and on the basis of assessed need, and also evidenced in Pathway Plans and Reviews).