Our duty to you
Councils have duties under the Children Act 1989 as amended by the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 towards certain care leavers.
All councils have a statutory duty to ensure that all 'eligible' and 'relevant' (but not 'qualifying') care leavers are placed in suitable housing when leaving care. In addition, older care leavers may be classed as being in 'priority need' under homelessness legislation, meaning that the council has a duty to provide them with housing or support.
Although all eligible, relevant and former relevant children must be provided with a pathway plan by the council. The council must publish up-to-date information about the services they offer for care leavers and other services which may help care leavers prepare for independent living and adulthood. This is known as the 'local offer'.
There are four groups of care leavers who receive different levels of support and advice.
The four groups are:
- eligible Young People - 16 or 17 years of age and currently looked after and have been looked after for the last 13 weeks since the age of 14
- relevant Young People - 16 and 17 year olds, who have left care, but otherwise would have met the same conditions as Eligible Young People, as explained above
- former Relevant Young People - 18 to 21 year olds who were Eligible or Relevant young people. (Young people aged over 21 can continue with their status, up to the age of 25 years old)
- qualifying Young People - All other young people under the age of 21 who left care at 16 years of age or over
If you require any advice, information or just want a chat about how you can get engaged in any of the information on these pages, please come to the office or call a the Leaving Care duty worker Monday to Friday on 01702 212087 from 9am to 5pm.