Advice for care leavers
If you are a care leaver and homeless or threatened with homelessness, Southend-on-Sea City Council may be able to help you with housing. If you are a care leaver aged 16 or 17, you should contact Childrens Social Care. If you are a care leaver aged 18 to 20 years old, the Housing Solutions team will be able to provide support and assistance with housing. You can contact the Housing Solutions team yourself or Childrens Services may refer you.
The Housing Solutions team will carry out a detailed assessment of your situation and you will be given a Personal Housing Plan. The plan confirms the steps you need to take to obtain suitable, affordable housing. If you have not had experience of managing your own housing before, it is likely that you will be referred to supported housing for young people. Here you can acquire the skills you will need to live in independent housing in the future.
If you were formerly in care and are under the age of 25, the Leaving Care team can help you with housing advice, including how to budget and live independently.
The contact details and further information about the support which is available from the Leaving Care team can be found on the Leaving Care webpages.