'Moving on' from care into adulthood consultation

Explore creative ways to explain to young people what it’s like to move on from care, for example living on your own and the expectations and responsibilities of this. Use of peer mentors and lived experience, peer to peer work.
Transitions flats should be available to provide an opportunity for young people to live semi independently, experience what it’s like to live by yourself and make mistakes whilst still having a supportive ‘safety net’.
We should also consider ways to strengthen continuity of support once the young person has moved on.
Currently, Education Resources have well established processes in place within our secondary schools to help young people move on to positive destinations. Most schools will have DYW (Developing the Young Workforce) initiative where young people are learning about skills for work and hearing from employers and higher or further education establishments about available opportunities.
Each secondary school has a Designated School Manager (DSM) with responsibility for care experienced young people who has to ensure all staff are aware of their corporate parenting responsibility, referencing the SLC Corporate Parenting Strategy.
South Lanarkshire Youth Employability Service - My brighter future provides employability support, work-based learning opportunities and qualifications for young people in the senior phase of school or up to 19—24 if care experienced.

Planning needs to be appropriate to age and stage and will therefore be different for each individual. Depending on the young person’s level of maturity and awareness of ‘real life’ it may not be appropriate to commence planning at an earlier stage. Need to balance when to start planning based on when the young person wants to move on.
Sometimes a change in placement or uncertainty about placements can make planning at school level challenging. Many training providers offer only 4 or 6 week short term courses - longer training courses would help provide stability.

We need to ensure the right people and services work together with the young person to create a moving on plan. There also needs to multi agency ownership to provide ongoing support.
For example close working with schools—more joint working between education and care and more effective use of the child’s plan which can be seen more as a social work document rather than a multi-agency one. School planning processes do not always articulate well with this. More multi agency working in using the National Practice Model effectively.
Access to a broader curriculum at school would be helpful but this would require strategic use of partners—employers, third sector partners etc.

The young person should continue to receive the services and support they need, and there should be whole family support to build and maintain relationships. There should be a continuing relationship with their care provider when the young person moves on to provide scaffolding.
Availability of family counselling support or similar to support the care leaver and their birth family.

For young people moving on from a children’s house this remains an open safe space that they can return to, the same applies to young people moving on from foster care where the foster home remains a safe space that they can return to.
Another example is of a young person who wanted to return to their birth family and although the worker had concerns about the relationship with parents the young person was listened to and supported to return home. The manager upheld the young person’s right to choose, and the principle of proportionality was applied in relation to managing risks. Scaffolding was important, as was maintaining support to ensure the worker was available to the young person if there were difficulties with the family relationship.

Clear visibility and availability of a range of information in different formats.
Ensure clear communication strategy through corporate social media. Information could also go on school noticeboards, websites etc.
A multi-agency care experienced hub to provide access to expertise and advice.

Creation of a national website/app, and a national/local lead to coordinate information sharing and support uptake of entitlements.

Parity of support from a kinship perspective.

National policy with regards to transitions for young people who have additional support needs and require tailored support but don’t meet the specific criteria for adult services.

Young people should be included in discussions about their individual care, but also about wider planning and policy. Consultations should be meaningful and offer real opportunities to influence change.

Have a dedicated hub with drop in access to professionals with expertise in a range of areas for advice and support.

Keep track of who is eligible for aftercare and be able to communicate with them. Remove information sharing barriers that can work against reducing poverty and find proactive ways to link with the wider care experienced population to share information about entitlements etc.

A change in the criteria so that for those who want it Aftercare means lifelong support, also a multi-agency ‘no wrong door’ approach to accessing Aftercare.

Finance and restricted resources are likely to be key challenges. Also ensuring age appropriate support.

Provision of a dedicated mental health service with professionals who understand the needs of adults with care experience , also to raise awareness and understanding of adults with care experience more widely within health services.
Consideration of junior ISAs as soon as young people come into care to provide a start in life, and restricting access until age 21 would further encourage young people to remain in their current care situation, which would be less stigmatising in the longer term
Provision of incentives for staying on into higher education, and availability of courses to help get young people ready for moving on.

Availability of funding to provide a specialised service.
Training, skills and knowledge – ensuring those involved in services have an understanding of the needs of care experienced adults.

Ensuring tailored mental health supports and continuity across NHS services.
Supporting reintegration from secure accommodation through provision of specialist accommodation tailored to individual needs where required. Access to appropriate accommodation with long term supports that are in-keeping with the individual needs of the young person and for these to be available to the young person for as long as they require this.
Planning for future education/employment transitions, and support from someone who understands the challenges and can break down barriers, possibly a mentor role with lived experience
Support provided by step down services is good but sometimes it is difficult to articulate this with an education placement. Rethink of funding—a barrier to accessing an education placement can be section 23 fees which local authorities pay to place a young person they look after in a specialist provision in another local authority,

Having an agreed national standard rather than each local authority having their own, this could include a review of the funding model and how local authorities access services in different areas. There is need to ensure continuity of CAMHS supports and access to FCAMHS if required when leaving secure accommodation which may require a national approach.
There requires to be investment in a skilled and knowledgeable workforce and for there to be suitable choices of support services available to young people so that they can choose the services that best meet their needs.

The team around the child requires to support the young person from the earliest opportunity and then throughout their journey in secure care. This should then follow on as the young person transitions and leaves. There requires a level of consistency and relationship building and for the supports to be longer term and not time limited to ensure the young person is fully supported.

Ensure accommodation is available prior to release (remove the need to present as homeless on release). Clear planning in advance, including contingency, is vital to support reintegration.

National policy, guidance and equal access funded provision that takes into account the challenges in rural areas and limitations of/restricted access to local services, for example how far would people need to travel for services.
Young people should be provided with options and choice in relation to the services available to them. This enables them to engage with the services that best meet their individual needs and for them to direct the supports around them. There requires to be a range of service options available to all young people leaving YOI or secure care.

Multi-agency support and working alongside Scottish Guardianship Service to meet individual needs.

More access to legal advice and support if young people are moving outside of Scotland.
Consideration of opportunities for employment and work experience if young people have yet to receive an asylum decision and don’t have the right to work as this can disadvantage young people and could also place them at higher risk of exploitation.
Consideration of the risks of exploitation for trafficked young people and what additional supports may be required as they transition out of care.

Recognition of the additionality that being care experienced may bring, for example the challenges and barriers for this particular group and how these could be mitigated. Improve the scaffolding for disabled care experienced young people and ensure their voice is heard when looking at improvements to services.

There should be no age limit for access to support from the family nurse partnership. Care experienced individuals preparing to become parents should have access to information, guidance and support (including reassurance) at whatever age this is needed.

Provision of in-depth training on stigma and not making judgements, also awareness raising and understanding on the additional support and needs of care experienced parents.

All services need to work together in a non-stigmatising way. Also provision of early help for parent(s) and baby to support the family to stay together would have positive outcomes in the longer term including financial.

Peer mentors can have a better understanding of the challenges and help break down barriers for care experienced young people. Peer support can be a powerful way to share their story and experiences to support with transition.

The Champs Group and Kinship Group both provide opportunities for peer support. A specific example that had a significant positive impact on those supporting care leavers was a care experienced adult giving a speech as part of Care Day activities and reaching out to both staff and young people.

An example is for young people who have moved on from a Children’s House being able to visit – to be able to pop in for dinner, for informal support from staff or possibly to sleepover like you would in a ‘family home.’
Foster carers need more training on how to continue to support young people moving on from care, and how to maintain positive relationships when they are no longer paid to provide care.
Open access to supports and social opportunities.

A national helpline – ‘A listening ear’
Access to emergency supplies if required.

As there is an employability hub for young people, there should be a similar multi-disciplinary health resource for young people up to age 25 which has appropriate services on site as it can difficult for young people to navigate between GP and other services. This could also be a drop-in safe space and include an outreach service.
Access to local authority gym passes would support physical and mental wellbeing.

More dedicated time to plan with the young person around what the transition will look and feel like, and the flexibility to do this at their pace and relevant to age and stage.
Flexibility of transition between adult and children’s services and the potential to remain with children’s services for longer if this best meets the young person’s needs. This could relate to national work around the age and stages of development for young people with care experience compared to those without.
A nurturing approach to moving into your own house – for example this could involve ‘home-maker’ support.

We have
• a care experienced housing protocol that was codesigned with the Champs Board.
• Nurses co-located with the throughcare and aftercare service
• A Throughcare/Aftercare Hub with access to professionals / services in one place
• Clear visibility of Champs and their voice with a meaningful feedback loop
• Care experienced leads in each area who support young people into adulthood
• Availability of transition flats in suitable areas with good partnership working to make for successful transitions

Availability of suitable accommodation is a significant barrier, also access to appropriate emergency responses when a young person becomes homeless. Pre-judgement can have a negative impact on the service a young person receives, and their access to/availability of additional support.

Care leavers should have access to resources in addition to their social worker and their should be a joint working approach to providing support.
There should be consistency of approach and provision across areas so young people know what to expect.
Alongside the application the young person should have a skills plan that identifies what needs to be done before moving on so that when it’s the right time for the young person to move into their own accommodation they feel ready to do so. Skills could include budgeting, cooking, managing a home etc and could be provided by different services.

Provide easy access to courses on money management, cooking, routines, managing a home.
Provision of support from a peer mentor to reduce isolation and support to integrate into local community, this could also be someone to listen and provide advice and reassurance from a lived and living experience perspective.

The young person and their allocated worker should be supported by a housing officer who has familiarity and knowledge of the areas the young person is interested in moving to so they can make an informed choice.

Free travel until age 26, or until the young person has left further education.
Improved links between colleges/universities and local authority care experienced leads.
A review of how local authorities work together when a child is looked after by one local authority but resides or studies in another. Often there are financial barriers around how placements and support are funded and the process of local authorities charging each other can make decisions drawn out and protracted, For example an SEBN placement may be best for the young person but this has to be funded by their home local authority. This does not always happen and results with a child placed in mainstream education. There does not appear to be a real sense of funding following the child.

More access to mentoring programmes – these should start at school but continue into college or post-16 destination. More resources being deployed to mainstream schools to create smaller learning hubs where young people can access more intensive support.
Improved understanding from colleges/universities around the needs of care experienced young people and adults, with opportunities for a break in studies if required.
Access into employment at the end of studies may encourage young people to remain in/complete their education.

There is no one size fits all approach – the key is well-funded, flexible keyworker-based employability support as available through Scottish Government funded No-one Left Behind employability provision to support young people to develop and complete an individualised, action plan designed to address any barriers to employment and progress them into work with Aftercare support. The approach should involve the availability of appropriate confidence building, personal development and employability skills development and sector-based training / work placements.

See also response to question 39
Good practice involves the integration of care experienced young people into wider programmes of person-centred flexible keyworker-based employability support. South Lanarkshire Council’s Aspire and Aspire Works programmes demonstrate this approach.

The most important factor in supporting any employability participant to progress to employment is the quality of the pre-employment support (one-to-one advice and guidance, training, work placements etc) provided. This requires close engagement with employers to provide work placements, support transitions and link with aftercare support. Large employers (particularly public sector) may provide additional or ring-fenced opportunities for care experienced young people through corporate parenting duties (guaranteed interviews etc) and there may be scope for amended personnel policies (for example if young people are absent due to issues related to their care experience such as tenancy breakdown etc).