Help you with money for your work, education or training.
Give you a Setting Up Home Allowance, or a Leaving Care Grant, to help you set up in a new home. The Government says this should be worth at least £3,000.
Provide or pay for accommodation during college or university holidays if you are studying away from home.
Contribute towards living expenses near to your job, education or training.
Give you a £2,000 grant if you are in higher education.
Provide you with other financial support where necessary.
Keep in touch with you.
Visit you regularly.
Children’s Services may:
Consider making a contribution to post-graduate courses.
Help you to find financial support and resources to help you to undertake post graduate study.
You are expected to claim benefits or apply for a student loan in same way as any other young person.
It is important that your Pathway Plan sets out your programme of education if you are aged over 21.
There is no set age for this support to end. What matters is when you finish your studies or training.
Once you are 18, you should be able to manage your money and Children’s Services should not be your main source of financial support.
You will be responsible for paying for things through working, claiming benefits or your student loan.This includes bills, living costs, food and travel. However, you are entitled to a setting up home allowance of at least £3,000.This should be spent on furniture or electrical equipment like a fridge or TV.
Children’s Services might also support you with other costs.
These include:
Accommodation and bills.
Education (books, fees, travel).
Work (Interviews, travel).
Training or skills development (IT course, driving lesson etc).
Cultural or religious needs.
Special needs (disabilities, pregnancy, parenthood).
Personal documentation (passport, Citizenship)
Your PA should review your Pathway Planevery six months. If you need support with any of these things make sure you speak to your PA. They can work with you to look at your finances and make changes to your Pathway Plan if necessary.
If you want any more information, ask your PA for a copy of Children’s Services Financial Policy. This will explain what your services can support you with.
There are some differences in what you are entitled to, depending on what type of study or training you want to do. However, if you are at college, in training, doing an apprenticeship or doing a part time course, you should still be able to get financial help.
At College or doing A-Levels
You must get a Further Education Bursary of £1200.
Going to University
You must get a Higher Education Bursary of £2000 on top of your student loan and any grants you have applied for.
Children’s Services should also help you with a grant towards your tuition fees. This amount is not set and will depend on what your service has written in their financial policy.
Children’s Services are also expected to help you with accommodation outside of term time.
Postgraduate Education
Children’s Services don’t have to provide support for post graduate education, but they will do an assessment of needs before they make a decision. Ask to see their policy on postgraduate education.
Children’s Services legally have to offer help to all care leavers, up until the age of 25. They should contact you to see if they can help you. If they don’t contact you, you are allowed to contact them.
Ask them to:
Do an assessment of your needs to decide what help you might need from them.
Give you a new Personal Advisor (PA).
Complete a new Pathway Plan for you which details all the support and help you will be getting from them (this should include help with the cost of education).
When you turn 16, you should start thinking about where you want to live once you are 18. There are lots of different types of accommodation you can live in and your PA should help you work out what is best for you.
Council Flat
Care Leavers aged between 18-21 are a priority for somewhere to live from the housing department. This means you are moved to the top of the list, but, often Local Authorities don’t have many Council Flats so there can still be a long wait.
Private Rental
There are advantages and disadvantages of renting privately:
Advantages
You don’t have to wait to be given a flat by the housing department
You can live wherever you choose.
Disadvantages
Rent can be a lot higher than for council flats and landlords can increase the rents with little warning.
Sometimes tenancies are only for a fixed period of time, like a year, which might mean you have to move again fairly soon.
Sometimes landlords want to sell the property or stop renting which means you might have to move at short notice.
If you decide private renting is the best option for you, you will need a deposit. Speak to your PA because Children’s Services should have a ‘Rent- Deposit Scheme’. They will pay your deposit and your first month’s rent to get you started.
Living with foster carers
You are allowed to stay living with your foster carers after you turn 18. This is called ‘staying put’.
Some of the reasons why you might want to “stay put” with your foster carers could include:
You are still studying and moving to independent living might disrupt your education.
You don’t feel ready and need more time to learn to do things for yourself, like cooking and managing your money.
You have additional needs, like a disability or mental health problems, and need some extra support for a little while longer.
If you decide to ‘stay put’ with your foster carers, you will stay living in the same place but your carers will not be called your foster carers (because you can only be a foster carer to children under 18). Your foster carers will now be providing you with ‘supported lodgings’. Don’t worry, nothing will change for you, but things will change for your carers, like the money they receive.
All of these decisions are big decisions and Children’s Services are there to help you make them. To make it easier it is important that you can clearly explain your situation.
Before making any decision try to:
Make a list of everything you spend your money on and then work out if you have enough money to cover all your bills and expenses.
Do some research into the course you want to study. Where do you want to study? How long is the course? Are there any costs?
Think about why you want to live in a particular accommodation. Do you know how to cook? Will you be lonely living alone? How will the move affect your education?
Once you have thought about all these questions, speak to your PA about how you can include any decisions in your Pathway Plan.
