care leavers’ successful transistion to independent accomadation

Journeys to Home:Care leavers’ successfultransition to independent accommodation

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National Care Advisory Service (NCAS)

Catch22 Office, 3rd Floor, Churchill House, 142—146 Old Street, London EC1V 9BW

T 020 7336 4824 F 020 7336 4801 E [email protected]

www.leavingcare.org

This guide was published as part of the accommodation project funded in 2008—9 by the DCSF.

© NCAS/Catch22 July 2009

The National Care Advisory Service (NCAS) focuses on improving young people’stransition from care. We are the national advice, support and developmentservice for young people in and from care (age 13—25), their corporate parentsand those who support them. NCAS works at local, regional, national and EUlevels to develop solutions based on good corporate parenting that include andempower young people and influence professionals and policy-makers tocontinually improve service quality and outcomes.

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mailto:[email protected]

http://www.leavingcare.org

Journeys to Home: Care leavers’ successful transition to independent accommodation i

page

Foreword................................................................................................... iii

Preface ...................................................................................................... iv

Introduction.............................................................................................. 1

Section 1: Operating environment ......................................................................... 3

Section 2: Strategic planning ................................................................................... 9

Section 3: Pathway planning and preparation ................................................... 17

Section 4: Birth families.......................................................................................... 24

Section 5: Training flats........................................................................................... 26

Section 6: Foster care conversions and supported lodgings .......................... 30

Section 7: Supported housing ................................................................................ 37

Section 8: Foyers ...................................................................................................... 45

Section 9: Independent accommodation ............................................................ 49

Section 10: Floating support .................................................................................... 56

Section 11: Emergency placements........................................................................ 61

Conclusion .............................................................................................. 67

Contents

Journeys to Home: Care leavers’ successful transition to independent accommodation iii

When a child is taken into the care the localauthority becomes his or her corporateparent. As any reasonable parent, the localauthority should support that child throughtheir transition to adulthood and all thebenefits and responsibilities that entails. Twoof the most common characteristics thatyoung people and those who work with themidentify as being associated with becoming anadult are setting up home and entering intoeducation training or employment. For mostyoung people the transition to adulthoodextends well into their twenties withopportunities to return home if events do notgo as planned. This is not the experience ofyoung people leaving local authority care wholeave care significantly earlier than theirpeers with little chance of returning.

NCAS work with local authorities and theirpartners to improve the prospects of olderlooked after children, those in the transitionof leaving care and those who have left care.Safe, suitable and affordable accommodationis the foundation on which young people canmanage the challenges of adulthood andrealise their aspirations. The profile of careleavers’ need for suitable accommodation has been significantly improved by theimplementation of the Care Matters agendaand the current central Government PublicService Agreement 16 which aims to increasethe numbers of care leavers at age 19 insuitable accommodation. While we in NCAShave concerns about the definitions of‘suitable accommodation’ and the need tomeasure at later and earlier junctures wewelcome the fact that nationally and locallythere is an impetus to improve theaccommodation prospects for young peopleleaving care. We are also looking forward tothe full implementation of the Children andYoung Persons Act 2008 and the revisedstatutory guidance from the Department for

Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), we arehopeful this will support local authorities intheir corporate parenting responsibilities.

Similar to other services for those in localauthority care, there is a disparity in youngpeople accessing suitable accommodationacross the country. While some areas reportgood outcomes in this area, others struggle to ensure their young people are in safe,secure and affordable housing. NCASidentified areas of good practice by talking to local authorities and their partners,commissioners, providers and young people.The result of this work is the good practiceguide which includes examples from the localauthorities and providers who have made adifference. We believe that such examplesare compelling evidence that all localauthorities, like all reasonable parents, arecapable of ensuring their children live inappropriate accommodation. The guide aimsto support local authorities and their partnersby being practical and easy to use. We hopethat with the accompanying work planningtool you find it a valuable resource.

John HillNational managerNCAS

Foreword

iv Journeys to Home: Care leavers’ successful transition to independent accommodation

PrefaceThis publication is a good practice guide onaccommodation for young people in theirtransition from and leaving care. It hasbeen developed for local authorities,housing and support providers and thosewho support young people, and looks at thedifferent pathways that young people takein their transition from and when leavingcare. The term ‘care leaver’ has been usedwhile recognising that some young peopleaged 16 and 17 accessing accommodationother than foster care or a children’s homewill still be a looked after child.

The publication examines specific issuesfor care leavers accessing suitableaccommodation and identifies the goodpractice action that is required to improvethe accommodation prospects of careleavers. For ease of reading the goodpractice guidance is colour coded:

oStrategic work that will be theresponsibility of directors of

departments e.g. children’s servicedirectors.

oOperational work that will be theresponsibility of managers of

services e.g. leaving care managers.

oPersonal work that will be theresponsibility of the practioners or

persons supporting the young person e.g. social worker, personal advisersupport worker or foster carer. For easeof reference in the guidance on personalwork we have referred to social workers,however we recognise that this work maybe carried out by personal advisers.

This publication is not a ‘magic wand’ andthose who have contributed to it haverecognised that enhancing accommodationfor care leavers requires sustained effort.The guide is accompanied by an NCAS work planning tool to be used by localauthorities and their partners to supportimproving outcomes in this area. Both theguide and the tool can also be downloadedfrom www.leavingcare.org

This guide was produced as part of a DCSF-funded project on improving theaccommodation prospects of young peoplewho are leaving care. The content for thisguide is the result of interviewing staffwho manage services and/or providesupport to young people in the transitionfrom care, attending regional leaving caremanagers’ fora, facilitating workshops onaccommodation and care leavers andspeaking with care experienced youngpeople. The good practice case studieshave been selected by visiting theauthority or organisation interviewing keystaff, and where possible interviewing thecommissioners and young people using theservice. The practice examples arescenarios NCAS believe reflect innovativeor positive ways of managing services forcare leavers or managing key issues forcare leavers. We recognise that this is anarea where few local authorities performwell on a strategic, operational andpersonal level, hence the need for thisguide, but most local authorities haveexamples where they have sought toimprove practice in at least one area.

AcknowledgementsNCAS wish to thank the members of thevirtual reading group for their contributionwithout which the content of the guidewould have been considerably poorer: Mark Burrows (DCSF), Rob Dunster(Warwickshire Council), Stuart Lorkin(Cabinet Office), Val Keen and Alan Edwards(both CLG). NCAS is very grateful to Dave Pendle from the Foyer Federationwho contributed to the Foyer section andJudy Walsh from Fostering Network for herinsightful comments on the Foster careconversions and supported lodgings section.

This guide has been produced by theNational Care Advisory Service (NCAS), part of the national charity Catch22.

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Journeys to Home: Care leavers’ successful transition to independent accommodation 1

Every year around 8,0001 young people over16 cease to be looked after in England. Each young person has their own experience.This is one of their journeys:

Steven 2 came into care for the second timewhen he was 12. He had a number ofplacements in residential care homes. AsSteven approached his 16th birthday throughhis pathway planning his social worker andpersonal adviser recognised that although hehad many practical skills, there were concernsabout his emotional resilience. He just did nothave the coping strategies to manage in thewider community as he was used to living in asupportive and protecting environment. Stevenremained in care for just under a year after his16th birthday while workers tried to preparehim for living more independently.

Just before his 17th birthday Steven movedinto a local foyer where he stayed for sixmonths. It became obvious he was vulnerableto peer pressure and he began smokingcannabis and drinking alcohol. He wasunresponsive to training or educationprogrammes offered, and was given 28 days’notice, during which time he refused supportfrom foyer workers and his social worker.Social services were forced to make decisionson his behalf — they moved Steven to a flatprovided by an independent accommodationprovider for 16—18 year-olds.

As soon as Steven reached 18 he was allocatedsocial housing from the local authority. Althoughextra support was put in place, he did not

engage, and within six months he had a largeoverdraft, crisis loans, loans from independentlenders and outstanding utilities totalling £2,000of debt. Part of this debt was due to Stevenbuying drink for his friends, who took advantageof his vulnerability. It became apparent thatSteven was not coping or did not like livingalone and he eventually abandoned his flat. Hegave the keys to a so-called friend who damagedthe property and caused neighbourhoodnuisance. The arrears and damage totalled£1,800 when Steven gave up his tenancy.

Steven was now relying on his friends to puthim up. Two weeks before Christmas his failureto pay board resulted in him being asked toleave. His social worker managed to secureemergency accommodation at a hostel butagain he was asked to leave when he refusedsupport, damaged his room and did not pay hispersonal charge. Steven is currently in a bedand breakfast. No other local supportedhousing provider will accept him due to hisbehaviour and the housing department haveassessed him as intentionally homeless. He iscurrently on notice from the bed and breakfastfor not paying his personal charge.

Those leaving care are a diverse group ofyoung people with different needs for support,and differing levels of practical and emotionalcapacity to live independently. Care leaversare especially vulnerable for homelessness. In England, 16/17 year-olds3 and care leaversaged 18—20 make up eight percent of the totalhomelessness acceptances, however they areonly three per cent of the total population.4

Introduction

1 In 2008 8,300 young people left care www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/index.shtml2 Name has been changed.3 16 and 17 year-olds who are not in the care system.4 Joint working between Housing and Children’s services, DCSF May 2008.

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/index.shtml

Not surprisingly becoming homeless was in thetop ten fears of children leaving care.5

The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000Guidance states: ‘because of the diverse needsof care leavers and the way in which these willchange over time, local authorities are likelyto require a range of accommodation options’.These options include training flats,supported lodgings, supported housing,foyers, independent accommodation andfloating support.

The existence of this provision in itself is notenough to ensure that young people likeSteven make a successful transition to livingmore independently. Many young people (a quarter of those leaving care) leave theircare placement as early as 16 (compared withtheir peers who on average leave home aged24)6 and like Steven are often unprepared forthe emotional resilience and living skills thisinvolves. In addition to accessible provision,those leaving care need to be equipped forthe reality of living more independently;those providing accommodation should beaware of the unique needs of this vulnerableclient group.

The guide focuses on what needs to be inplace strategically to ensure that partnershipworking considers accommodation for careleavers in housing and related strategies,operationally to ensure that there is a rangeof suitable accommodation to meet thediversity of needs of care leavers and on apersonal level to prepare and support eachyoung person in living more independently.

Such work will minimise the number of youngpeople in Steven’s position. It presents goodpractice case studies and practice examplesfrom across England where local authorities,third sector and private providers have soughtto make a difference to the accommodationprospects of young people leaving care. It will come as no revelation that partnershipworking has been key to enhancingaccommodation options for care leavers, be it with (and within) local authorities, third sector, private providers and, mostimportantly, with the young peoplethemselves.

Care leavers are a diverse group of youngpeople and it has not been possible for to lookat the specific needs of young people with adisability, young parents, unaccompaniedasylum seeking children and those at risk ofoffending. All these young people are entitledto the same services as their peers whilebeing looked after and upon leaving care butit is recognised that these groups of youngpeople may need specialist accommodationservices and can present their own complexissues. Where possible the resource and weblink section will highlight useful resources andNCAS will be developing resources ondisability in 2009—10.

Introduction

2 Journeys to Home: Care leavers’ successful transition to independent accommodation

5 Young people’s views on leaving care — report of the Children’s Rights Director 2006.6 Green paper: Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care 2006.


Chapter summary: The legislative and policy frameworkleaving care services are deliveredwithin should ensure that the approachto providing settled accommodationfor care leavers is well thought outand strategic, not just a safety netfor vulnerable young people.

Legal frameworkThere is a legislative and policy frameworkdesigned to ensure that care leavers areappropriately accommodated. For youngpeople in care the local authority is theircorporate parent; thus the legislative andpolicy framework should provide for careleavers in a way that reasonable parents dofor their own children.

The legal framework, specific to care leavers,seeks to ensure that care leavers receive theright services to enable their transition toadulthood, including access to accommodation.There is also legislation, which is not specificto care leavers, such as general homelessnesslegislation, that provides a valuable safety netif a young person experiences homelessnessafter leaving care.

Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and guidance and regulations

The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000amended the Children Act 1989 and imposedduties (including accommodation duties) onlocal authorities to support certain categoriesof looked after children and care leavers.(See table overleaf.)

The statutory guidance to the Children(Leaving Care) Act 2000 does not specify any

particular type of accommodation for careleavers, but states that it would beinappropriate for 16 and 17-year-old careleavers to live completely independently andthat the use of bed and breakfastaccommodation should only be veryoccasional and short-term.

The regulations and guidance stipulate thatlocal authorities should take steps to make surethat young people have the best chance tosucceed in their accommodation. They should:

● Avoid moving young people who are settled.

● Assess young people’s needs and preparethem for any move.

● Ensure that the accommodation meets anyneeds relating to impairment.

● Where practicable offer a choice ofaccommodation.

● Set up a package of support to go with the accommodation.

● Have a clear financial plan for theaccommodation and have a contingencyplan.

The regulations and guidance also detail howthe local authority strategy for care leaversshould take into account:

● The diverse accommodation and supportneeds of care leavers.

● The capacity to offer young people adegree of choice in accommodation.

● Existing and planned provision of safeaffordable accommodation.

● Gaps in provision.

● Priority setting.

● The need for contingency arrangements.

Section 1:

Operating environment

Section 1: Operating environment


7 The Pathway Plan must cover arrangements for accommodation and appropriate support for the youngperson and, through its implementation, should ensure that the young person avoids homelessness.

If you are a/an Children’s services must

Eligible child — child aged 16 and 17 who have been lookedafter for at least 13 weeks sincethe age of 14 and who remainlooked after.

● Meet accommodation, personal and education related expenses.

● Carry out a needs assessment.

● Prepare a Pathway Plan,7 building on the child’sexisting care plan.

● Regularly review the Pathway Plan.

● Appoint a Personal Adviser.

Relevant child — child aged 16 and 17 who have been lookedafter for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14 and who have left care.

● Carry out a needs assessment.

● Prepare a Pathway Plan.

● Regularly review the Pathway Plan.

● Provide a Personal Adviser.

● Arrange suitable accommodation and pay for furnishings.

● Provide an allowance, which must not be less than if onbenefits. Relevant children cannot claim benefits unlessthey are disabled or a lone parent.

● Pay for any additional costs set out in the Pathway Plan.

● Keep in touch with the young person.

Former relevant child — 18—21 year old (or until the end of agreed programme ofeducation or trainings) who werepreviously ‘eligible’ or ‘relevant’.

● Maintain the Pathway Plan.

● Provide a Personal Adviser.

● Contribute to the costs of support set out in thePathway Plan, in so far as the young person’s welfarerequires this.

● Contribute towards the costs of education and vacationaccommodation.


Qualifying child — Any youngperson under 21 (or 24 if ineducation or training) who ceases to be looked after oraccommodated in a variety ofother settings, or privatelyfostered, after the age of 16.

● Give advice and support.


● May also help with paying expenses related to theyoung person’s education.

The 1996 Housing Act and theHomelessness Act 2002

Under the homelessness legislation, (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) local authoritiesmust secure suitable accommodation for aperson who:

● is eligible for assistance (broadly, theirimmigration status is not restricted);

● is homeless (or threatened withhomelessness within 28 days);

● has a priority need for accommodation(specified categories of people);

● is not intentionally homeless.8

The Homelessness (Priority Need forAccommodation) (England) Order 2002 extendedthe priority need categories. Among others,they now include:

● homeless 18—20 year-olds who were incare at 16 or 17 except for those in higherresidential or further education requiringvacation accommodation;

● homeless people over the age of 21 whoare vulnerable as a result of being in carein the past.

The Homelessness Act 2002 places a duty onhousing authorities to have a strategy forpreventing homelessness and ensuring thataccommodation and support will be availablefor people who are homeless or at risk ofhomelessness — and places a duty on socialservices departments to assist in thedevelopment of the strategy. Both authoritiesmust take the strategy into account indischarging their functions.

Statutory Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities (July 2006)9

In July 2006 Communities and LocalGovernment (CLG) issued statutory guidance

which local housing authorities must haveregard to when discharging their homelessnessfunctions. Aspects of this guidance also applyto social services authorities when exercisingtheir functions relating to homelessness.

The Code states that care leavers are amongthe groups likely to be more at risk ofhomelessness than others and:

● Social services departments’ informationabout numbers of care leavers may assisthousing departments in conductinghomelessness reviews.

● It is important that wherever possible thehousing needs of care leavers areaddressed before they leave care.

● Making arrangements for accommodationand ensuring that care leavers areprovided with suitable housing support willbe an essential aspect of a young person’sPathway Plan.

● Where necessary, arrangements should bemade for joint assessment by socialservices and housing authorities as a partof a multi-agency assessment to inform thePathway Plan.

Whether young people leaving care areaccommodated by the social servicesauthority or the housing authority is forindividual authorities to determine in eachcase. Ideally, there should be jointly agreedprotocols in place in respect of theassessment of needs.

The Children Act 2004

The Children Act 200410 sets out the processfor integrating services for children so thatevery child can achieve the five outcomes laidout in the green paper Every Child Matters:

● be healthy;

● stay safe;

● enjoy and achieve;



8 A person deliberately did (or didn’t do) something that caused them to leave accommodation whichthey could otherwise have stayed in, and it would have been reasonable for them to stay there.

9 www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/152056.pdf10 For more about the Children Act 2004 see

www.leavingcare.org/professionals/law_rights/children_act_2004

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/152056.pdf

http://www.leavingcare.org/professionals/law_rights/children_act_2004

● make a positive contribution;

● achieve economic well-being.

The requirement to be appropriatelyaccommodated on leaving care is seen ascontributing to the outcome of staying safe.

Policy framework

White Paper Care Matters: Time for change11

The White Paper Care Matters sets out howthe Government intends to improve theoutcomes of young people and children incare. In the chapter on transition toadulthood the Government sets out itsproposals regarding young people leaving careand how their accommodation needs shouldbe met. These include:

● A transition support program (2008—11) fordisabled children.

● Right2BCared4 pilots to increase the voiceof care leavers in decisions about theircare, including moving to an independentplacement.

● ‘Staying put’ pilots allowing young peopleto stay with their foster carers up to 21.

● Researching the demand for young peopleto stay in children’s homes.

● Increasing the range of supportedaccommodation.

● A capital investment fund to support theprovision of accommodation for care leavers.

Joint working between housing andchildren’s services

Communities and Local Government (CLG) andthe Department for Children, Schools andFamilies (DCSF) have produced non-statutoryguidance on joint working between housing

and children’s services.12 The guidancerecognises that, amongst others, care leaversaged 18—21 are at particular risk of pooroutcomes in the absence of joint working.The guidance identifies that housing andchildren’s services should have:

● a formal joint working protocol;

● joint working arrangements for promotingand planning care leavers’ transition toadulthood specifically;

● a joint protocol to ensure a quick, safeand supportive response to care leavers atrisk of homelessness or homeless.

Public Service Agreements 1613

Public Service Agreements (PSAs) set out howcentral government intends to deliver publicservices. The PSAs are underpinned by thenational indicators (NIs, see below), which areused to measure progress. PSA 16 aims toincrease the proportion of socially excludedpeople (care leaver, age 19, being a specificgroup) in ‘settled accommodation’ and‘employment, education and training’. TheCabinet Office has the lead on this PSA but,as it is a cross-departmental delivery plan,amongst other departments, DCSF and CLGare also responsible for delivery. Centralgovernment will monitor progress throughregional government offices.

Local Area Agreements

Local Area Agreements (LAAs) are agreementsbetween central government (through theregional government offices), local authoritiesand their partners. They focus on bothnational outcomes and meeting localpriorities. The Local Strategic Partnerships(LSPs) are responsible for delivering LAAs. The performance framework for the LAA consists of 198 national indicators (NIs). There are two indicators that concernoutcomes for care leavers:



11 publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=Cm%25207137

12 Joint Working between Housing and Children’s Services Preventing homelessness and tackling its effecton children and young people May 2008 www.communities.gov.uk

13 www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/psa.aspx

http://www.communities.gov.uk

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/psa.aspx

publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=Cm%25207137

● NI 147: measures the percentage of careleavers in suitable14 accommodation at theage of 19.

● NI 148: measures the percentage of careleavers in employment, education andtraining at age 19.

Having these indicators has raised the profileof care leavers nationally and locally. Theoutcomes measures are reported on andprovide a useful lever for leaving careservices to improve the accommodationprospects for care leavers.

Supporting People

Supporting People is the name given to theGovernment’s programme for the funding,quality assurance and strategic developmentof non-statutory housing-related supportservices. CLG allocates Supporting Peoplegrants to local authorities who plan,commission and monitor housing relatedsupport, in line with their Supporting People strategy. The majority of services are commissioned as whole projects, e.g. a 20-bed supported housing unit foryoung vulnerable people.

Young people leaving care will notautomatically be provided with SupportingPeople funded services when they reach 18,as individuals do not have a right to beprovided with such services, nor does thelocal authority have a duty to provide aSupporting People funded service. It is up tolocal authorities to decide what services theyfund with their allocation.

Prior to April 2009 young people in and fromcare under the age of 18 were not eligible toreceive Supporting People services directly.They could live in Supporting Peopleaccommodation but providers/SupportingPeople teams recharged leaving care orchildren’s services for the support. From April2009 the ring-fence preventing Supporting

People monies from being spent on statutoryservices has been removed although mostrecharging arrangements are continuing. In addition, most people living in SupportingPeople services have their rent paid throughhousing benefit. Leaving care and children’sservices would also have to cover rent forthose young people under 18 who are noteligible for housing benefit. Some localauthorities, Supporting People teams andchildren’s services have jointly commissionedservices for young people, which includeservices for care leavers.

The Supporting People outcomes framework isbased on the DCSF’s Every child mattersoutcomes. Data is captured every time aservice user departs from a Supporting Peoplefunded short term service.15 NCAS haveproduced a report on care leaver’s utilisationof Supporting People services.16

Choice based lettings17

Prior to choice based letting, local authoritieswould allocate available properties,appropriate for that person’s needs, to thosewho had reached the ‘top’ of the housing list.Choice based letting (CBL) schemes allowpeople to apply for social rentedaccommodation, which is openly advertised.Applicants can see the full range of availableproperties and apply for any home whichmatches their needs. The successful applicantis the one with the highest priority under thescheme. Applicants are prioritised usingpoints or banding systems. The system relieson applicants proactively bidding and systemsusually allow for properties to be advertisedin a variety of ways, including localnewspapers, internet, in council offices, andbids to be accepted by email, in person or byphone/text. Those who are deemed to be inpriority need under homelessness legislation(which can include certain care leavers) areusually given a high priority, although oftenonly for a limited period of time. The



14 The definition of suitable accommodation for this indicator is safe, secure and affordable provision foryoung people, including short term accommodation, but not emergency, bed and breakfast or custody.

15 See www.spclientrecord.org.uk/webdata/ for data on care leavers.16 www.leavingcare.org/data/tmp/5296-10665.pdf17 www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingmanagementcare/choicebasedlettings/

http://www.spclientrecord.org.uk/webdata

http://www.leavingcare.org/data/tmp/5296-10665.pdf

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingmanagementcare/choicebasedlettings

government expects all local authorities tooperate choice based lettings by 2010, andsome local authorities are including privatesector leasing and low cost home ownership intheir schemes.

Housing supply

Work to increase housing supply iscoordinated on a national, regional and locallevel. Local authorities housing strategiesfeed into and relate to regional housingstrategies, which in turn are related to thegovernment’s national policy. In Homes for thefuture: more affordable more sustainable18

the Government has set out proposals forincreasing the supply of affordable housing. In particular the Government has set itselfambitious targets for social rentedaccommodation, 45,000 new units a year by 2010/11.

Care leavers’ housing needs should beaddressed in the local authority’s overallhousing strategy or the youth homelessnessstrategy, which feeds into it.



Additional resources and web links● NCAS web site

www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodationwww.leavingcare.org

● www.shelter.org.ukengland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/homelessness/help_from_social_services/support_for_care_leavers

● DCSFwww.dcsf.gov.uk

● White paper: Care Matters: Time for Changepublications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=Cm%25207137

● CLGwww.communities.gov.uk

● Housing Green paperwww.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/439986.pdf

● www.spkweb.org.uk

● Cabinet officewww.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/psa.aspx

18 The Housing Green Paper can be found atwww.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/439986.pdf

www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation

england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/homelessness/help_from_social_services/support_for_care_leavers

publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=Cm%25207137

www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/439986.pdf

www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/social_exclusion_task_force/psa.aspx


Chapter summary: The most positive results in providingaccommodation services to youngcare leavers are achieved when theservice is seen as the responsibilityof the local authority as a whole, at a departmental head level.

IntroductionWhen children become looked after the localauthority assumes responsibility to act as acorporate parent. Like any reasonable parent, the local authority will want toensure that the young people for whom it isresponsible move on to suitable and settledaccommodation. The corporate parentingresponsibility does not just sit with children’sservices or leaving care teams, but with alldepartments within the children servicesauthority.

Local authorities are already reportingimprovements on the numbers of care leaversin suitable accommodation at age 19. To sustain these, local authorities will have toensure that they take a strategic approach tomanaging care leaver access to a range ofsuitable accommodation options. Effectivestrategic work relies on a broad framework offunding streams and services. Formalrelationships between children’s services,housing agencies and other services need tounderpin this framework to ensure that thereis a high level commitment, effectivecommunication, partnership working and jointplanning across the authority.

Identifying needs and servicesEach local authority should understand theneeds of their population of children in careand care leavers. Each care leaver will have aPathway Plan developed before they move onfrom their final care placement, identifyingtheir accommodation needs. This provides abasis for identifying care leavers’ futurehousing needs. This can be used to inform therelevant housing/accommodation strategy —e.g. care leavers’ accommodation strategy,youth homelessness strategy or broaderhousing strategy.

oDepartment heads of children’s andhousing services should ensure that

current and future accommodation andrelated support needs of young peopleleaving care, are specifically included in thelocal authority’s homeless strategy, housingstrategy, Supporting People strategy and theChildren and Young Peoples’ Plan.

As part of any young person’s needsassessments it will be essential to identifyyoung people with enduring care needs and toarrange for appropriate support for theirtransition to adult care services. Adult servicesutilise Fair Access to Care (FACS) guidance indetermining eligibility for social care serviceswhich can act as a barrier to young people’stransition from children to adult services.

oProtocols should be in place betweenleaving care and adult services that

ensure that young people who have beenassessed as having enduring care needs areable to be assessed for adult social careaccommodation services during the earlystages of their transition to adulthood.Protocols should include how FACS guidancewill be utilised for young people in transitfrom children to adult services.

Section 2:

Strategic planning

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Practice example

Plymouth is a unitary19 authority whichhas approximately 35 young people leavingcare each year. Plymouth has recentlyrevised its protocol between adult andchildren’s services to ensure that it betterfacilitates the transition to adult services.The protocol and transition pathway havea multi-agency agreement and include‘vulnerable young people with complexneeds’. It has clear timelines for assessmentand service delivery and is based on theperson centred planning model. There aretwo levels of accountability within theprotocol. The operational group, chairedby Connexions, is a multiagency groupthat considers all referrals at age 16 andallocates an appropriate adult servicesworker to work jointly with children’sservices. The strategic group chaired bythe Learning Disability Partnership Managerprovides monitoring and evaluation of theprotocol, feeds into the commissioningfunction and resolves disputes.

Contact [email protected]

It is important that the staff that support careleavers have both an understanding of theneeds of young people leaving care and thehousing options available to them.

oLocal authorities should ensure thatrelevant staff in housing and leaving

care services have the skills and experienceto deliver housing solutions for youngpeople leaving care.

In addition to needs mapping, it will beimportant that the local authority identifiesthe accommodation and support services thatare available to young people in their area.These include generic young people’s servicesand those that are care leaver specific,encompassing those provided by localauthority, third sector and private providers.

Any mapping will need to be repeatedregularly to ensure that planning is based onan up to date picture of needs and provision.

oLeaving care services in conjunctionwith housing departments and

Supporting People should regularly maphousing and support services available intheir area.

Action planningThe mapping exercises will identify anyduplication or gaps in services required andenable an action plan to be drawn up.

The action plan could include thefollowing themes:

● Prevention of placement breakdown —e.g. mediation with carers, neighbours;preparation for adult living.

● Development of accommodation basedsupport provision.

● Remodelling or re-commissioning ofcurrent provision.

● Working with other local authorities to develop specialised provision — e.g. for care leavers with profoundlearning disabilities or sensoryimpairment.

● Increasing supply of appropriate settled housing.

● Developing protocols for supportingyoung people in and out of boroughplacements — e.g. developingreciprocal arrangements.

● Developing tenancy sustainmentprovision — e.g. floating support.

● Developing links with third and private sector.

Section 2: Strategic planning


19 Where the local authority has one tier that provides all the local government functions includingchildren’s services and housing.

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An action plan should include the targets thelocal authority wants to set itself, and how itis going to measure its progress against thosetargets. It should also include who will beresponsible and the time frames for deliveryof those targets.

Practice example

Essex is a two-tier20 area that has over100 young people leaving care each year.Essex leaving care services engaged withthe 12 housing departments within thecounty, (and housing providers), in seekingto achieve a LAA target of improving onthe accommodation outcomes of careleavers. The target is based on meetingaccommodation needs of care leavers on amonth by month basis during the threeyears of the LAA (which ended March2009). This has led to much betterworking relationships with housingprofessionals via regular area based localsteering groups, joint training andimproved planning. Better qualityinformation has been made available toyoung people, carers and residential staffin relation to future options (informationleaflets, internal website (My base),information sessions etc.)

The target (55.5 percent) has beenconsistently exceeded, and on averageover 86 percent of young people havebeen recorded as having accommodationwhich meets their assessed needs.


Partnership workingIn order to develop and implement the actionplan local authorities will have to work inpartnership with a number of statutory, thirdsector and private partners. Multi-agencyworking is only effective if it is underpinnedby a commitment from department heads. Too often, even within local authorities, thereis evidence of departments working in silos.Two-tier21 areas often find partnership workingbetween county children’s services and housingauthorities requires sustained effort fromthose on the ground coupled with real senseof responsibility from directors of services.

oDirector of children’s services shouldensure that the lead elected council

member for housing is made awareaccommodation issues for care leaversshould exist.

oLead members should ensure that the director of children’s services/

housing director reports annually and inwriting on the inclusion of care leavers inthe housing strategy.

oRelevant directors in local authoritiesshould ensure that leaving care services

are represented at key fora and meetings,e.g. LSPs, Supporting People commissioningbody, to ensure that the housing needs ofthose leaving care influence housing agendas.

CLG and the DCSF have produced guidance onjoint working between housing and children’sservices on preventing homelessness andtackling its effect on children and youngpeople. This identified that it was essential forchildren’s services and housing services andboth unitary and two-tier areas to establishjoint working arrangements for promoting andplanning care leavers’ transition to adulthood.The guidance contains a joint workingchecklist for housing and children’s services.22



20 Areas which have a county council and district authorities which each provide different services, forexample, the county may provide children’s services and the districts each provide housing.

21 See footnote 15.22 www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/jointworkinghomelessness

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http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/jointworkinghomelessness

oDirectors of children’s services andhousing departments should ensure

that joint protocols are in place betweenchildren’s services, housing authorities (orthose responsible for carrying out the localauthority housing functions), health andadult services to facilitate access toappropriate temporary and settled housingfor young people. The protocol will ensurethat young people do not present ashomeless to access accommodation and willhave processes to avoid young people leavingcare being at risk of or becoming homeless.

Practice example

The East Riding of Yorkshire is a unitaryauthority and has approximately 25 youngpeople leaving care each year. East Ridinghas a joint working protocol betweenhousing and children’s services specificallyfor the needs of young people leavingcare. The protocol is based on theregional model developed in the Yorkshireand Humber region.


Children and housing services are not the onlyones with a role to play in supporting careleavers achieving and maintaining suitableaccommodation. Other key players will include:

● adult social care services;

● the third sector — Registered SocialLandlords (RSLs), voluntary, charitable andfaith-based organisations;

● Supporting People teams and services;

● primary health care;

● youth offending teams and probation;

● drug and alcohol services;

● Connexions;

● private providers ;

● private landlords;

● education and training providers;

● elected members.

oDirectors of children’s services and housing departments should

ensure that non statutory stakeholders, e.g. housing associations, voluntaryorganisations and private providers, areincluded in joint protocols where theyprovide temporary and settledaccommodation services for young people.

There can be tensions between differentpartners especially when dealing with limitedresources, e.g. housing stock and social careservices. It is important that all parties takethe time to understand the operatingenvironments of their partners and theconstraints they are working within. Localauthorities report that it is especiallyimportant to develop and maintain goodrelationships in two-tier areas where services,e.g. housing, are provided by the districtauthorities but leaving care services arelocated in the county council.

oThe responsible local authority shouldhave clear written policies and

procedures about how it will provide and/orcommission suitable accommodation andsupport for young people. Policies andprocedures should outline the processeswhere the initial placement is not suitable,including arrangements for suitableaccommodation and support in the event ofa young person being in immediate need.

Combining resourcesAlthough children’s services have aresponsibility to accommodate or pay foraccommodation for 16 and 17 year-old youngpeople, in order to provide for the range ofcare leavers, the most effective responsesinclude pooling or aligning resources withother departments.

Approaches include:

● Children’s services and Supporting Peoplejointly funding services for vulnerableyoung people. This could entail children’sservices paying for specified bed spaceswithin a project or for access to a certainnumber of units of housing across provision.



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● Supporting People commissioning servicesfor all vulnerable young people and havingan arrangement to re-charge leaving careservices for care leavers under 18.

● A multi-agency approach that involves alllocal authority and statutory stakeholdersjointly commissioning and fundingaccommodation for all vulnerable youngpeople, recognising that young people’sneeds mean that they can fall into severalcategories, e.g. young people leaving caremay also have mental health needs.

Practice example

Hertfordshire is a two-tier area withapproximately 110 young people leavingcare every year. Hertfordshire haveestablished an accommodation manager inleaving care services who is responsiblefor managing the move-on (district andborough council-housing authority)accommodation needs of young peopleleaving care. The manager, who is from ahousing background, is responsible fordeveloping relationships with the tendistrict housing authorities. Hertfordshirehas developed an accommodation strategywhich ensures the leaving care servicesunderstand housing legislation andlanguage. Hertfordshire have identifiedthe following as critical to success in two-tier area:

● communication of information;

● point of contact in each districthousing authority;

● joint training and attending eachother’s team meetings;

● invest time and staff resources inhousing;

● gaining sign up from the appropriatelevel both strategically andoperationally, e.g. head of housing.


oAccommodation and support servicesshould be jointly commissioned by

local authority departments such aschildren’s services, Supporting People, adultservices and housing to ensure that youngpeople are provided with seamless provisionof services.

Practice example

Plymouth is a unitary authority withapproximately 35 young people leavingcare each year. Plymouth has set up aYouth Homelessness Innovation Group tofacilitate better working between housingand children’s services. The directors ofhousing and children’s services haveendorsed its principles which include no16/17 year-old being placed in bed andbreakfast or sleeping rough and all youngpeople should be well prepared forindependence. The group has representationfrom housing and children’s services andSupporting People who all jointlycommission housing and support services.


oChildren’s service directors shouldensure that homelessness, housing,

Supporting People strategies and theChildren and Young Persons Plan commissionand provide a range of accommodation and support provision to meet the needs of young people, offering choice andalternatives if initial placements are notappropriate.

Local Area Agreements (LAA) provide23 localauthorities with an opportunity to combinebudgets to meet wider locally establishedtargets, e.g. supporting vulnerable people inmaintaining independent accommodation. The Area Based Grant, which pulls together anumber of local funding streams, can be usedto commission services to achieve the targetsset in the LAA.



23 Briefing on LAAs www.leavingcare.org/data/tmp/3961-8201.pdf

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Practice example

Oxfordshire is a two-tier area which hasapproximately 45 young people leavingcare every year. Oxfordshire havedeveloped a joint housing team, which is amulti-agency team bringing together socialwork, housing and voluntary sector staffto prevent homelessness among careleavers and other young people. The teamworks across the county, city and districtcouncils to help deliver the LAA target forreducing youth homelessness and tonegotiate and facilitate better planningfor care leavers’ housing needs. This hasincluded negotiating move-on agreementswith the city and district councils to givecare leavers access to social tenancies.


Resources can also be combined by secondingover staff from other departments, e.g. housing,to children’s services and leaving care teams.

Practice example

Birmingham is a unitary authority whichhas approximately 150 young peopleleaving care each year. St Basils managesthe Housing Options services for all youngpeople in the city on behalf of the citycouncil. An accommodation pathwayscoordinator has been seconded to theleaving care team and to the YouthOffending Team from St Basils.Their role isto advice social workers and personaladvisers on accommodation and help theyoung people to make a planned moveinto suitable accommodation.




Involving young peopleAccommodation continues to be a pressingissue for young people leaving care. Given therole of the local authority as a corporateparent it is of utmost importance for youngpeople in and from care to have anopportunity to influence accommodation at astrategic level. There are some existing forathat engage care leavers and children in care.

Practice example

Staffordshire is a two-tier area which hasapproximately 55 young people leavingcare each year. Staffordshire developed a‘Forum for us’, which had regularmeetings for young people in or leavingcare, giving them a voice on specificissues. Staffordshire’s Children In CareCouncil (CICC) co-ordinated by TheChildren and Young People’s Voice Projectnow fulfils this role. The group at presenthas ten young people who attend on aregular basis and are very active coveringissues which young people in and leavingcare want to address.

[email protected]

While the existence of specific fora for youngpeople leaving care is important, these youngpeople should also have an opportunity to beinvolved with more generic opportunities toinfluence accommodation, e.g. youthhomelessness consultation events or surveys.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat young people have opportunities

to influence the strategic development ofaccommodation both as care leavers and aspart of the generic group of young people intheir area, e.g. participation in mappingexercises, responding to consultations,attending youth councils, annual reportingback to lead members on behalf or careexperienced young people etc.

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● allowing care leavers access to the whole project would increase the accommodation choices for care leavers;

● by exposing care leavers to other youngpeople who have to undertakeactivities, e.g. claiming benefits andpaying bills, would increase careleavers’ understanding of what skillsare required to live independently;

● all the organisations commissioned toprovide services within the pathwayhad a track record of working with care leavers.

The Pathways Project is commissionedthrough nine third sector providers andone internal provider. 358 units areprovided in 37 separate properties. The Project is expected to provideaccommodation for 30 16/17 year-old careleavers per year, and currently there arebetween 70–80 care leavers in thePathway Project (40 of whom are 18 yearsold and above).

The project has three 24-hour assessmentservices, each containing an emergencybed, where young people can be placed,e.g. if a placement has broken down. Care leavers do not have to use theassessment centre and can be referredinto accommodation appropriate to theirneeds. The provision comprises hostels,shared housing, flats and bedsits, andincludes specific provision for those withmental health disability, women only andteenage parents. Camden is in the processof developing a specialised service foryoung people with complex needs.Provision also includes training flats,specific services for 16/17 year-olds,services for young people in education ortraining, 24-hour supported schemes andschemes that enable the young person tolive more independently and experienceholding a tenancy. The integration of thePathway Plan with the support plan iscurrently being investigated to streamlinethe referral process.

(cont. overleaf)



oChildren in care councils and leavingcare fora should be consulted on both

strategic housing matters andaccommodation strategies for young peopleleaving care. There should be mechanismsfor feeding their views into the strategicand operational decision-making processes.

oThe director of children’s servicesshould ensure that the local authority

pledge to its children in care should includewhat specific action on accommodation inthe services it makes to their children incare and those leaving care. This canprovide a reporting framework for youngpeople to report back to lead members.

Good practice case study

Camden is an inner London borough whichhas approximately 35 young people leaving care every year. Camden’s YoungPersons Pathway aims to provide a range of different types of temporaryaccommodation that support young people16—21 in acquiring the skills to liveindependently, and make a successfultransition to independent living.

The project is commissioned by SupportingPeople and jointly funded by SupportingPeople and children’s services. Thehomelessness department part fund staff toprovide move on services from the pathwayproject. Children’s services also provide‘top up’ services, e.g., where young peoplerequire a 24-hour supervisory service. Thereare quarterly commissioning meetings ofSupporting People, children’s services, andhomelessness services, and regularmeetings with and between providers.

The drivers for the project were to reducethe number of young people aged 16/17years in bed and breakfast, to provideaccommodation for young people aged16/17 years leaving care, and to enablethose care leavers over 18, who had beenplaced out of borough, to return toCamden. The project does not have‘bespoke’ services for young people leavingcare. This was because it was felt that:

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Young people remain in the PathwaysProject until they are able to liveindependently, approximately for twoyears. The Pathway Project can moveyoung people from less to more supportedaccommodation if the young person is notmanaging. When care leavers are ready to move on they are given the pointsrequired to bid for a one bedroom orstudio flat through choice based letting.

The project is quality assured through theSupporting People contracting arrangementsand providers are all expected to deliverservices up to level B standard of theQuality Assessment Framework (QAF). The services are monitored against thecontracting requirements via the SupportingPeople workbooks and outcomes monitoringwhen young people exit the services.

Key criteria for success

● The stakeholders all signed up for theproject and the joint funding ensuredthat there was a joint commitment tothe success of the project.

● The providers were on board from thebeginning. As services were remodelled tomeet current need, providers were not incompetition with each other and all hadsomething to contribute to the project.

● There were regular joint meetingsbetween those funding the project andthose being commissioned to deliver theservice. The meetings also enabled otherorganisations, e.g. the PCT, Connexions,substance misuse services, youthoffending teams and community safetyto be involved, and for their specialistresources to be used by providers.

● Providers are willing to take those withchallenging needs into services that areresourced to provide appropriate levelsof support and integrated strategicworking within Camden, enabling ‘topup’ funding to be provided andexternally using specialist resources,e.g. substance misuse.


Additional resources and web links● CLG/DCSF guidance on joint working

www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/jointworkinghomelessness

● CLG National Youth Homelessnesswebsitewww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/strategy/beingstrategic/

● NCASwww.leavingcare.org websitewww.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/strategic andwww.leavingcare.org/professionals/products/

● Shelter’s Youth housing strategies: a good practice guideengland.shelter.org.uk/shop/publications/good_practice/guides/youth_housing_strategies




www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/jointworkinghomelessness

www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/strategy/beingstrategic/


www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/strategic

www.leavingcare.org/professionals/products/

england.shelter.org.uk/shop/publications/good_practice/guides/youth_housing_strategies


Chapter summary: The preparation and planning forliving more independently youngpeople receive is as important as therange of accommodation provision.

IntroductionThe preparation that young people receive forenjoying the rights, and taking on theresponsibilities, of becoming an adult isfundamental. The process that supports youngpeople in the transition to adulthood shouldestablish the right type of accommodation forthat young person, at different junctures ofthis journey. Young people usually receive thisguidance and support from their parentsand/or family. For young people leaving careit is the responsibility of the local authority,as their corporate parent, to prepare theyoung person to leave their care placement.

The white paper Care Matters identifies thatfor young people in care the move toadulthood is often more difficult. Youngpeople in care are expected to take on theresponsibilities of being more independent farearlier and far more quickly than their peers,experiencing a compressed and acceleratedtransition to adulthood.24 The white paperoutlines the Government’s ambition to helpyoung people prepare for adulthood andfacilitate young people leaving care at themost appropriate time for them so they areproperly prepared and feel ready. It states

that social workers should assess the needs of the young person to make a successfultransition from care. Those currentlysupporting the young person, e.g. fostercarers and workers in children’s homes, havea key role in equipping care leavers withpractical and emotional skills to enable themto make a positive transition to moving onfrom their placement.

The Office for Children’s Rights Directorreport found that, although some youngpeople had well-planned preparation, ‘a common theme amongst those young peopleconsulted was in their having remarkably shortperiods of notice to leave, together with theirsheer lack of preparation to do so’.25

A common experience for many young peopleleaving care is insufficient opportunity todevelop household or budgeting skills andemotional resilience. When they aredischarged from care and are expected tocope with living more independently, it shouldbe no surprise that some young people haveproblems in maintaining their tenancies orexperience other problems. The support thelocal authority is expected to provide duringthis process is outlined in legislation,regulation and guidance.26

Under the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000local authorities must carry out needsassessments, and develop and review plansfor care leavers up to the age of 21, or longerif they remain in an approved programme ofeducation and training. One of the main aimsof this legislation was to delay the discharge

Section 3:

Pathway planning and preparation

24 Stein M (2006), Research Review, Young People Leaving Care, Child and Family Social Work 11 (2006).25 Morgan R. and Lindsay M. (2006) Your rights, your say — Young People’s Views on Leaving Care.

Newcastle upon Tyne: Office of the Children’s Rights Director, Commission for Social Care Inspection.Available at www.rights4me.org/content/beheardreports/6/leaving_care_report.pdf

26 NCAS briefing on Introduction to Leaving Care www.leavingcare.org/data/tmp/5343-10762.pdf

of young people from care until they areprepared and ready to leave, and to improvethe assessment, preparation and planning forleaving care.

The legislation states that as looked afterchildren young people must be consulted andshould be fully involved in assessment,planning and decision-making arrangementsfor leaving care.

Pathway planningChildren begin the process of beingresponsible for themselves at a young age;such milestones as getting dressed andwalking to and from school without adultsupervision may occur at different juncturesfor children but commonly take place beforeteenage years. For younger looked afterchildren their care plan is an organicdocument that should reflect the gradualtransition that leads to children makingchoices, having control and responsibility.Foster carers and staff in children’s home arekey in the process of preparing children andyoung people to acquire the skills to becomeconfident and successful adults. Socialworkers are responsible for ensuring thatchildren’s and young people’s care planoutlines what activities are expected fromfoster carers and workers in children’s homesto support the transition process. As childrenbecome young people care planning shouldtake into account the need for young peopleto acquire the skills and resilience to managetheir next accommodation step.

When a looked after child is approaching 16 years of age, within three months of theyoung person turning 16, the Children(Leaving Care) Act 2000 requires that thelocal authority must carry out a thoroughassessment of a young person’s needs. Thisassessment must include a detailed analysis ofthe extent to which the child possesses thepractical and other skills necessary for

independent living and their need for care,support and accommodation.27 This must takeplace and identify how the young person willbe helped to achieve independence. At thisstage the care plan that must be in place forevery looked after child should develop intothe young person’s Pathway Plan, although itcould still be referred to as a care plan foryoung people aged 16 and 17 and who are still a ‘looked after’ child.28 The age of the young person defines the duties the local authority has in relation to the PathwayPlan. At 16 and 17 the local authority is

Practice example

Barnsley, a unitary authority, has around15 young people leaving care every year.In Barnsley pathway assessments have aspecific accommodation section of theassessment which considers:

● the young person’s currentarrangements;

● their practical knowledge;

● awareness of their tenancy rights andresponsibilities, including being a goodneighbour;

● level of budgeting skills with regard to maintaining a tenancy;

● aspirations as to type of accommodation;

● their ability to access advice onhousing.

The assessment is interactive and youngpeople complete it online. The package isdesigned to reflect the young person’slocal area, including the differing types ofaccommodation options available. Thepackage highlights future tasks togetherwith a designated name for each task.


Section 3: Pathway planning and preparation


27 Children (Leaving Care)(England) Regulations 2001-Reg. 7(4)(e) and (f).28 See notes 1 and 2 of the ICS Children’s Core Information Requirements LAC Operations flow chart.

The young person’s care plan becomes their Pathway Plan when they reach the age of 16 and theybecome eligible care leavers — young people are unable to be relevant before they are eligible.www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice/IG00009/


http://www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/resources-and-practice/IG00009

responsible for preparing and reviewing ayoung person’s Pathway Plan: when the young person reaches 18, while the PathwayPlan should be maintained and kept underreview, it will generally be the localauthority’s role to support young adults toaccess relevant mainstream services —including accommodation.

The Pathway Plan will not only identify the skills the young person needs to developso that they can acquire the skills necessaryto make a successful transition to adulthood.The needs assessment set out in the Pathway Plan should determine the choice of accommodation appropriate to the young person.

‘The Pathway Plan should be pivotal to theprocess whereby young people map outtheir future, articulating their aspirationsand identifying interim goals along the wayto realising their ambitions.’ 29

The process of developing independencecontinues when the young person has left acare placement and support is offered byother professionals (e.g. housing supportworkers, supported lodgings hosts, etc.) aswell as social workers and personal advisers.The pathway planning process should involveor allow all the people involved in providingsupport to the young person to input. This canbe achieved (subject to the young person’sagreement) by inviting carers, supportworkers or supported lodging hosts to reviewmeetings, or asking those involved insupporting the young person to submitrecommendations or suggestions into pathwayplanning reviews. Personal advisers and socialworkers should liaise and communicateregularly with these workers to ensure thatthe plans are being followed. Social workershave the responsibility for reviewing the plansand ensuring that tasks identified in the planare being carried out; they are expected totake the necessary decisive action where theplan is not being followed through.

Practice example

The Leaving Care Company (TLCC) is aprivate provider of housing, support andleaving care services. Staff attendpathway planning meetings of the youngperson prior to, and during their stay atTLCC. Support staff prepare weeklyreports on the support given to the youngperson, based on daily contact sheets andformal reports are prepared for leavingcare services on a monthly basis.

Contact Eva [email protected]

Local authorities have a varied approach as tohow they support young people in acquiringthe skills to live independently, accessingsuitable accommodation and how theirapproach links with the pathway planning.The extent to which young people feel incontrol, engaged and informed will depend oncommitment and resources the local authorityhas invested in this process.

Practice example

Stockton on Tees is a unitary authority withapproximately 20 young people leavingcare each year. Stockton on Tees ensurethat the accommodation co-ordinator isinvited to a young person care or PathwayPlan review to advise on how currenthousing is meeting need, and the futurehousing plans for the young person. Futureplans are discussed, and how they are goingto be achieved, and who is instrumental inidentifying potential future provision. Ifthe current accommodation is not meetingneed action required to remedy this isidentified including alternatives. Theyoung person’s opinion on their currentand future accommodation needs aresought and family and social networks ofthe young person are taken into account.




29 Department of Health (2001) Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 Regulations and Guidance. London: DH. Chapter 5. Available at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/05/86/00/04058600.pdf



http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/05/86/00/04058600.pdf

It is anticipated that new revised statutoryguidance to the Children Act, following theChildren’s and Young Persons Act 2008 will setout the expectation that young people willremain looked after with their care plan beingmaintained until they are 18 years of age.This recognises the vulnerability of lookedafter children (including 16—18 year-old careleavers) and the fact that reasonable parentsdo not expect their children to leave homebefore they are adult. Eligible care leavers(i.e. looked after) children are entitled to the full support of the looked after system— including scrutiny of their care plan atstatutory reviews chaired by IndependentReviewing Officers (IROs). The reality ishowever that most people will leave their care placement around the time thatthey reach legal adulthood at age 18 unlesstheir foster placement is converted tosupported lodgings.30

Key issues for care leaversCare leavers are not an homogenous group ofyoung people and each young person will haveneeds and aspirations unique to them.Preparation and planning must therefore bepersonalised. Young people will achieve betteroutcomes if they leave care when they areready emotionally and practically to make thetransition to more independent living. TheWhite Paper Time for Change stresses theimportance of personalisation, and states that‘no local authority should be able to make asignificant change, such as a move from acare placement to so called ‘independent’accommodation, without both the proposalbeing rigorously scrutinised under theestablished care planning process and thechild confirming that they understand theimplications of any proposed change andpositively agree.’31 Section 8 of the Childrenand Young Persons Act legislates to put thisrequirement into effect, though this new legalprovision has not yet commenced.

As part of the White Paper the governmentintroduced Right2BCared4 pilots in 11 local

authority areas. The pilots aim to ensure that the care leaving process is genuinelyresponsive to the needs of the young personconcerned, so that they only leave care when they are ready after they have beenproperly prepared.

oChildren’s services should ensure thatyoung people have the right to remain

in foster care, children’s home or other‘regulated’ setting until they feel ready toleave and are prepared to move to asuitable accommodation option.

oChildren’s services should ensure thatyoung people make the decision to

leave care free from undue influence untilthey are aged 18 years of age.

oSocial workers should ensure that a young person’s choice of

accommodation is informed by their currentneeds and preferences and futureaspirations as set out in their pathway plan.

Practice example

Essex is a two-tier area with over 100young people leaving care every year.Young care leavers in Essex havedeveloped a ‘welcome pack’. Thewelcome pack contains information aboutthe leaving care teams, housing,education and training opportunities,including leaflets on options and skillsrequired to move on, accommodationtypes, and tenancy management.

Contact [email protected].



30 See later section on foster care conversion and the DCSF staying put pilots.31 DCSF (2007) Care Matters: Time for Change, p.109.

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oSocial workers should recognise thatsome young people have additional or

specific needs, which should be addressedin the accommodation element of thePathway Plan. Disabled young people, youngpeople from some ethnic minorities, youngparents, young people placed out of theborough or the authority, young people incustody and unaccompanied asylum seekersare amongst those groups that will requirespecific housing and support solutions.

Young people’s success in being responsiblefor themselves depends on the preparationthey have been given over a sustained periodof time. Foster carers and staff in residentialhomes have the most significant role in thiswork. The transition to adulthood is a veryturbulent time and requires young people tomake choices, experiment, take and manageincremental risks. For some young peopletheir care placement offers a risk averseenvironment; they are simply not invited orallowed to take on tasks that will enablethem to be responsible for themselves.Although there are a range of tools availableto leaving care teams, foster carers,children’s homes staff and housing/supportproviders that can be used to support youngpeople in acquiring the practical andemotional skills necessary for moreindependent living, use of these resources is patchy.

NCAS’s Preparation for Adult Life trainingand resource pack (for workers) and theGet Ready for Adult Life young people’spack are designed to support thetransition process for care leavers as theymove towards adulthood. These can bedownloaded from www.leavingcare.org.NCAS can offer training for staff, deliveredwith young people, on the pack. [email protected]

Shelter’s A new tomorrow is designed toaddress vulnerable young care-leavers’emotional development when moving toindependent accommodation for the firsttime. The pack offers professionals theopportunity to choose from a range ofthought-provoking individual and groupactivities. The pack includes an audio CD,featuring songs written and performed byyoung people, sharing their experiences ofmoving on. This can be purchased fromwww.shelter.org.uk.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat the fostering service supports

foster carers, and that services provided in children’s homes enable children andyoung people to become incrementallyresponsible for themselves. Processesshould be in place to ensure that fostercarers and children’s homes staff aretrained, supervised and supported in how to support young people in acquiring thepractical skills and emotional resilience tobe responsible for themselves.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat the fostering services’ recruitment

of foster carers and commissioning ofprivate fostering arrangements, address therequirement of carers to support childrenand young people in acquiring the skills tobe responsible for themselves.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat services commissioned or

provided by children’s homes, clearlyoutlines the requirements of staff tosupport children and young people inacquiring the skills to be responsible forthemselves.

oLeaving care managers andhousing/support providers should

utilise the tools available and build theminto the support and pathway planningprocesses they use.



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http://www.shelter.org.uk

oFoster care workers should plan with the foster carer and children’s

home staff the activities that will lead tochildren and young people being responsiblefor themselves and how risks from theseactivities can be identified and managed.For a child it may be dressing themselvesand the risk being they may not wearappropriate clothing for the weather, for young people it may be preparing a meal and the risk being they may burn themselves.

Checklist for developing theaccommodation element of a Pathway Plan:

● Enable young people to feel in controlof their housing options.

● Provide appropriate and timelyinformation about the choices availableto them in their area.

● Assist young people in identifying theimportant elements of their futureaccommodation, so that they are ableto prioritise among the choicesavailable to them, and understand theimplications of their choices.

● Allow for a gradual, staged transition if possible, taking into considerationother events that may be occurring inthat young person’s life, e.g. exams.

● Identify an alternative strategy if theyoung person’s first choice is notavailable or becomes inappropriate.

● Establish a contingency plan if there is a placement breakdown, whichallows a return to a more supportiveenvironment.

● Listen to the young person’s concernsand fears and support them inidentifying strategies to overcome these.

● Remember that establishing emotionalresilience required for living moreindependently is as important asacquiring practical skills.

Practice example

The NCAS accommodation projectfacilitated a group of young people indeveloping an accommodation tool. Thetool provides accessible information soyoung people leaving care can be betterinformed about their accommodationoptions, and consequently take morecontrol of this element of their pathwayplanning.


Young people’s needs are not static and canchange (sometimes at short notice) as a young person experiences becoming moreresponsible for themselves. The Pathway Planshould be an organic document and should bekept under regular review. Such reviewsshould also take place in response to plannedor actual significant changes to arrangementsfor supporting the young person, e.g. it willbe important to convene a review of thePathway Plan whenever there are concernsthat young people are unable to manage theiraccommodation and may, as a result, bethreatened with eviction.

oSocial workers should review a youngperson’s Pathway Plan if they lose or

are in danger of losing their accommodation.



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Bradford is a unitary authority withapproximately 60 young people leavingcare every year. Bradford has a transitionsprogramme called ‘smooth it out’ which runsalongside the leaving care service with inputfrom the looked after team. The programcomprises 18 sessions for young people,nine issues based, e.g. budgeting, and nineleisure and activities based, e.g. canoeing.A housing options session looks at thechoices of accommodation available to careleavers and enables young people to have anopportunity to speak to housing providers.

The leaving care team also identified theneed for a specific training course tosupport young people to acquire thepractical and emotional skills required tomanage a tenancy agreement. The pre-tenancy training has been devised and isdelivered by the leaving care team andFoundation Housing who are a third sectorprovider of housing related support andsupported housing management in Bradford.

The 12-week course is currently availablefor young people leaving care and those whohave not been able to maintain a tenancy intheir first attempts at independent living.The course is accredited by the OpenCollege Network to NVQ level 1. Youngpeople are expected to attend twosessions a week for the duration of thecourse and will be entitled to theeducation maintenance allowance. Youngpeople also receive more currency fortheir application to the Bradford ChoiceBased Letting Scheme. The course usesthe care leavers’ training flat, so allparticipants have an opportunity to stay inthe flat overnight. The course has beendeveloped with an input from a youngperson and young people are invited to co-facilitate sessions. The course compriseskey components based on the five elementsof Every Child Matters, but also allows forsessions that will enable the training to beunique to those attending, based on theirpathway plan. The course utilises NCAS’sPreparation for adult life exercises.


Additional resources and web links● NCAS leaving care.org


● Children (Leaving Care)(England)Regulations 2001www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2001/20012874.htm

● www.everychildmatters.gov.uk

● Young people’s views on leaving carewww.rights4me.org/content/beheardreports/6/leaving_care_report.pdf

● Shelter A new tomorrowengland.shelter.org.uk/shop/publications/educational/a_new_tomorrow




www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2001/20012874.htm

www.rights4me.org/content/beheardreports/6/leaving_care_report.pdf

england.shelter.org.uk/shop/publications/educational/a_new_tomorrow



Chapter summary: The majority of care leavers are stillin contact with their families who canbe instrumental in supporting themto make the transition to adulthood.

IntroductionYoung people leaving care are often part ofextensive family and friends networks. Manyyoung people when they leave care will havecontact with some of these members. Onestudy found 80 percent of young people werein contact with family members after leavingcare.32 At present there is little evidencefrom recent research about the nature,quality and impact on young people of thesecontacts. Transition from care can be a timewhen relationships may be re-established orrenegotiated and is certainly a time when thepossible risks and benefits from renewedcontact with birth families need carefulconsideration. Identity issues may be especiallypertinent at this time and so support for youngpeople in managing their relationships is crucial.

Key issues for care leaversOne study examined the role of extendedfamilies in the leaving care process.33 It foundthat most young people preparing to leavecare could name someone who was importantin their lives and who they felt they couldturn to for advice. However, more than half of

the social workers were not aware of who thiswas. The research also found that the peopleimportant to young people do not alwaysattend their planning review or know whatthe young person is entitled to. Yet the studyshowed that family contact and support aftercare was usually of benefit to young people,especially in the period directly after leavingcare, although the level of involvementtended to reflect the quality of contact asyoung people approached leaving care.

Whilst many care leavers have contact withtheir family or friends, a number of youngpeople return to live with their families.Return to live with family can affect eligibilityfor services under the Children (Leaving Care) Act. If a young person aged 16 or 17returns home successfully to a parent orsomeone with parental responsibility for acontinuous period of six months then they willno longer be treated as a ‘relevant child’.34

A review should take place at least six monthsafter the return to assess if it is successfuland, if so, the young person’s status wouldchange and they would become a ‘qualifyingchild’. However, if a child returns home, but is still on a care order, the child remains aneligible child until the care order is dischargedby a court, if the young person reaches 18 thenthe care order ends. For ‘qualifying children’the local authority does have a power toadvise and assist, but there would not be anystatutory duty to maintain the Pathway Plan.

Government statistics show 12 percent of careleavers at age 19 living with parents or relatives.35

Section 4:

Birth families

32 The ties that bind: support from birth families and substitute families for young people leaving care,Jim Wade, British Journal of Social Work, 2006.

33 Leaving Care in Partnership: family involvement with care leavers, Peter Marsh and Mark Peel,published by the Stationery Office, 1999.

34 See section 1 for the definition of eligible, relevant and former relevant children.35 www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/FinalSFRTablesoct.xls

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/FinalSFRTablesoct.xls

Little is known about the support youngpeople receive from their leaving care teamand how well they get on. More research isneeded to find out more and to identifysupport needs.

Exploring ways to ensure care leavers developsome kind of safe and appropriate family orfriends’ relationships should be a priority forleaving care teams.

oDirectors of children’s services need toensure that local practices on young

people’s contact with birth families is basedupon sound assessment of need and risk foreach young person and is monitored via thePathway Plan review process.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat care plans and Pathway Plans

include a section on young people’srelationships with their birth and extendedfamilies, and when appropriate, youngpeople should be supported to re-establish,repair or maintain these relationships.

A young person’s definition of family andfriends can include a wide range of people. In order to facilitate both positive contactand return home for young people, leavingcare workers need to know who is importantto that young person and understand theyoung person’s views of who they want toinvolve in planning and how. Local authoritiesshould identify what support is required byyoung people and their families and friendsthough the pathway planning process.

There is a statutory requirement for children’s services to maintain reasonablecontact between looked after children andtheir families.

oSocial workers should identify thesupport a young person could receive

from their family and friends in making thetransition to living more independently, inline with a young person’s needs and riskassessment of the contact. This could beachieved through social activities andvisiting funds.

Additional resources and web links● NCAS resources

www.leavingcare.org/professionals/practice_database/preparation_and_care_planning

● A journey home — Who Cares trustwww.thewhocarestrust.org.uk/publications.htm

Family mediation● Alone in London

www.als.org.uk/subpages/02fmed.htm

● National youth homelessness schemeCommunities and Local Governmentwww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/prevention/mediation/voluntarysector/casestudy14/

● www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/prevention/mediation/trainingneeds/casestudy12

Top tips:● Establish with the young person ‘who is

family’ and help them to think aboutwho is most important in their life.

● Work with the young person to developa clear, up to date, and full family tree.

● Life story work may be an opportunity foryoung people to look back and exploretheir past. It could help young peopleto resolve separation issues and identifyand understand both negative andpositive aspects of family life. It shouldbe done in a fun and enjoyable way.

● Make sure meetings are flexible enoughto be family-oriented and look atsupport can offer.

● Developments in youth homelessnesssector around family mediation mayoffer learning to leaving care teams.


Section 4: Birth families

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www.thewhocarestrust.org.uk/publications.htm

http://www.als.org.uk/subpages/02fmed.htm

www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/prevention/mediation/voluntarysector/casestudy14/

www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/prevention/mediation/trainingneeds/casestudy12


Chapter summary: Training flats enable young people toreceive support in identifyingstrategies to manage the practical andemotional demands of living moreindependently, without compromisingtheir future housing options.

IntroductionTraining flats offer an opportunity for youngpeople to experience independence and besupported in acquiring the skills to liveindependently. For some young people, living more independently offers themfreedom, privacy and control, but they areoften unprepared for the responsibility,loneliness and isolation this entails. A stay ina supported training flat can support theyoung person in identifying strategies to copewith loneliness.

Local authorities and housing providers haveadopted a variety of approaches to trainingflats. Two main models are emerging. Oneaims to give young people a taste ofindependence, while they remain in andreturn to their care placement. The secondoffers young people the opportunity toexperience independence in a supportedenvironment before they move to a moreindependent setting. For the purpose of thisguide we will refer to the former as tasterflats and latter as transition flats.

The most important aspect of training flats isthat staff are on hand, sometimes 24 hours aday, to support the young people in managingthe responsibilities of living independentlyand cope with the emotional demands. Forsome local authorities the stay in the trainingflat is linked to a pre-tenancy training course.

Taster flatsThese are available to young people who arecurrently in a care placement. When it isidentified that young people are consideringtheir move from care, the training flat canprovide a useful opportunity for both theyoung person and the staff to assess theindependent living skills acquired thus far andwhat areas need to improved. The length ofstay is time limited. In some areas it can beless than a week, often with an opportunityfor a return visit, in other areas young peoplecan stay up to six weeks.

The cost of providing this opportunity is the rent of the flat, utility bills, an allowanceto the young people and the support that isprovided. Local authorities who utilise thistype of accommodation usually only have one or two flats of this nature and these are often sourced from local housingdepartment provision.

Some of the local authorities who have beenawarded Right2BCared4Pilots (outlined insection three) have used part of the moniesto fund taster flats.

Transition flatsThese differ from taster flats in that theyoung people are not expected to return totheir care placement once they leave thetransition flat, but move on to moreindependent accommodation. They enable theyoung person to experience living moreindependently with the support of staff.

They are usually characterised by offering:

● self contained accommodation;

● a time limited stay, but usually for alonger period than the taster flats;

Section 5:

Training flats

● a move from a more supportive arrangementbut can also offer an opportunity for ayoung person who has failed to live moreindependently and requires more supportor has a missing skill set;

● the opportunity to experience thechallenges of independent living, and thepotential tenancy failure, without thishaving an impact on future housing options(e.g. being found intentionally homeless).

Key issues for care leaversThe statutory responsibility of providingaccommodation to care leavers and the lackof appropriate housing means, that there is anenormous pressure on accommodationimmediately accessible if a placement for ayoung person breaks down. Training flats are a valuable resource, yet there is a danger that they may be used as emergencyaccommodation, rather than for theirintended purpose. It may be appropriate for ayoung person who has not managed in moreindependent accommodation to have a stay ina training flat, but this must be part of theircare planning process.

oThe use of the training flat should bedictated by the leaving care manager

and policies and procedures drawn up toensure that it is only used for its intendedpurpose. Other arrangements must be inplace to access accommodation forplacement breakdown.

Effective preparation for adult life is anincremental process that begins when theyoung person is in their care placement andcontinues with support when they are livingmore independently. A stay in a training flatcan be an experiential part of the process ofthe young person becoming responsible forthemselves, but it should never be seen asthe complete training package.

oA planned stay in a training flat shouldbe preceded by work by leaving care

workers, foster carers or children’s homesworkers with that young person to acquirethe skills to live more independently.

oThe young person should only bereferred when it is deemed

appropriate by the staff supporting thatyoung person and the young personthemselves.

oWhen a young person stays in atraining flat ability to manage living

more independently should be assessed bytheir social worker as part of the pathwayplanning process and the personnelsupporting them while they are in the flat,the stay should inform the decision abouttheir next accommodation option.

oWhen in a taster flat, at the end oftheir stay, the young person and the

personnel supporting them should assesswhat the young person was able to manageand which areas required more work. Thisshould inform the care planning of theirtransition to adulthood when the youngperson returns to their care placement.

oThe leaving care manager shouldideally link the use of the training flat

to an accredited training package aroundindependent or tenancy management skills(e.g. ASDAN, Open College Network). Youngpeople can then use both the training andthe stay to evidence their ability to managein securing move-on accommodation.

The two types of training flats are notmutually exclusive, because they performdifferent functions. The taster flat enablesthe young person to reflect on theirexperience within the security of their careplacement, whereas the transition flatenables a young person to live moreindependently with support before movingonto other accommodation.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldconsider developing both models to

meet the needs of young people at differentstages of the transition to independence.


Section 5: Training flats

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Practice example

Plymouth is a unitary authority withapproximately 35 young people leavingcare each year. Plymouth has usedRight2BCared4 pilot funding to develop ataster flat which can be used for stays ofup to six weeks by children in careplacements. Plymouth also rent a numberof flats from private landlords to use astraining flats, which aim to provide abridge into more independentaccommodation. Young people will be ableto use both types of provision in thetransition to more independentaccommodation.


The cost of residential placements may leadto local authorities finding it difficult tojustify offering taster flats to young people,while the local authority is still financing theirresidential placement. In some areas this hasled to taster flats only being offered to thosein foster care. The cost of a stay in a tasterflat is simply the rent, the utilities and thepersonal allowance paid to the young person.This cost will remain the same whether theyoung person is in a foster or residentialplacement. However, if this option is notavailable to those in residential placement,the local authority will still continue to payfor that placement, the young person may beless prepared to move out of their careplacement and more vulnerable to tenancybreakdown at a later stage.

oDirectors of children’s services should ensure that the taster flat

option should be available to all youngpeople in care, regardless of their careplacement status.

Young people report that one of thechallenging areas of living more independentlyis managing on a limited budget for all oftheir needs, having come from careplacements where everything, from food totoilet paper, is provided. One of the otherdifficulties for young people is the isolation

and loneliness that can be experienced whenliving alone. While there are merits inresidential accommodation developing moreindependent accommodation, these cannotfulfil the need for a taster flat experiencethat replicates reality. It is important that theflat reflects a realistic view of what moreindependent living would entail.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethe training flat replicates reality.

Young people should be given an allowancethat mirrors what they would receive ifthey were in low paid employment, atcollege and/or on benefits. If possible, theyshould be expected to pay their own utilitybills, purchase their own food, householditems and toiletries.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethe training flat reflects the standards,

location and facilities of the accommodationthey are likely to move onto, e.g. the whitegoods, floor coverings, decoration the youngperson can expect.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat the stay at the training flat is not

supervised 24 hours a day, seven days aweek. The young person should have anopportunity to experience staying alone sothey can be supported in developingstrategies in managing that, which will notcompromise future accommodation.

oThe social worker or supportingpersonnel should get the young person

to sign a legally binding agreement whenmoving into the accommodation that reflectthe rights and responsibilities of living inmore independent accommodation, e.g. what repairs they could expect to becarried out and in what time frame; how they are expected to behave (noise,nuisance); reporting repairs; beingresponsible for visitors; not damagingfixtures and fittings.

Some local authorities cover a widegeographical area and young people may belinked into services, college and employment



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in their local area. To ensure that the trainingflats give a true indication of moreindependent living it is important that theyoung people can continue their daytimeactivities.

oWhen the leaving care manager isestablishing a training flat, specific

thought needs to be given to its location sothat it is sited centrally or close to goodtransport links and away from high risksocial areas.


Bournemouth is a unitary authority which has approximately ten young peopleleaving care each year. Bournemouthoperates an accommodation pathwayconsisting of a taster flat, 16 supportedlodging host providers, eight registeredhousing association tenancies, access to a range of hostel and shared supportedhousing, foyer and private sector leasedproperties.

The training flat enables young people16+, currently living in residential orfoster placements or supported housing,to experience living independently for aperiod up to three weeks then go back totheir placement and reflect on theirexperience. The flat is situated in a blockof local authority flats in an environmentthat has been specifically chosen due toits proximity to transport links and shops.

Young people are referred if they andtheir lead professional have identified thatthis would be a valuable experience, asthe young person has shown an interest inmoving to independent accommodation.There is an agreed referral process, whichinvolves an individual support packagebeing agreed with support from fostercarers, supported lodgings carers, otherprofessionals and the young person’sfamily where appropriate. The youngperson is issued with a licence agreement,which in part mirrors the responsibilities ayoung person would be expected toadhere to in independent accommodation.

The young person is expected to producea portfolio of their learning throughundertaking living skills during their stay.This portfolio is used to further developlearning on return to the placement andprovide evidence of ability to liveindependently to any prospective landlordwhen the young person fully accessesindependent accommodation.

The flat is funded by Children’s social care (the pathway service of the lookedafter children’s team) through theRight2BCared4 pilot which pays the rentand the young person’s allowance, whichis equivalent to job seeker’s allowance.The young person is expected to use thismoney to pay for living costs, food,toiletries and utilities, e.g. the electricityrequires money being placed on a chargekey. The flat aims to take 12 referrals peryear and young people can split their stay,having a week initially then returning for afurther three weeks at a later stage.

[email protected]


www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/operational/trainingflats



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Chapter summary: Supported lodgings allow youngpeople to acquire the life skills forliving more independently in asupportive domestic setting.

IntroductionThere is no agreed definition of ‘supportedlodgings’, however most schemes share thesecommon elements:

● They provide supported accommodationfor vulnerable people who require supportto live more independently.

● The accommodation is provided by privateindividuals (‘hosts’) who offer a space intheir home.

● The host provides a level of support aswell as accommodation.

● Hosts, and in some cases the vulnerableperson, are provided with support from anexternal body who manages the provision.

There are two different types of supportedlodging provision for care leavers — fosterplacement conversions and stand alonesupported lodging provision. Some schemesmanage both sets of provision.

Foster placement conversionsOnce a young person reaches their 18thbirthday they are no longer looked after asdefined by the Children Act 1989 and theirplacement cannot be classified as a fosterplacement. The most common arrangement

for those who are supported to stay on withtheir foster carers is to convert the placementinto supported lodgings. This does not applywhere the young person has enduring careneeds that require them to remain in asupported placement into adulthood. In thiscase the most appropriate arrangement is forthe foster carer to become an approved adultplacement (shared lives) carer.36

There is a general recognition that youngpeople who have experienced stability in their foster placements would benefit fromstaying in those placements until they areready to leave. The White Paper Time forChange states that ‘Young people in fostercare can develop strong relationships andemotional attachments with those who care for them, and young people told us that theywanted to have the option to stay with foster carers where such relationships andattachments have developed.’

Practice example

Durham is a unitary authority withapproximately 35 young people leavingcare each year. Durham has a supportedlodging scheme that can currently house45 young people. When the scheme wasset up in 2003 it comprised 15 foster careconversions and was funded by supportingpeople for care leavers who were aged 18.The scheme now manages both foster careconversions and stand alone supportedlodgings for looked after children andchildren in need aged 16 and 17, and careleavers aged 18 and above.


Section 6:

Foster care conversions andsupported lodgings

36 The placement becomes a registered scheme covered by the Adult Placement Schemes (England)Regulations 2004 www.naaps.co.uk/


http://www.naaps.co.uk

Local authorities have been developing waysto support conversions of foster placements tosupported lodgings in order to facilitate thisprocess for some time. As part of the WhitePaper the government introduced Staying Putpilots in ten local authority areas for youngpeople who have established familialrelationships with their foster carers tocontinue to stay with them up to the age of21. It is anticipated that the findings fromthese pilots will influence national policy andlocal practice.

Stand alone supportedlodgings provisionYoung people can also move into a newsupported lodging placement, which may bespecifically for care leavers or open to allvulnerable young people. It should be notedhowever, if a 16 or 17 year-old looked-afterchild is placed in a supported lodging scheme,the placement is likely to meet the definitionof fostering.37

Stand alone supported lodging can becategorised into emergency provision inresponse to a crisis, e.g. a placementbreakdown, and longer term placements. The former provides a safe space while alonger term solution can be found and is oftenfor a few nights or a couple of weeks. Thelatter aims to enable a young person to gainthe practical and emotional skills to live moreindependently and so will be longer term,usually two or three years.

Longer term supported lodgings provision hasbeen identified as a positive placement foryoung people in the transition to adulthood. It enables a young person to enter a domesticenvironment as an adult, and have thesupport of the host, working jointly withprofessionals to enable the young person toexperientially acquire life skills. It can beparticularly useful when there are limitedsupported housing schemes in an area, andcan avoid young people having to move out ofarea to access accommodation with support.

In order to develop and manage anysupported lodgings, schemes have been set up to:

● recruit, vet, train and support hosts;

● assess accommodation;

● match hosts with young people;

● provide any additional support to theyoung person;

● manage any difficulties or emergencies.

These schemes are usually managed directlyby local authorities or the third sectororganisations. Although some supportedlodgings providers have a considerablenumber of hosts the majority of schemescomprise small numbers.

Funding

There are two distinct funding requirementsfor supported lodgings schemes. There is acost related to the host providing theaccommodation (room, utilities, andhousehold goods), the support and any meals.In addition to this there is a cost of managinga scheme, e.g. recruiting hosts etc.

Practice example

Stonham in Hampshire currently providesupported lodgings for over 60 youngpeople, around 24 of whom are careleavers. The scheme has been establishedfor over ten years and manages both stand alone and foster care conversions.The funding is provided by the leavingcare service, Supporting People and rentwhich is eligible for housing benefit. The staff support both the host and theyoung person.



Section 6: Foster care conversions and supported lodgings

37 Bow, P (2008) Caring for a Young Person Aged 18+: financial implications: information for foster carers,Fostering Network


Key issues for care leaversSupporting lodgings schemes have proved tobe successful in improving outcomes for youngpeople. The Supporting People data showsthat significantly more young people insupported lodgings achieve positive outcomesaround maintaining their accommodation andavoiding eviction, learning and work, andparticipating in social activities.38 Yet thereare only a small number of schemes available.In 2008 DCSF figures showed that at 19 only 9 percent of care leavers lived in supportedlodgings.39 At the same time supportedlodgings are only suitable for a certainnumber of young people. Research dataidentifies supported lodgings as most suitablefor those young people who are willing andable to:

● ‘Engage to some degree with individuals(particularly their host) and with socialframeworks such as education

● Regulate their behaviour to accommodatehouse rules

● Turn a desire for a sustainable andsatisfying adult life into activities whichwill promote this outcome.’40

Given the positive outcomes regardingeducation for young people in supportedlodgings, young people at school and collegemay particularly benefit from this type ofplacement. If a young person’s fosterplacement has broken down, this does notmean that they will be unable to manage inan independent supported lodgingsplacement. It will be important to highlightthe difference in the placement and that theywill be going into the accommodation as anadult, with the rights and responsibilities thiswill entail.


that supported lodgings schemes are part ofthe range of housing options available toyoung people and should consider howthese schemes can be developed andsupported.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldensure that all young people have the

right to request that their foster placementbe converted to supported lodgings whenthey reach 18.

Practice example

Leeds is a unitary authority withapproximately 120 young people leavingcare each year. Leeds made a decision tore-designate foster care placements aspost-18 placements, where the youngperson requested it and the host agreed.Leeds now has evidence, through theirfinancial systems and reports for extendedfunding arrangements, that the number of young people remaining in placementhas increased.


oSocial workers should consider asupported lodging placement for all

young people in education, and wherepossible the young person should bematched to the most appropriate host neartheir place of study.

oAny placements should be based on anassessment by the social worker of the

young person’s skills and capacity to managein that environment.

oSocial workers should not assume thatyoung people with particular support

needs, e.g. mental health, will not be ableto manage in a supported lodgings placement.



38 Holmes, J. (2008) Making a difference: supported lodgings as a housing option for young people; CLG, p.21.39 www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/FinalSFRTablesoct.xls#’G1’!A140 Holmes, J. (2008) Making a difference: supported lodgings as a housing option for young people; CLG, p.21.

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The cost of foster care (or supportinglodgings) for care leavers under 18 is met bychildren’s services as part of their statutoryduties under the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000. This changes when the young person reaches 18. In the majority of casesthe young person is expected to pay a rentalelement and the support may still be paid for by children’s services or may be funded by Supporting People. This can causeconfusion to the foster carer or host and the young person, who may not understandwhy the arrangement for the placement hasto change.

oLeaving care managers should havepolicies and procedures that enable

their staff to be clear with foster carersabout why a placement is converted tosupported lodgings at the age of 18, and theimplications of this change in the fundingthey will receive.

oLeaving care managers should havepolicies and procedures that minimise

the disruption to foster carers of the changeto supported lodgings

Practice example

Devon is a two-tier area with approximately90 young people leaving care each year. Inorder to support foster care conversionsDevon leaving care team are negotiatingan arrangement with their districtauthorities where the housing benefit ispaid to the leaving care team. Althoughthe young person has to make a housingbenefit claim, the leaving care team areable to continue the placement on similarterms to the fostering arrangement.


The philosophy of supported lodgings post-18is different to foster care, in that the youngperson is an adult, albeit living in a familialdomestic setting. Society expects adults to beresponsible for themselves and the choicesthey make. This presents fewer problems in

stand alone supported lodgings schemes,where providers can be clear that the youngperson is a member of the household, not thefamily. In foster care conversions managingthis change can be more of an issue, e.g.,young people as adults can make choicesregarding consuming alcohol and staying awayfrom their home overnight. At the same timethey can be expected to be responsible forfeeding themselves, getting from A to B andlaundering their clothes. There can be no setguidance on how this change is managed, aseach young person’s experiences will bedifferent, depending on the ethos of theirfoster placement.

There are also some practical differences tomanage, e.g.:

● The change in funding the host and youngperson can expect in terms of source andamount: the young person would beexpected to pay a charge for theiraccommodation and food for which theymay be expected to claim welfare benefits,or pay from their wages if working.

● Foster carers will not continue to receive aclothing allowance to pass on to the youngperson; the young person will be expectedto fund any clothing from their benefit or wage.

● The support the carer and young personreceive from children’s services maychange, e.g. some support may beprovided by a specific supported lodging scheme.

● If the young person stays in supportedlodgings until age 21 they may find it moredifficult to access social housing, as careleavers are often only given priority toaccessing access social housing up untilage 21. Some local authorities also havearrangements between children’s servicesand housing departments that youngpeople are given priority under choicebased lettings for a limited period fromtheir 18th birthday which acts as adisincentive for care leavers to stay infoster care conversions or take upsupported lodgings.



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oLeaving care managers should ensurethere is specific support/training/

supervision for foster carers who areconverting to supported lodgings. Thetraining/support/supervision should includethe change in philosophy and the practicalchanges this involves.

Practice example

Middlesbrough is a unitary authority withapproximately 25 young people leavingcare each year. If young people wish toremain in their present foster placement,then the placement is transferred intosupported lodgings on their 18th birthdayfor a period of up to two years.Middlesbrough has a specificaccommodation worker to support fostercarers regarding this transition.


oThe social worker should identify inthe care plan if this is the preferred

option for the young person (and if this ispossible in the placement) at the earliestopportunity, identifying the support that isto be given to the young person in managingthis transition.

oSocial workers should provide a draftagreement that the young person and

the carer can use to agree expectations ofboth parties, including payment for food,utilities and toiletries.

oChildren’s service directors shouldnegotiate with housing directors that

young people are able to register on thelocal authority housing register at age 16,but their application is only activated andpriority status given when they are ready tolive completely independently, which forthose who remain in foster care conversionsor take up supported lodgings could be age21 or later.

There are financial implications for hostsoffering supported lodgings for young adults.For those converting from foster care thearrangements the financial arrangements aredifferent from fostering. Local practice varieswidely.41 Some leaving care teams ensurefoster care conversions receive the sameallowance rate as in foster placements, otherspay a lower rate and, in some cases, leavingcare teams rely on the young person payingfor their own accommodation and food,claiming benefits when relevant, and supportis transferred to Supporting People fundedschemes. Providing supported lodgingsplacements also impact on tax liabilities andcan affect the host’s benefit entitlements.

Practice example

The Staying Put pilots are enabling tenlocal authority areas to have an opportunityto identify the obstacles to foster carebeing converted to supported lodgings anddevelop solutions.


oWhen recruiting foster carers thefoster service manager should ensure

that the information given to the potentialcarer, outlines the possibility of theplacement being converted to a supportedlodging when the young person is 18, andthe financial implications of this.

oFor foster care conversions, thefostering service worker, in conjunction

with the social worker, should be supportingthe host by identifying what income the hostcan expect, and help them understand theirnew tax and benefit entitlement position.

oThe young person should be supportedby the social worker in understanding

what contribution they will be expected tomake and how their income can bemaximised, including advice on applying forbenefit where appropriate.



41 See footnote 37.

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Independent fostering agencies may bereluctant to accept a reduction in theplacement fees that they receive as aconsequence of a foster home providingcontinuing support for a young person to stayput from age 18. Whether or not it will bepossible for a young person from care to leavefoster care in the same way as other youngpeople leaving home, will need to be takeninto consideration whenever fosterplacements are commissioned for older lookedafter children.

oWhen commissioning and reviewingarrangements with independent

fostering agencies, leaving care managersshould be negotiating that foster careconversions be transferred into their, or athird sector, supported lodgings schemes.

oLeaving care managers need tonegotiate with the private fostering

agencies the differences in expectation ofsupported lodgings. The host is no longer‘looking after’ the young person, but isproviding them with support to live moreindependently, and there are costimplications associated with this.

Supported lodgings schemes require the hoststo have a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)check. In foster placements, and usually insupported lodgings, all adults in thehousehold are required to have a CRB check.If young people stay in a foster careconversion or take up supported lodgings theymay have to have a CRB check if there areother foster children and/or young peopleunder the age of 18 in that household.

oWhere leaving care and supportedlodgings scheme managers feel that

they cannot avoid requiring young people tobe CRB checked when they reach 18, thisshould be done sensitively, explaining to thehost and the young person why this isnecessary.

oWhile it is unlikely that the CRB checkreveals information that would

jeopardise that young person’s continuingstay in the placement, the social workershould ensure that there is a contingencyplan if the results mean that the youngperson is required to move.

In generic supported lodgings schemes it maybe difficult to recruit people who have theskills to deal with care leavers, understandthe issues they face and the role of leavingcare services. There is research to show careleavers who have experienced brokenattachments may exhibit behaviour hosts mayfind difficult, e.g. overreliance on, or areluctance to become familiar with, the host.In supported lodgings the host and theprovider of the scheme will be expected towork alongside those with a statutory duty toprovide services.

oIn generic schemes, managers shouldensure the assessment, induction,

support and training of hosts should includethe specific skills required to work withcare leavers. Leaving care teams should beprepared to contribute to these processes.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat there is a clear process for

communicating information between thehost, the provider and the leaving careteam, as the host will be best placed toidentify problems relating to the youngperson at an early stage.

oGiven the unique relationship betweenthe host and the young person, leaving

care managers should have arrangementsthat enable the host to input, or be part of,LAC reviews or pathway planning.

oManagers of services should ensureany support planning process used by

hosts and providers links and is aligned tothe Pathway Plan.



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Young Devon is a voluntary organisationthat provides supported lodgings for youngpeople across the South West. The schemestarted as provision for care leavers, butnow accepts other young people and isfunded by Supporting People monies.Young Devon currently has 150 placementsavailable through 100 hosts and acceptsreferrals for young people who are careleavers, children in need or homeless.Approximately half the young people arecare leavers.

Young Devon recruits hosts in a number of ways, including radio and posteradvertisements. Word of mouth fromexisting hosts has been very successful.

The assessment is based on fosteringassessment guidelines. Hosts are CRBchecked, have medical checks and havereferences taken up before beinginterviewed. The final decision is taken bya panel similar to a fostering panel whichincludes representatives from socialservices and Young Devon’s servicemanager. A full five-day trainingprogramme is provided for hosts, whichincludes specific training on the needs ofcare leavers delivered by careexperienced young people.

Young people are referred by the housingdepartment or social services and referralscan only be taken through one of theseroutes. Referral forms include a riskassessment.

All of the scheme’s staff are based inyouth advice centres in the area theywork in. In these centres there are avariety of services under one roof, thisenables the workers to link up with otherservices easily.

Young Devon has found it essential to haveseparate workers to support hosts andyoung people as it reduces any potentialfor conflict of interest. The different roleshave very different tasks and thereforerequire different skills. Young Devon isalso funded to provide floating support

when the young person moves into theirmove-on accommodation.

Support and communication to hosts,including the opportunity to make contactwith other hosts to discuss issues andreceive informal support, has helped withthe retention of hosts.



www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/operational

● Fostering networkwww.fostering.net/activities/england/lodgings.php

● National Youth Homelessness scheme— Communities and Local Governmentwww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/supportedlodgings/

● NAAPS UK practice guidancedocument Transition and Mixed Child-Adult Placements www.naaps.org.uk





www.fostering.net/activities/england/lodgings.php

www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/supportedlodgings/

http://www.naaps.org.uk


Chapter summary: For a significant number of careleavers supported housing canprovide an opportunity to live moreindependently and receive supportto acquire life skills.

IntroductionSupported housing can offer young peopleleaving care an opportunity to live in anindependent setting while supported toacquire and or maintain life skills. This canprovide an invaluable bridge onto settledaccommodation and allow the young personto experience the challenges of living moreindependently, be supported with areas ofdifficulty and experientially acquire skills thatcan enable them to manage in the future.

Supported accommodation is an umbrellaterm which is applied to a whole range ofhousing based solutions for vulnerable people.It can be provided by Registered SocialLandlords (RSLs), voluntary organisations andprivate providers. Some local authority socialservice departments provide their ownsupported housing provision, e.g. trainingflats or supported lodgings.

Supported accommodation can be permanentor temporary and funding contracts havemeant providers usually designate schemes aseither permanent (long stay) or temporarystay (this is usually no more than two years).

Types of supported housing● Shared supported housing — temporary or

permanent schemes where service usershave their own room but share bathroom,kitchen and other communal areas withother service users. Support is delivered bystaff who may have an office in theproperty or visit on a regular basis.

● Self contained supported housing — thisis where service users have their own flator house. It can be in a block or cluster ofthe same type of provision or dispersedwithin a locality. Support is provided bystaff who may have an office in the blockor offer a visiting service. In leaving careservices this provision includes trainingflats (see section six).

● Hostel — accommodation where a largernumber of service users have their ownbedrooms and share communal areas withother service users. Staffing is oftenprovided on a 24-hour basis, seven days aweek and meals may be provided.

● Women’s refuge — temporaryaccommodation for women (and theirchildren) who have experienced domesticviolence. Women often share a room withtheir children and share other communalareas with other women and their families.Support is provided by workers sometimes24 hours a day, seven days a week.

● Foyers for young people — temporaryaccommodation for young people (usually17—25 years) with support and access toemployment, training and education. The accommodation may be shared or self-contained. Support is provided by staff who are usually based on site andmay be available 24 hours a day, sevendays a week.

Section 7:

Supported housing

● Teenage parent accommodation —temporary accommodation specifically foryoung people (usually aged 17—21 years)who have become, or are about to becomeparents. Service users often share a roomwith their babies and share kitchen,bathroom and communal areas with otherservice users. Support is provided bysupport workers who have an office on siteand may provide 24-hour cover, seven daysa week.

● Supported lodgings (see section five).

● Adult placements — usually commissionedby adult social services for people withenduring care needs. The adult placementservices are delivered by host families whoprovide support care and accommodationusually in their own home.

● Residential care home — can betemporary or permanent accommodationregistered under the Care Standards Act2000 to provide accommodation, supportand personal care to service users whomeet the threshold for adult socialservices. Service users usually have theirown room and share communal areas;however, some newer homes have privateas well as communal cooking and washingfacilities. Support and care are providedby workers for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

FundingThe majority of supported housing provisionreceives funding from the local authoritythrough a Supporting People contract toprovide housing related support. The centralgovernment grant conditions in the pastmeant that the monies could not be spent onstatutory duties which would includesupporting care leavers under 18. Theseconditions have been lifted from April 2009.In most cases service users pay a charge forthe accommodation, claiming housing benefitwhere appropriate. Schemes that provide fora higher level of need, e.g. social/healthcare, will usually be funded from socialservices or health.

SupportThe support offered to a young person willdepend on the type of supported housingprovision. Some schemes provide 24-hour onsite support, while others will provide visiting support within office hours. The youngperson will usually be allocated a worker whomay be referred to as a key worker, supportworker, housing support worker or projectworker. The worker will be responsible forsupporting the young person to liveindependently or sustain the capacity to do.This may include assistance with budgeting,enabling access to training, education andemployment, development of living skills,support in managing a tenancy/licence andsocial networking.

Housing managementThe young person will be provided withhousing management services and this may beprovided by the same organisation providingthe support or by a separate organisation orindividual. The housing management serviceensures the property is safe, maintained andwell managed and includes lettings, collectingthe rent, repairs, neighbour disputes andtenancy/licence enforcement.

TenureThe type of tenure the young person will begranted depends on the nature of theaccommodation. With any type of occupancyagreement the young person will be givenrights and responsibilities to adhere to. Insome cases these will be supplemented byhouse rules. Breaching the agreement orhouse rules may lead to enforcement actionand could result in the young person beingasked to leave the scheme or evicted.

Section 7: Supported housing



The Leaving Care Company (TLCC) is aprivate limited company that providesaccommodation and support to youngpeople (16 — 21 years) who are leavingcare, young people in need and those withdisabilities. The services are commissionedby various local authorities, leaving careteams and social service departments.TLCC aims to provide accommodation andbespoke support services to young peoplewhich enable them to acquire the skills tolive independently.

The services TLCC provide and therespective roles and responsibility of thelocal authority and company are set out ina commissioning contract. LCC also have acontract with the young person in theform of a placement or tenancyagreement that sets out LCC’s and theyoung person’s rights and responsibilities.TLCC also work in partnership with otheragencies, youth offending teams, childrenand adolescent mental health, substancemisuse, Connexions etc. LCC workersattend statutory review of care plans,prior to a young person being referred,and when they are in their placement.

The housing is sourced from the privatesector; TLCC have an agreement with thelandlord then provide a package ofsupport around the young person. TLCCalso provide support-only packages toyoung people who have their ownaccommodation. The support offered isintensive and there is a 24-hour on calladvisory service. Young people aresupported in acquiring the life skills to liveindependently, including practical andemotional support, and TLCC has currentlyembarked on a three-year project toaccredit the work done by young people ineach session through ASDAN and COPE.Young people can have up to threeplacements with TLCC which enables themto experience the behaviour that leads totenancy breakdown without jeopardisingtheir future housing options.

Contact Eva [email protected]

Key issues for care leaversYoung people leaving care may haveaspirations to live more independently, butrequire support to acquire the life skills toachieve and maintain this. Care leavers, liketheir peers, will have short and long termaspirations and these will change during theirtransition to adulthood.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldensure young people are able to

access a range of suitable and appropriatesupported accommodation to offer themchoice, that reflect both their currentneeds, preferences and their aspirations for the future.

Despite the advantages of supported housing,its availability varies across the country.Leaving care services may have access to careleaver specific provision or may be able touse generic provision. In some areas providersof Supporting People funded generic provisionmay be reluctant to take care leavers under18 years of age, because of issues of funding.

oChildren’s service directors shouldjointly commission supporting people

funded services, so that a number of bedsare available for young people leaving carewho are under age 18.

oLeaving care managers shouldencourage Supporting People funded

projects to take younger care leavers bymanaging recharging at a local authority,not provider, level.

oLeaving care managers should identifythe supported housing available and

develop access arrangements to a range ofprovision to meet the diverse needs ofyoung people leaving care.

Children’s services have a statutory obligationto provide or pay for accommodation until theyoung person reaches 18 years of age. This canlead to provision coming to an end abruptlywhen the young person reaches age 18. Whenthe legal obligation on leaving care services topay for accommodation and support ceases,



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the young person will usually be personallyresponsible for the rent element and thescheme will have to negotiate who pays for thesupport. Some young people can experienceproblems in meeting rent payments, e.g.unaccompanied asylum seeking children whoselegal status has not been resolved. Supportedhousing providers may be reluctant to takecertain groups of young people leaving care ifthey are concerned that they will be faced withfunding the placement or evicting the youngperson for rent arrears when they reach age 18.

oProjects should be jointlycommissioned by directors of

children’s services and Supporting Peopleservices so that, when young people reach18, they do not have to move out if theystill require a service.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldensure that the support they commission

for young people does not end abruptly ontheir 18th birthday, recognising that thetransition to adulthood is not chronologicalbut needs-led. This should includebudgeting for support for older care leavers.

Although supported housing offers youngpeople leaving care the opportunity toexperience living more independently in asupported setting, it does not fall under theregulatory regime of Ofsted as careplacements do.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat there is a contract or service

level agreement with all providers ofaccommodation and support (including in-house and emergency provision), identifyingthe standards to which accommodation and support services should be delivered.The standards should ensure that allaccommodation is safe, suitable (inparticular that which is unregulated bystatutory agencies) and affordable to youngpeople and that support is appropriate tothe young person’s needs. There should be processes in place whereby theaccommodation and support is monitoredand inspected against those standards on aregular basis.

The leaving care service continues to havestatutory responsibilities to the young personuntil they are 21 years old. If a young personis placed in supported housing, although theprovider may be commissioned to provide someof those responsibilities, leaving care servicesshould still be providing some services. This canbe confusing for the young person and, unlessproperly defined, can lead to duplication ofwork or gaps in service provision. Given thereis more than one agency involved in the youngperson’s support there is a need for realcommunication and coordination.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat contract or service level

agreements between the local authority andproviders of accommodation and supportoutlines the roles and responsibilities ofeach agency and key personnel. Thecontract or agreement should outline keyprocesses, e.g. referral, support, riskassessment and management and move on,including how appropriate information willbe communicated between the parties andpersonnel, taking into account bothconfidentiality and information sharing.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat for all groups of young people

placed in supported housing services,arrangements are in place to continue tofund the placement when the young personreaches 18, or to ensure they are moved tosuitable alternative accommodation.

oThe social worker and the supportworker should explain to the young

person what their respective roles will beand what the young person can expect fromthe respective agencies in terms of support.It should be clear to the young personwhich agency is responsible for what aspectof support, and this should be outlined inthe young person’s Pathway Plan.

oThe social worker should ensure thateach young person has an individual

protocol on what information is going to beshared about them and how that informationis going to be communicated; this should benegotiated with the young person.



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Key elements of a service levelagreement

● Definition of the client group suitablefor the accommodation

● Definition of the level and nature ofthe support provided

● Description of the referral process andwho is responsible for decisions

● Includes a set of service standards

● Allows for the involvement of youngpeople in governance and service delivery

● Establishes the level of qualifications,skills training of support staff

● Ensures those working with thoseunder-18 and vulnerable adults havethe necessary checks (e.g. CRB andProtection of Vulnerable Adults (POVA) list)

● Identifies how the service is to bemonitored and inspected and by whom,including children’s services, housingdepartment, supporting people andother partner agencies

Practice example

Kick Start London is a third sectorprovider of supported housing services foryoung people. Kick Start have anemergency assessment placement which isutilised by leaving care services. Kick Startwork jointly with the young person andleaving care services, to share informationand draw up the young person’s care andsupport plan involving other agencieswhere required. The support plan clearlyidentifies the aims and objectives of thesupport, how best to deliver a jointservice, and the roles of the individualsconcerned. All the agencies included inthe care plan and support package are inregular contact with each other, the youngperson is updated and informed and thestrategy is kept under constant review.

Contact Pam [email protected]

Referral routes into supported housing oftentake the form of an application form, a visitand some form of assessment interview.Applicants are assessed against the selectioncriteria for the scheme ensuring that theyoung person’s needs can be met by theprovision. Young people leaving care will havehad an assessment of their needs in theirPathway Plan which can assist in ensuring thescheme is appropriate for their needs.

oSocial workers should be aware of theselection criteria for the relevant

supported housing so that appropriatereferrals are made.

oJoint working between social workersand support staff should start as soon

as the scheme has been identified as asuitable placement for a young person.

oProvider support staff should attend LACreviews/pathway planning early so that

the provider risk and needs assessmentsreflects the requirements of the young person.

Practice example

Hull is a unitary authority that hasapproximately 45 young people leavingcare every year. Hull has a single accesspoint to all the supported housingavailable in the locality. This enables staffmake best use of the provision to meetthe accommodation and support needs ofeach care leaver.


Young people leaving care will often havemoved from an environment in which theywere more supervised and less able to takerisks than their peers. While enjoying theincreased freedom they may be less able tomanage being responsible for themselves andthe action of their visitors. When placing careleavers in larger shared supported housing theleaving care team should be aware that theenvironment can impact negatively, especiallyon those who are younger and less resilient.



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oSocial workers should support theyoung person to understand the

implications of their responsibilities underan occupancy agreement. Pre-tenancytraining should be offered to all youngpeople who are assessed as at risk of notmanaging their occupancy agreement.

oThe support worker should ensure that the young person understands

their responsibilities under their occupancyagreement, the consequences of breachingtheir agreement before they move into ascheme and during their stay there.

oThe social worker and the supportworker should ensure that the needs

and any risks for the young person,associated with moving from care to moreindependent accommodation, are assessedand addressed. The support offered by theprovider and continuing support fromleaving care services should identify howthese needs are going to be met and howthe risks are going to be minimised.

oThe leaving care manager and housingsupport manager should agree early

intervention strategies, including howconcerns are communicated, appropriateinformation shared, and action plans wherea young person is at risk of not managing inthe accommodation.

oThe social worker should ensure thateach young person has a contingency

plan as part of their Pathway Plan foralternative accommodation if they are notmanaging in their accommodation.Alternative accommodation should includeboth shared and self containedaccommodation options where possible.

Practice example

The Camden accommodation pathwayoutlined in the strategic section allowsyoung people to be moved to anotheraccommodation type in the pathway ifthey are not managing in their currentaccommodation.

oThe leaving care manager shouldnegotiate an eviction protocol with

supported housing providers to reduce the risk of care leavers losing theiraccommodation.

Practice example

Wiltshire is a two-tier area with a countycouncil and four district authorities. It has approximately 30 young peopleleaving care every year. Providers havechanged their eviction procedure to beable to support care leavers and AfterCare have trained providers in techniquesto avoid eviction.


There is a lot of confusion amongst landlordsabout the type of tenancy agreement that canbe granted to young people, especially thoseunder 18 (minors). This can result in youngpeople being placed on less secure forms ofagreement or being required to have aguarantor. Providers may ask for a guarantorsimply because the young person is a careleaver and has a social worker.42

oManagers of supported housingprovision should ensure that they

understand the legal position in relation toyoung people and tenancy agreements andgrant the most secure form of agreementcompatible with the purpose of the scheme.



42 NCAS briefing on tenure and care leavers www.leavingcare.org/data/tmp/5408-11071.pdf

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oSocial workers should ensure thatyoung people placed in supported

housing are granted an appropriateagreement and provided with a guarantorwhere required.

oHousing support managers shouldexamine their practices of requiring a

guarantor for all young people to see if it isjustified; if required guarantors should onlybe sought on an individual basis.

Supported housing is usually a temporaryarrangement and the young person will moveon when they have acquired the skills to liveindependently. Some supported housing willprovide resettlement support or arrange forfloating support when a young person movesout, however for care leavers the localauthority remains responsible for providingcontinuing support.

oSocial workers should ensure that theyoung person’s Pathway Plan addresses

what settled accommodation the youngperson needs and aspires to have. Thesocial worker and support worker shouldestablish who is providing what support tothe young person in securing move-onaccommodation, e.g., support in activatinghousing application and participating inchoice based lettings.

oThe leaving care manager shouldensure there is a protocol identifying a

lead professional and the roles of leavingcare and the provider responsible forresettlement support for the young person,including access to floating support services.

Care leavers are a distinct group of diverseyoung people with their own needs andaspirations. Providers should ensure that theirhousing and support service offers youngpeople what they want/need.

oSupported housing managers shouldensure that young people leaving care

are able to take part in, and are representedin all user involvement opportunities.

oSupported housing managers shouldconsider if young people leaving care

require specific support and/or fora so theyare involved in the governance, servicedelivery and the day to day operation ofhousing and support services.

Staff of supported housing projects need tounderstand and have skills in meeting thespecific needs of young people leaving care.Staff need to recognise the significance oftheir role in these young peoples’ lives.

oSupported housing managers shouldensure that support staff are

experienced or receive training in the needsof young people leaving care and workingpositively with these young people.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat they support housing provider

staff in understanding the needs of youngpeople leaving care, this can be achieved byleaving care staff providing training,meeting with new staff during theirinduction, attending team meetings etc.

Young people leaving care are entitled to aleaving care grant at the discretion of theirlocal authority. The majority of supportedhousing is furnished or partially furnished.The young person may want to buy somebasics, e.g. bed linen, utilising some of theirleaving care grant.

oSocial workers should ascertain what is provided in the accommodation

and what the young person should and can bring with them. It should be clear tothe young person that they may need tobudget for furnishing their independentaccommodation when they leave thesupported housing provision.



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Croydon is a London borough that hasapproximately 135 young people leavingcare each year. Leaving care servicesprovide services to 1,100+ young people,over 65 percent being unaccompaniedasylum seeking children. Croydoncommission a range of supported housingto meet the needs of their young people.Croydon Association for Young SingleHomeless (CAYSH) provide supportedhousing for 18 young people in five sharedhouses for up to four young people. Thehouses are good quality street propertieswith each young person having their ownbedroom and sharing bathroom, kitchen,lounge and laundry facilities.

Young people are supported by staff toenable them to acquire the skills to liveindependently. Staff are on site at thescheme from nine am to five pm,available from the nearby head officeuntil seven pm and managers are on calluntil eight pm. CAYSH can also provide a24 hour on call service if required by theleaving care team. CAYSH ensure theyhave a good relationship with the leavingcare team. If there is a problem bothparties will communicate quickly and arecommitted to sorting it out.

The scheme is jointly commissioned bySupporting People who manage thecontract for the services and monitor theeffectiveness and quality using contractcompliance and the Supporting Peoplequality assessment framework and nationaloutcomes framework. As Supporting Peoplemanage the contract they simply invoiceleaving care for the support element forthose young people under 18, CAYSH invoicefor the rental element of the service untilthe young person is 18 when they areresponsible for their own rent, being ableto claim housing benefit if required.

If a young person is not managing in theaccommodation CAYSH will ask for anurgent meeting with the leaving care teamthat will look at a suitable placement forthe young person, which could include

Additional resources and web links● NCAS Resources

www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/operational/supportedhousing

● Sitrawww.sitra.org

● Supported Housing and the Law,Baxter and Carr, September 2007www.lag.org.uk/Templates/System/Publications.asp?NodeID=92029&Mode=display

● Supporting Peoplewww.spkweb.org.uk

● CarrGomm report on What works in supported housingwww.housingcorp.gov.uk/upload/pdf/CarrGomm_Shared_Living_Summary_Report.pdf

● Setting up: A Place to Call Home —Care leavers foundation report onleaving care grantswww.brynmelyngroupfoundation.org/documents/APlacetoCallHome-ASurveyonLeavingCareGrants.pdf



moving them to another part of CAYSHprovision, e.g. supported lodgings or backinto foster placement.



www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/operational/supportedhousing

http://www.sitra.org

www.lag.org.uk/Templates/System/Publications.asp?NodeID=92029&Mode=display

http://www.spkweb.org.uk

www.housingcorp.gov.uk/upload/pdf/CarrGomm_Shared_Living_Summary_Report.pdf

www.brynmelyngroupfoundation.org/documents/APlacetoCallHome-ASurveyonLeavingCareGrants.pdf


Chapter summary: Foyers offer a holistic service where young people can accessaccommodation support with trainingand education to assist them in thetransition to adulthood, by developingtheir economic and social capital.

IntroductionFoyers can provide a holistic accommodation,support, training, education and employmentexperience for young people leaving care.Around ten percent43 of the young peopleaccommodated in foyers are known to be careleavers. Foyers are run by a range of thirdsector providers that range from larger nationalRegistered Social Landlords (RSLs) to smallerlocal charities. They can vary in size from eightto 210 beds with an average size of around 40.Usually young people are housed together onone site, or within a group of buildings, eitherpurpose built or converted. Some providersutilise a dispersed model where young peopleare accommodated separately in social housingand utilise a training centre as a focal point.

There are currently 130 foyers across the UK, providing:

● a stable and secure community in whichyoung people can support one another andachieve independence;

● help with finding appropriate employment,training or education to make this possible;

● training in basic skills and independentliving skills and personal development;

● help with finding settled accommodationand ongoing support when the youngperson has left the foyer.

Foyers are different to other forms ofsupported accommodation, in that the tenureand services are usually offered on the basisthat the young person agrees to take up, orengage with, the training education oremployment services offered. Length of stayvaries, the minimum being three months andthe maximum two years. Young people willusually move out when they and their supportworker agree they are ready to live moreindependently. Foyers can work with a varietyof young people, including those withcomplex needs, drug and alcohol problemsand mental health needs. Each foyer will haveits own selection criteria, which identifies thelevel of need that can be managed with thestaffing levels and services offered.

The Foyer Federation44 is a membership body that accredits independent foyers. The Foyer Federation develops andencourages new approaches to support youngpeople as they make the transition toadulthood; particularly those who are at riskthrough homelessness, family breakdown orsocial exclusion.

SupportMost foyers offer differing levels of support,including 24-hour cover incorporating securityor concierge services, or a limited day timeservice with extended hours from e.g. eightam to ten pm. The cover offered varieswidely from area to area. Young people areallocated a support worker who assesses their

Section 8:

Foyers

43 Data from Foyer Federation Benchmarking Review 2007/8.44 www.foyer.net

needs and aspirations and works with them todevise a personal development plan for theshort and medium term.

Personal developmentIn order to be termed a foyer a scheme mustprovide life skills programmes for theirresidents. This commonly includes assistancewith training, education and employment.About a third of foyers offer a City and Guildscertified programme that accredits thepersonal support or development plan titledthe ‘Certificate in Self-Development ThroughLearning’, or ‘Learning Power Award’. Inaddition most foyers offer social programmesand a range of activities from art to gardeningand football to holistic health sessions.

Key issues for care leaversFoyers vary widely in the degree to whichthey work with care leavers. A very smallnumber have been designed and set up tosolely to accommodate care leavers, others block book a fixed number of beds for care leavers aged 16—18 paid for by thelocal authority.

oLeaving care managers should identifythe number of young people who

would benefit from living in a foyerenvironment by aggregating informationderived from individual Pathway Plans,identify what foyer services are available inthe locality and negotiate referral rights forthose young people.

There is a wide range of the services andaccommodation types that foyers offer youngpeople leaving care. The diverse needs ofcare leavers mean that the foyer servicesavailable in the area may or may not suittheir needs. It is not often clear what servicesthe foyers provide and what responsibilitiesremain with the leaving care team.

oLeaving care managers shouldnegotiate a service agreement that

specifies what services will be provided bythe foyer, and outlines the responsibilitiesand obligations of the leaving care service.

oSocial workers should be aware of theselection criteria of the foyer, the

support services that are offered, and thelevel of engagement expected from theyoung person.

Some foyer settings may pose challenges tothose leaving care, who will be used to amore supportive environment in a smallerfamily size setting. Although a foyer may bestaffed on a 24-hour basis this does not meanthat care leavers will be able to manage in‘halls of residence’ style, medium or largersize foyers.

oSocial workers should ensure that thePathway Plan identifies if the

accommodation services available wouldmeet the young person’s needs in theirtransition to adulthood. Medium or largersize foyer services should not be consideredfor younger and more vulnerable careleavers, unless there is an assessment thatthe young person would actively benefitfrom this type of provision.

Although foyers are able to work with youngpeople with multiple or complex needs, theydo require young people to engage with thesupport offered and take part in meaningfuloccupation during the day either provided bythe foyer or an outside agency.

oYoung people should only be referredto a foyer by a social worker, if they

are able to maintain a supportive relationshipwith their key worker, have the motivationto engage in a programme of activity, attendcollege or work or work-like activities.

Foyers can house young people from the age of 16 to 25 years. A young person can be placed in a foyer while 16 or 17 yearsold and still be in a foyer service beyond their18th birthday.

Section 8: Foyers


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oChildren’s service directors shouldjointly commission foyer services (or

establish a protocol) with Supporting Peopleto enable young people to continue toreceive support from foyer services whenthey reach the age of 18.

Foyers cater for a wide variety of youngpeople and staff may not have the specialistskills to respond to the needs of young peopleleaving care.

oFoyer managers should ensure thatsupport staff who work with young

people leaving care are trained specificallyin providing services to this vulnerablegroup of young people. Leaving careservices should play an active part intraining staff in foyers in the needs of careexperienced young people.

Some foyers can be wary about accepting thereferral of a care leaver because, oncehoused by the foyer, the leaving care teammay not regard them as in immediate need and (although they should) may notcontinue to support them to meet theirPathway Plan goals.

oFoyer managers should ensure supportstaff are aware of the legal framework

that underpins the entitlements of youngpeople leaving care, to ensure that youngpeople are not disadvantaged by beingplaced in foyer services.

oSocial workers should ensure that theycontinue to support the young person

when in foyer services. They should work inpartnership with foyer staff to ensure thatthey are supported to achieve the goals setout in their Pathway Plan.


Hampshire is a two-tier area, which hasapproximately 100 young people leavingcare each year. Step by Step operate inAldershot providing a number of servicesto young people, including foyer services,supported lodgings and floating support.

The initial access to the accommodationscheme is via a referral agency or self-referral to Emmaus House. Emmaus Househas 12 bed spaces which include anemergency bed. Emmaus has a 13-weekstay, as the accommodation comprisestwo-person shared bedrooms. Step by Stepare currently developing replacementsingle person provision. Emmaus offers ahigh level of staffing, meals are providedand there is a structured regime.Residents are expected to engage withassessment and key working and there is acurfew. If residents manage in EmmausHouse they move on to the next stage,Victoria Road, which is a shared housingenvironment. Although staff are present24 hours a day, residents are expected toprepare their own meals and the supportis less intensive. Residents stayapproximately six months. From VictoriaRoad, residents will move into a supportedstudio flat in a purpose built block. Staffwill continue to provide key work andyoung people stay for one year. If they aremanaging successfully they can move intoa dispersed one bedroom flat and continueto be supported. At the end of their stayyoung people are supported to move totheir own accommodation, either socialhousing or privately rented. Step by Stepoffer tenancy support to enable assistyoung people find a suitable place to rent,get furniture, set up utilities and identifythe life skills required for livingindependently. Step by Step also managesupported lodgings schemes, one of whichis specifically for care leavers.

Step by Step has a very strong culturalemphasis on youth development byproviding a range of activities for informal

(cont. overleaf)


Section 8: Foyers

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learning and practical skills development.The learning and skills activities rangefrom informal education, IT access andsupport to peer mentoring onhomelessness and drugs and alcoholawareness. Although attendance at Stepby Step is not compulsory, young peopleare expected to engage in some form ofmeaningful activity during the day.

When young people enter the foyer theyhave to sign a charter giving theircommitment to make a constructive use oftheir time and engage with foyer staffproviding them with support. If they donot adhere to this charter they will not beable to progress through the scheme andin some cases may be found an alternativeplace to live. Care leavers access thefoyer services usually through beingplaced in the emergency bed at EmmausHouse or move from supported lodgings ifit is felt that they would benefit frombeing in the shared houses or flats. Theycan also move on from supported lodgingsto the supported flats when they areready to live more independently.

[email protected]

Additional resources and web links● Foyer Federation

www.foyer.net

● National Youth Homeless SchemeCommunities and Local Governmentwww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/widerneeds/learningwork/assessingneeds/casestudy1/

● Homelessness list of resources on Foyerswww.homelesspages.org.uk/kwds/keywords.asp?kwid=127

Section 8: Foyers



www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/widerneeds/learningwork/assessingneeds/casestudy1/

www.homelesspages.org.uk/kwds/keywords.asp?kwid=127


Chapter summary: For young people leaving care thebiggest cohort are living inindependent accommodation by thetime they are aged 19.

IntroductionAt age 19, 42 percent of care leavers live inindependent accommodation.45 The four maintypes of independent accommodation arelocal authority housing, housing associationproperties, private rented accommodation,and owning the whole or part of a property. InEngland 70 percent of people are owneroccupiers, 18 percent live in some type ofsocial housing, and 12 percent in the privaterented sector.46

The independent accommodation options foryoung people leaving care will depend on:

● the availability of the different types ofaccommodation within the young person’slocal authority or the area where theywant to live;

● the needs and aspirations of the youngperson;

● the circumstances of the young person (e.g.their previous housing experiences); and

● the policies and procedures of housingproviders.

Local authority housingLocal authority (council) housing is propertyowned by the local authority. They may be

managed by another agency, e.g. an arm’slength management organisation (ALMO) or atenant management organisation (TMO). Wherea local authority has retained its housingstock (some have transferred ownership to aregistered social landlord) it will usually bethe largest housing provider in an area, andauthorities generally do not have housing outsideof their locality. In two-tier areas — where thechildren’s services authority will not be thehousing authority — the area is usually dividedinto several districts and policy responsibilityfor housing falls to the district authority. Forexample, within Hertfordshire there are 11district authorities which are housing authorities.

There is a wide range of local authorityhousing, from bedsits to large family houses.The housing must be allocated in accordancewith the authority’s published allocationscheme, and this must give reasonablepreference to certain groups of housingapplicants, as specified in Part 6 of the HousingAct 1996. The type and size of the housingwill be allocated to suit the circumstancesand needs of the particular applicant. Accessto social housing for care leavers will dependon the housing authority’s allocation scheme,and on the arrangements between the housingauthority and children’s services or leavingcare teams. These may include the leavingcare team nominating young people forhousing, the housing department agreeing toearmark a number (quota) of properties eachyear for housing care leavers, or care leaversbeing giving priority and supported throughchoice based lettings. Effective planning, bothbetween housing and children’s services, andbetween children’s services and the youngperson, should ensure that care leavers do nothave to make a homeless application.

Section 9:

Independent accommodation

45 www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/FinalSFRTablesoct.xls#’F1’!A146 www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/139268.xls

http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000810/FinalSFRTablesoct.xls#%E2%80%99F1%E2%80%99!A1

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/xls/139268.xls

Practice example

Hull is a unitary authority that hasapproximately 45 young people leavingcare every year. Hull has a localagreement that all care leavers are placedin band two of the choice based lettingscheme which gives them sufficientcurrency to access Hull City Councilhousing stock.


Registered social landlords(RSLs)RSLs are housing associations registered withand regulated by the Tenant ServicesAuthority. They usually have charitableobjectives, their aims are usually to provideaffordable housing to those in housing need.They are not restricted by local authorityboundaries and the larger RSLs operate acrossa number of regions. Like local authorityhousing, they have a variety of properties.The majority of nominations to RSL propertiesnow come from local authority housingwaiting lists, because of arrangementsbetween RSLs and local authorities whenproperties are being developed. Other accessroutes can include moving on from supportedhousing owned by the RSL, or in some areasleaving care teams have negotiated their ownnomination agreements with local RSLs.

Private rented accommodationPrivately rented accommodation can beoffered by an individual or a company. It can include a variety of accommodationbut, unlike RSL or local authority properties,can include flat shares. Landlords usually askfor a deposit and a month’s rent in advance.In some areas local authorities or otherproviders run rent deposit or rent guaranteeschemes to support vulnerable people inaccessing the private rented sector.

Although young people do not have to benominated by the local authority for private

sector leasing, some local authorities includeprivately rented properties in their choicebased letting schemes. Usually private sectorproperties are accessed through lettingagents, estate agents, newspaper adverts orthrough direct contact with the landlord.

Owner occupationAlthough this is the most common form ofhousing provision in England, it is least likelyto be accessed by young people leaving care.The cost of home ownership can be prohibitivefor young people, and they may need asizeable deposit to buy their own property.There are also additional costs such asinsurance and maintenance. Through housingassociations the government has introducedseveral initiatives to support people onto theproperty ladder, e.g. shared ownershipschemes, which are part rent/part buy.

Key issues for care leaversSocial housing provides young people with anopportunity to live in settled accommodation.It is therefore critical that young people haveaccess to this option when it is appropriatefor them in terms of their skills, needs andrequirements. For example, it would not behelpful to offer a young person at 18, who isplanning to go to university in another area,permanent social housing in their localauthority. Another example would be a youngmother not being able to access settledhousing because of a blanket policy of notoffering tenancies to those under 18.

oHousing directors should ensure thatallocation policies and procedures

should give care leavers priority for socialhousing, when this has been identified asappropriate to a young person’s needs andaspirations in their Pathway Plan

oLeaving care managers should ensurethere is an opportunity for young

people to acquire the skills to liveindependently and a process to demonstratethis to housing providers.

Section 9: Independent accommodation


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Young people say that being on their own(loneliness), not being able to copeindependently and not being able to get helpwhen they need it are among the worstaspects of leaving care.47 Isolation andloneliness can lead to young people notstaying in their properties or becomingvulnerable to their property being taken overby unwanted visitors (tenancy hijack), orproblems with guests. They may also find itdifficult to deal with the practicalities ofmanaging in their own accommodation.

oDirectors of children’s service shouldensure young people are only

expected to live independently when theyhave demonstrated that they have acquiredthe skills to live independently, includingemotional resilience.

oDirectors of children’s service shouldensure that the protocols between

housing and children’s services makeexplicit that all care leavers in their initialindependent tenancy should be offeredfloating support services for the first 12 months.

It is not uncommon in any type of rentedhousing (social or private) for a young personto be expected to provide a guarantor. Youngpeople accessing private sector leasing maynot want their landlord to know they are acare leaver.

oLeaving care managers shouldnegotiate with landlords about the

requirement of a guarantor, but haveprocesses in place to be able to provide aguarantor where necessary.

oLeaving care managers should explorehow a young person can be provided

with a guarantor without disclosing that theyoung person has been in care.

Young people, because of their age, may beplaced on a less secure form of occupancyagreement.

oThe leaving care manager should beaware of the tenancies available to

young people and have sample tenanciesthat landlords are able to use for thoseunder 18.

Local authority housing/RSLs

A substantial number of care leavers areplaced in out of borough fostering orresidential placements. This presentsproblems when the young person is ready toaccess settled housing. The responsibleauthority remains responsible for supportingthem to access housing, but they will haveestablished their social networks where theyare living. Many local authorities and RSLs insome circumstances operate local connectionpolicies, which mean they will only housethose with a connection to the locality area,usually through living or working there for acertain length of time.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldnegotiate with directors of the housing

departments to enter into reciprocalarrangements that will enable care leaversto access social housing in the area wherethey are living.

oSocial workers should support careleavers to access supported lodgings or

supported housing in their area, via thereciprocal arrangements mentioned above.

Some young people report being pressurisedto accept their permanent accommodationoffer so that they can move out of morecostly residential, foster or supported provision.

oSocial workers should only put forwardyoung people for their settled housing

offer when they indicate that they areready to take on the responsibilities of apermanent tenancy.



47 Young people’s views on leaving care www.rights4me.org/reportView.cfm?id=6&startRow=31

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http://www.rights4me.org/reportView.cfm?id=6&startRow=31

Practice example

Wiltshire is a two-tier area and hasapproximately 30 young people leavingcare every year. Young people leaving carecan take up a place in a training flat withan agreed package of support. If theycomplete their stay successfully they are able to be placed in Band A within the choice based letting scheme. Thisscheme is also available within RSLsupported accommodation if the youngperson successfully maintains theiraccommodation.


oIf choice based lettings exist, youngpeople should be supported by their

social worker to take full advantage of theopportunities this presents.

oIf there is a quota or nominationsystem leaving care managers should

negotiate that young people have a choiceof accommodation within this, e.g. the localauthority could offer a choice of threeproperties (the one accepted representingone nomination).

Practice example

Telford and Wrekin council is a unitaryauthority with approximately ten youngpeople leaving care every year. Telfordand Wrekin has an arrangement that alltheir young people participate in choicebased letting. The leaving care worker isregistered as a ‘proxy chooser’ on thechoice based letting system and is able tobid on behalf of the young person.


Setting up a new home from scratch is costlyand takes time. On many occasions propertiesare not ready to be moved into and requiredecorating and furnishing. Young peopleleaving care are younger than their peerswhen they move into independentaccommodation, so will not have had time toacquire furniture and equipment. They mayalso not have their family to buy or donaterequired items. Housing benefit regulationsare such that young people cannot claim fortheir rent until they are physically living in aproperty, leaving the young person accruingarrears as soon as they accept a property.

oIf the young person is moving intolocal authority housing, the manager

of the housing department should ensurethat the young person is not charged rentuntil the property is ready for them to moveinto. The leaving care manager shouldconsider how they make up any rentshortfall if such arrangements cannot benegotiated.

oWhere the young person is moving into RSL or private accommodation the

leaving care manager should try andnegotiate that the tenancy does not start,and rent become due until the property is ready for the young person to move into. Leaving care managers should consider how they make up the rentshortfall from leaving care if sucharrangements cannot be negotiated.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldensure that the local authority

provides a setting up home or leaving caregrant which enables the young person toadequately furnish their property,recognising that some things can be boughtsecond hand, e.g. fridges and bed frames,whereas other items, e.g. mattresses andbed linen should be new. The eligibility forany grant, what the grant includes, and thefinancial limitations should be detailed inwriting and publicly available in a formatthat is accessible for young people.



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Social housing providers may be privy to moreinformation about young people leaving carethan other housing applicants, which may bedisadvantageous. In some cases, young peopleleaving care are being asked to undertakechecks with the Criminal Records Bureau(CRB), which is unacceptable if otherapplicants are not routinely asked, and couldbe challenged under the Human Rights Act1998 as a breach of the right to privacy.

oWithin allocation policies bothdirectors of local authority housing

departments and RSLs housing departmentsshould have positive practices on housingcare leavers.

oManagers of social housing should onlyask for information on care leavers

that would be asked for, and availableabout, any other applicant.

oManagers of social housing shouldensure that information is only used to

identify additional support that needs to beput in place, and not as a means ofexcluding young people from social housing.

Young people with experience of frequentplacement changes may be at greater risk oftenancy breakdown. If young people areevicted or abandon their property they maybe deemed ‘intentionally homeless’,48 andoften do not recognise the limitations thisplaces on their future housing options.

oManagers should ensure that housingstaff are aware of the needs of young

people leaving care and the specific risksthese young people face.

oHousing officers should keep thetenancy under review, recognising that

they may need to arrange support or eventransfer a young person to differentaccommodation to prevent an abandonmentor eviction.

oDirectors of housing services shouldensure that young people who have

experienced eviction or abandonment intheir initial tenancy are not presumed to beintentionally homeless.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldnegotiate with directors of housing

departments and RSLs to put in place a 12-week trial period that allows youngpeople to end their tenancy formally if they are not managing in independentaccommodation, that does not compromisetheir priority and non-intentionality status.

Private rented sector

The private rented sector can provideopportunities for young people leaving care ifthey want to live out of borough, live in aparticular area where housing is scarce or ifthey want to enter into a flat-sharingarrangement. The private rented sector offersmore flexibility for young people, and couldbe suitable for young people who want to tryindependent living without committing to asocial housing tenancy.

The requirement of a deposit and a month’srent in advance can pose difficulties for careleavers, who can have limited savings. If peoplemove on from one property to another theymay not have had their deposit back in timeto put a deposit down on the new property.

oSocial workers should be aware of anyrent deposit or rent guarantee

schemes in their area that will support ayoung person moving into the privaterented sector.

oWhere references are required socialworkers/carers should be supporting

the young person in setting up a bankaccount as soon as they are able to do so.



48 A person deliberately did (or didn’t do) something that caused them to leave accommodation whichthey could otherwise have stayed in, and it would have been reasonable for them to stay there.

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For care leavers aged 22, 23 and 24 years, thelocal housing allowance (benefit to pay forhousing in the private rented sector) they canreceive is subject to the shared room rentrestriction, which means it comprises averagecost of a room in a shared house. This usuallyhappens after formal leaving support iswithdrawn at age 21. The local housingallowance is also paid to the young personunless the housing benefit office is advised topay it directly to the landlord.

oYoung people who are at risk of beingunable to sustain self-contained

property at age 22 should be referred bytheir social worker to sharedaccommodation or social housing.

oSocial workers should support theyoung person to ask for rent to be paid

directly to the landlord until the youngperson feels able to manage theiraccommodation charges.

Landlords can often be reticent about lettingto young people and care leavers have anadditional stigma, due to negative perceptionof those in the care system. Due to theunregulated nature of the private rentedsector young people may also be vulnerable tounscrupulous landlords who do not maintainhealth and safety and general standards oftheir property, young people may feel lessable to complain about and question this.

oLeaving care managers should work with landlords to improve

their knowledge and understanding of young people leaving care, reassurelandlords about the support availablethrough the leaving care team and anyother relevant services.

oLeaving care managers should where possible utilise existing lists

or establish their own list of accreditedlandlords who are willing to accept care leavers.

oWhen a young person moves intoprivate rented accommodation social

workers should support them to understandtheir tenancy rights.

oThe social worker should visit theyoung person at a level of frequency

that is acceptable for that young personduring the first weeks of their stay in theirhome, to ensure that they are managing intheir accommodation.

Practice example

Hull City Council when placing youngpeople in private rented accommodation,arranges for the fire brigade to work withthe young person in making the necessaryfire safety checks and increasing theyoung person’s knowledge of fire safety.The personal adviser will check theaccommodation to ensure that it is of asuitable standard. Hull also provides abond to enable young people to accessprivate rented accommodation.


Owner occupation

Owner occupation should not be ruled out asan option for young people leaving care.Housing associations have developed schemeswhere people can part–rent and part-buy aproperty. In some areas key worker schemesallow for people who work in certainprofessions to have access to low cost homeownership schemes.

oLeaving care managers should identifyschemes that enable young people

to part rent/part buy or build up money fora deposit.



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St Basils works across the West Midlandsproviding a range of supportedaccommodation, floating support, housing advice, mediation and learningopportunities for young people. St Basilshave developed a starter home initiativefor young people that allows young peoplein employment to live in supportedhousing, sustain employment, escape the benefit trap and, most importantly,save towards a stake in a settled home oftheir choice.

Young people whose employment cansustain an affordable rent are given athree year assured shorthold tenancyagreement. From the rent paid St Basilsinvest £10 a week on behalf of the youngperson which will amount to over £2,000by the time the young person leaves. Ifthe young person loses their employmentthe investment will be simply frozen whilethey are supported in finding employment.When the young person leaves the schemethey will be supported in deciding whatindependent housing option they want toaccess; they could use the money for a deposit to buy/part-buy a home or arent deposit in privately rentedaccommodation. The starter homeinitiative enables young people to startplanning and saving for their futureindependent housing options.

St Basils have identified a financial modelthat will allow other organisations toadopt this initiative.



www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/accomresources andwww.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/operational

● Shelter resources — Rent deposit/guarantee schemesengland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits

● Tenant Service Authoritywww.tenantservicesauthority.org/(previously Housing Corporation)

● Information sharing protocolwww.housingcorp.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.12842

● National housing federationwww.housing.org.uk

● A place to call home — Care leavers foundation report onleaving care grantswww.brynmelyngroupfoundation.org/documents/APlacetoCallHome-ASurveyonLeavingCareGrants.pdf

● Homeless pages list of resources onmove on accommodationwww.homelesspages.org.uk/kwds/keywords.asp?kwid=133 and privaterented accommodationwww.homelesspages.org.uk/kwds/keywords.asp?kwid=67




www.leavingcare.org/professionals/whoarewe/projects/accommodation/accomresources


http://www.tenantservicesauthority.org

www.housingcorp.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.12842

http://www.housing.org.uk

www.brynmelyngroupfoundation.org/documents/APlacetoCallHome-ASurveyonLeavingCareGrants.pdf



england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/paying_for_a_home/tenancy_deposits


Chapter summary: For young people leaving carefloating support is beneficial whenthey are moving to their independentaccommodation and also if they run into problems when in theiraccommodation.

IntroductionFloating support enables young people toreceive support while living in independentaccommodation. It seeks to support people tomaintain their tenancies/housing and, becausethe support is being delivered into theperson’s home, it relies on them to activelywant the support and be willing to engagewith the service. Like supported housing it canoften be referred to in different terms, e.g.tenancy sustainment.

AimsFloating support can cover a variety of tasksbut broadly includes:

● Increasing young people’s confidence andskills to live in their independent housing,usually through a combination of practicaland personal support.

● The support is linked to the individual andnot their accommodation and will followthem if they move.

● The support, although individual, is timelimited and looks to reduce over time asthe person’s need for support diminishes.

● The support provider connects the youngperson with wider services in theircommunity, utilising more specialistservices where required.

● The support provider advocates on behalfof the young person with other parties,e.g., landlords, utility providers,neighbours.

● Once support is discontinued there is thepossibility to access the service again at alater stage if it is required.

Service deliveryFloating support services operate across arange of accommodation. The availability ofSupporting People funding has allowed agrowth in floating support. Providers includelocal authorities, Registered Social Landlords(RSLs), voluntary agencies and privateproviders. Some floating support services aregeneric, and provide support for a range ofclient groups; some are client-group specificand can be aimed at young people at risk orcare leavers. There has been a move in somelocalities to provide floating support for themajority of the schemes funded by SupportingPeople including supported housing.

Floating support services usually allow for theseparation of housing and support services.This has the advantage that tenancyenforcement, e.g. action for rent arrears, isdealt with separately from tenancy support,e.g. support with budgeting. Effective supportrelies on good communication links betweenthe housing and support provider.

Independent livingFloating support can be a particularlyimportant intervention for young peopleleaving care as, if it is provided when theyoung person experiences their first tenancy,it can have a positive impact on their abilityto manage the practical and emotionalresponsibilities of living alone. Floating

Section 10:

Floating support

support can prevent tenancy failure,particularly in the areas of anti-socialbehaviour and rent arrears, which commonlylead to young people losing their homes andwhich often have an impact on their futurehousing options.

Some young people will access floatingsupport services when they initially move intotheir independent accommodation. However,floating support can be accessed later if theyrun into problems with their accommodation.

A number of different issues could be atrigger for referral for floating support,including:

● The young person has a history of, or iscurrently experiencing

— poor money management

— complaints from or about neighbours

— harassment

— substance misuse problems

— mental health problems or learningdisabilities

— problems accessing other services

— difficulties managing interactions withother people either socially orprofessionally

— poor literacy or numeracy skills.

● The young person has no existing supportnetwork.

● The accommodation the young person isliving in is in a poor state of repair due toneglect by the young person, or aninability to access maintenance services.

● There is evidence that the young personlacks the confidence, skills and resilienceto manage the requirements of livingindependently.

Key issues for care leaversAccess to floating support services for careleavers varies across the country and may not be accessible to all young people who are moving into their first tenancy. Individuals supporting care leavers may not beaware of the support services available ormay not understand how to access floatingsupport services.

oDirectors of children’s services should ensure that the protocols

between housing and children’s servicesmake explicit that care leavers in theirinitial independent tenancy should beoffered floating support services for thefirst 12 months.

oSocial workers should obtain copies ofthe eligibility and referral criteria for

floating support services in their locality, sothat they are able to refer young people.

Care leavers may be living in independentaccommodation prior to their 18th birthday.The responsibility for providing statutorysupport changes at age 18 for young peopleleaving care and this may be a point at whichthey experience difficulties. If there are poorlinks between children’s and SupportingPeople services it can be difficult to accessappropriate floating support at this point.

oDirectors of children’s services shouldensure that Supporting People

strategies include the housing related needsof care leavers in independentaccommodation.

oSocial workers should be planning howthe housing related support they have

been providing will be continued post theyoung person’s 18th birthday, as part oftheir continuing pathway planning process.


Section 10: Floating support

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Practice example

North Lincolnshire Council is a smallunitary authority which has approximately20 young people leaving care each year.The leaving care service receivesSupporting People funding for theprovision of floating support to careleavers aged 18 to 21. Any care leaverover 18 can access the service for a periodof up to two years, they can also referback if and when required. From April2009, those aged 16 and 17 will be able toaccess the service. The service hassignificantly improved the outcomes forthis group of care leavers in relation tomaintaining tenancies and successfultransitions into adult life.


Floating support is intended to be timelimited and to facilitate the young person inacquiring the skills to live independently,utilising the community infrastructure. If services are cut off abruptly the youngpeople may feel abandoned and may struggle to cope.

oSocial workers and floating supportworkers should make clear the

purpose and the duration of the service tothe young person from the outset.

oThe young person’s need for theservice should be continually reviewed

by the young person, social workers andfloating support workers, and onlywithdrawn gradually when the young personno longer requires the service and is linkedinto services in the community.

oSocial workers and young peopleshould also be clear about how to

access the service in the future if theircircumstances change.

Floating support workers can only take onnew clients as old clients are floated off andservices may be oversubscribed.

oSocial workers should include anyrequirement for floating support

services in the preparation and planning for independent living to allow for a timely referral.

oSocial workers should ensure thatyoung people who are at risk of

tenancy problems are referred early tofloating support services.

Many floating support services are generic andmay not recognise the specific needs of careleavers, especially as they tend to move intoindependent living at a much younger agethan other groups. This may mean that theservice needs to liaise with a different set ofsupport services than they would for adults.

oManagers of generic floating supportservices should ensure that staff have

an understanding of statutory supportservices available to young people leavingcare, and what they are entitled to atdifferent ages. Close working relationshipswith leaving care services and trainingshould ensure this.

The terminology used in floating support canbe unhelpful for care leavers, who may notunderstand what the support entails. Theymay also be more vulnerable to forming closerelationships with support workers, which maylead to the worker’s over-involvement. Inaddition, floating support is delivered into theyoung person’s home, which may blur thelines of the relationship.

oIn communications with young peoplefloating support workers should be

clear what the support comprises, e.g.number of visits, purpose, issues that theycan get help with.

oFloating support workers shouldestablish clear professional boundaries

with young people given that they arevisiting the young person in their home.



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Young people leaving care may have had anegative experience of those who have had aresponsibility for providing them withservices. They may also perceive it as acontinuation of social services supervisionrather than a supportive arrangement.Floating support relies on the client’swillingness to engage with the service.However, clients who are hard to reach arenot necessarily unwilling to engage. It maytake longer to build up trusting relationshipsand care leavers are especially in need ofcontinuity in terms of staff and support.

oSocial workers and floating supportworkers should communicate to young

people that floating support is a supportiverather than a supervisory arrangement.

oManagers of floating support services should ensure the referral

system allows floating support workers tomeet and develop a relationship with theyoung person, before they start taking upthe service.

oManagers of floating support servicesshould recognise that this group may

have had negative experiences in the pastand allow for this in service delivery, e.g.staff changes should be kept to a minimum.

There are a number of different serviceproviders involved in supporting youngpeople, particularly for those aged under 18.This could include the housing provider, thefloating support provider, social workerand/or personal advisor.

oService managers should ensure that there is effective partnership

working between the housing providers, the floating support provider and theleaving care service, which includes regularscheduled meetings.

oSocial workers, floating supportworkers and housing officers should

agree an information protocol for eachyoung person to address issues of tenancyenforcement action which may be takenagainst the young person.

The floating support services are deliveredinto the young person’s home and thisrequires particular sensitivity to the person’sneeds and circumstances.

oManagers should ensure there is asystem in place for all staff who work

with young people to pass on informationabout cultural and other, sensitivities, andpotential risks to or from a young person.


Wandsworth is a unitary authority withapproximately 30 young people leavingcare each year. Catch22 WandsworthIndependent Living Scheme (WILS)provides an assessment, preparation andsupported accommodation service to 230young people a year who have beenlooked after by London Borough ofWandsworth social services department.As part of the leaving care service WILSprovides a floating support service. Theservice provides floating support to up to75 young people who can use the serviceup to their 21st birthday. There is anexpectation that the service will stay witha young person for an average of 18months. As the service can extend beyondthe young person’s 18th birthday thescheme is jointly commissioned bySupporting People and children’s services.

There are several referral routes to theservice, including supported housing,training flats, foster care and residentialprovision. WILS uses the Rainer 12-stepprogramme for supporting young people toacquire the skills to live independently.49

(cont. overleaf)



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49 www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/484985.doc

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/484985.doc

Tenants are then supported by the housingworker, personal advisers and socialworkers, all of whom have a case load.WILS has a service level agreement withthe RSLs. The housing worker meets withthe agency liaison person and revenueteam on a three-monthly basis.

The housing worker has also agreed thatthey should have a pre-notice meeting andpre-court meeting which includes theyoung person, for each individual case. The housing worker also has a quarterlymeeting with the contracts manager ofthe RSLs.




● National Youth Homelessness Schemewww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/floatingsupport/

● Joseph Rowntree Foundation Service user perspectives on floatingsupportwww.jrf.org.uk/publications/service-users-perspectives-floating-support

● Homeless pages lists of resources on floating supportwww.homelesspages.org.uk/sortorder/keywproducts.asp?kwid=326





www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/floatingsupport/

http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/service-users-perspectives-floating-support

www.homelesspages.org.uk/sortorder/keywproducts.asp?kwid=326


Chapter summary: Although care leavers should not beplaced in emergency accommodationthe reality is that it may benecessary if a placement has brokendown while another placement isbeing arranged.

IntroductionEffective pathway planning should mean thatthe use of emergency accommodation isminimised and, ideally, never required. This section acknowledges however that eventhe most robust pathway planning cannotcompletely guard against placement/accommodation breakdown that requires an emergency response. As local authoritiesbecome more effective at ensuring that young people are placed in appropriateaccommodation and the use of emergencyaccommodation reduces, local authoritiesshould be better placed to come up withinnovative approaches to managingaccommodation in an emergency.

Practice example

In Bradford the stringent use of bed andbreakfast (B&B) has led to a move toconvert three family run B&Bs, who have a maximum of two beds in eachestablishment, into very short termsupported lodgings.


In May 2008, Communities and LocalGovernment and the Department for Children,Schools and families issued guidance50 aboutjoint working between housing and children’sServices. This states that no 16 or 17 year-oldshould be placed in B&B accommodation byhousing services or children’s services, exceptin an emergency, where B&B accommodationis the only available alternative torooflessness. In these exceptional cases, B&Baccommodation should be used for theshortest time possible and support must beoffered to the young person during their stay.

Housing departments and children’s servicesare expected to adopt a shared strategicapproach to the provision of emergencyaccommodation and housing and supportpathways for young people, in order toeradicate the use of B&B accommodation.

In addition young people leaving care whohave been placed in emergencyaccommodation such as B&B are not classifiedas in ‘suitable accommodation’, for thepurpose of reporting local authorityperformance against the children’s servicenational indicator set (NI 147).

Characteristics of emergencyplacementsMost emergency accommodation has someform of restrictions, e.g. residents may not beallowed visitors, they may be expected to bein at a certain time or they may have to leavethe accommodation during the day. Thefacilities are often shared and in some casesresidents would be expected to share abedroom with somebody of the same sex.

Section 11:

Emergency placements

50 www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/jointworkinghomelessness


http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/jointworkinghomelessness

Provision is generally generic and may behousing a variety of other vulnerable peopleof all ages. In some cases meals are providedand there may be access to cooking facilities.There is usually a cost associated with the useof emergency accommodation. Children’sservices must maintain and support careleavers under age 18 and are liable for thecost of any emergency placement. Where careleavers are young adults (i.e. over 18) theymay be eligible to claim housing benefit forthe majority of this cost, the other part ofwhich they would be expected to meet fromany allowance, benefit or other income.

Types of emergencyaccommodationThere are several different types ofemergency accommodation. These include:

● Bed and Breakfast (B&B) — This isgenerally accommodation provided on anightly basis by a commercial provider (i.e. usually accommodation is ownedand/or managed by a private landlord).Provision ranges from large hotels to smallfamily run residential accommodation. B&B services are commonly used for thosethat are homeless, in the case of careleavers if emergency accommodation isrequired as the young person’saccommodation has broken down. Theprovider is unlikely to offer support.

● Emergency hostels — There is no standardmodel for emergency hostels, howeverthey usually fulfil some or all of thefollowing criteria: they will accept selfreferrals; have frequent vacancies; do nothold a waiting list; are intended to beshort stay accommodation; provide 24-hourstaff cover.51

● Night shelters — Most night shelters arefree. These are usually very basic,providing only a bed and in somecircumstances food. The decision whetherto accommodate an individual is often

taken on a night-by-night basis. In someareas night shelters are only open during the winter months and are oftenreferred to as cold weather shelters. Any night shelter that provided dormitorystyle accommodation is not suitable forcare leavers.

● Crash pads — ‘Crash pads’ is a genericterm that is used for very short-termaccommodation that allows for immediateaccess. There are two main types of crashpads — very short term supported lodgingsschemes52 and emergency accommodationin supported housing. The hosts orproviders will usually charge for theaccommodation and any meals provided.

● Nightstops — The supported lodging modelof crashpads can be referred to as aNightstop scheme if it is affiliated toNightstop UK.53 Nightstop provides a shortterm bed in the homes of trained andapproved volunteers called ‘hosts’.

● Women’s refuges — This is temporaryaccommodation for women and theirchildren who have experienced domesticviolence. Access to the scheme is usuallythrough a national helpline or can bethrough the local authority. The mostcommon model of housing is that womenshare a bedroom with their children andhave access to communal facilities. Thisaccommodation provides for a longer termstay than other emergency accommodationand is often referred to as temporary.

● Staying with friends or family — in orderto prevent young people being placed inemergency accommodation such as B&B,local authorities will often work with theyoung person to identify if they can staywith friends, family or previous carersuntil a suitable placement is found.

Section 11: Emergency placements


51 Homeless Link and Resource Information Service (2008) Survey of Needs and Provision.52 See the supported lodgings section for how these schemes are set up and supported.53 www.depaulnightstopuk.org/content/depaul-nightstop-uk-home

http://www.depaulnightstopuk.org/content/depaul-nightstop-uk-home

Key issues for care leaversAs a corporate parent the local authorityshould plan for the accommodation needs ofthe young people that they look after. Whilegood quality planning of accommodation andsupport should minimise the need foremergency accommodation, all localauthorities should ensure that there areprocedures in place to access appropriateaccommodation should the need arise.

oDirectors of children’s services andhousing should jointly develop a strategy

on the provision of emergency accommodationfor care leavers. The strategy should aim tominimise and ultimately eliminate the useof B&B accommodation.

oIn order to both minimise and makeeffective use of emergency

accommodation the leaving care managershould collect data on (1) numbers of careleavers in emergency accommodation, (2)what type of emergency accommodation,(3) how long they have been in theaccommodation and (4) the reasons theywere placed there.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethere are procedures in place to

quickly reassess young people’s needs andidentify further accommodation options, so that they can be rapidly moved fromemergency accommodation into a morepermanent housing solution.

oSocial workers must ensure that thepathway plan process on accommodation

includes contingency arrangements to befollowed in cases where young people losetheir planned accommodation at short notice.

oSocial workers should negotiate an earlywarning system with residential care

staff, foster carers or other housing providers,which is triggered if the placement is in dangerof breaking down. They should considerputting in extra support or arranging mediationto avoid placement breakdown so that theyoung person can stay on until anothersuitable accommodation option is found.

Care leavers are an especially vulnerablegroup of young people and emergencyaccommodation is generally direct access. It is therefore important that any emergencyaccommodation used to place them isappropriate to their needs and that theleaving care services have taken steps toestablish that any accommodation used as anemergency placement is safe, secure andsuitable for the short term accommodation ofa vulnerable young person. Although B&Baccommodation is not recommended, theremay be circumstances in which it is the mostappropriate to meet the young person’sneeds. A care leaver from a rural communitymay be able to stay in the local area bystaying in B&B rather than having to move toan emergency hostel in an urban area.

oLeaving care managers should have in place an out-of-hours duty rota

that allows all young people placed inemergency accommodation to contact theirstaff by telephone.

oLeaving care managers should ensureall emergency accommodation used for

care leavers is checked and vetted. Thisshould include:

●● The physical accommodation beingappropriate for the needs of youngpeople. They need to have somewherethey can sleep and wash in privacy.

●● The location of the property should be safe, particularly for young people at night.

●● The property should be maintained to anappropriate level of health and safety,e.g., furnishings and fittings should befire resistant.

●● The landlord should be checked usingthe Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

oDirectors of children’s services mustset up arrangements that cover the

provision of emergency accommodationwhen needed, that ensure the B&Bs are notused for looked after children and thoseleaving care.



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Practice example

Middlesbrough is a unitary authority withapproximately 25 young people leavingcare every year. Middlesbrough hasdeveloped a B&B protocol that requiresaccommodation to be provided to becompliant with Fitness Standard, 1989Local Government and Housing Act Section604 and 352.


Practice example

Barnsley is a unitary authority that hasapproximately 15 young people leavingcare very year. Barnsley has developedB&B standards which have a riskassessment linked to the health and safetyof the accommodation.


There is evidence that for care leaversstability of placements on leaving care isparticularly important for improving their lifechances. One study, which followed up asample of 106 young people leaving care,found that: ‘housing emerged as a critical areafor leaving care services and one in whichpositive post care intervention can make asignificant difference. How young people faredin housing was not greatly associated with pastevents in their lives and was much more closelylinked to events after leaving care’.54

oLeaving care managers should ensurethat care leavers are in emergency

accommodation for a minimal amount of time.

oAs soon as it is evident that a youngperson requires emergency

accommodation, social workers should beplanning to access more permanentaccommodation.



oLeaving care managers should ensure,if B&Bs are the only way to meet a

young person’s needs because they wish toremain in a particular geographical location,a small family run B&B is considered, and itmust be checked and vetted in advance bythe leaving care service.

Checklist for placing a young person inemergency accommodation:

● Has a risk and needs assessment forthat young person’s placement beencarried out?

● Has the most appropriateaccommodation been identified based on the assessment of the youngperson as set out in their care orPathway Plan?

● Is the location of the accommodationsuitable in relation to existing socialand other networks, e.g. college?

● What is the suitability of the otherresidents?

● What support is provided by theorganisation or individual?

● Are there any aids, adaptations orother requirements necessary if theyoung person has a disability?

● Are meals provided or there is accessto cooking facilities?

● What are the specific cultural orreligious requirements of the youngperson?

Once accommodation has been identifieda needs and risk assessment and asupport plan for that young person shouldbe drawn up, bearing in mind thatadditional support may be needed,including access to staff on a 24-hour basis.

54 Young people leaving care: a study of outcomes and costs: Dixon et.al. 2004, University of York.

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Some care leavers may require emergencyaccommodation because they have notmanaged the challenges of shared living, e.g. shared supported housing or living alonein self contained accommodation.


there is a range of emergencyaccommodation, including properties thatallow for some degree of self-containment.

Practice example

Leeds is a unitary authority withapproximately 120 young people leavingcare every year. Leeds has a range ofemergency accommodation including threeprivate providers, Nightstop provisionprovided by Barnados and some hostelaccommodation provided by the localauthority.


Care leavers can be less equipped to managein emergency accommodation and will oftenbe less able to rely on support from familyand friends. If they are required to leave theemergency accommodation during the day,they may have fewer places to go than otheryoung people, and where food is not providedit may be difficult for them to purchasehealthy cooked food on a budget.

oThe social worker should ensure thatthe risk and needs assessment and the

support plan acknowledge that the youngperson could require a high level ofemotional support during this time. If foodand cooking facilities are not provided, anyallowance the young person receives shouldtake into account of the fact that they willhave to purchase prepared food and theirsupport plan should emphasis how they caneat healthily.

oThe social worker should work withthe young person to identify

opportunities for meaningful occupation aspart of the support planning process.

Care leavers are usually in contact with anumber of statutory and voluntary servicesand moving into emergency accommodationmay mean that their needs change.

oLeaving care managers should ensurethere is a process in place so that all

relevant organisations are informed whenthe young person moves into emergencyaccommodation.



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● National Youth Homelessness SchemeCommunities and Local Governmentwww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/emergencyaccommodation/ andwww.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/supportedlodgings/

● Shelter Safe and Well — good practicefor workers on looked after childrenwho run awayengland.shelter.org.uk/shop/publications/good_practice/reports/safe_and_well

● Homeless pages list of resources on direct access hostelswww.homelesspages.org.uk/kwds/keywords.asp?kwid=4and bed and breakfastwww.homelesspages.org.uk/prods/products.asp?prid=2462




Hertfordshire is a two-tier area withapproximately 110 young people leavingcare every year. Hertfordshire YoungHomeless Group (HYHG) have managed acrash pad scheme for five years forvulnerable 16/17 year olds and have justnegotiated that the crash pad also be usedfor care leavers 18+ to reduce the use ofB&B. It is funded by the ten districtcouncils whose aim is to have at least twocrashpad places in each district council.

The young person is provided with anevening meal, a private bedroom andbreakfast. They are not given a key andthey have to leave when the host goes out(usually to work). They have use ofbathroom and laundry facilities. Youngpeople are referred by the care leavers’accommodation manager, and thecrashpad scheme will have a copy of thePathway Plan.

The project consists of an assistantmanager and two part-time crashpadofficers. The support to the young peopleis provided by a floating support worker.The project provides a 24-hour on callnumber for the hosts. Hosts are paidexpenses of £22 a night; this varies if theyoung person does not want a meal, etc.There are standard crashpad rules thatcan be added to by the host.

Hosts are recruited mainly through wordof mouth. Potential hosts complete anapplication. They have two interviews, anenhanced CRB check and require tworeferences. All adults in the household areinterviewed and require an enhancedcheck with the Criminal Records Bureau(CRB) and all under 18s are spoken to. Thehouse is health and safety checked in thefirst instance then six-monthly thereafter,and CRB checks are repeated every twoyears. Hosts are supported by crashpadstaff and have access to training,including working with care leavers.



www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/emergencyaccommodation/

www.communities.gov.uk/youthhomelessness/accommodation/supportedlodgings/


www.homelesspages.org.uk/prods/products.asp?prid=2462


england.shelter.org.uk/shop/publications/good_practice/reports/safe_and_well


Young people take many differentaccommodation pathways when leaving care,and like Steven’s scenario in the introduction,may utilise a number of the accommodationmodels outlined in this guide. What isimportant is that the journey that youngpeople embark on when leaving care andbecoming an adult results in a positivehousing outcome. Suitable and stableaccommodation will enable young people todevelop other areas of their life, e.g., socialnetworking, education, employment andtraining. Accessing and maintaining safe andsuitable accommodation will ensure thatyoung people feel valued and significantmembers of their community and widersociety. Being a parent is a critical role insupporting young people in navigating theirtransition to adult life; being a corporateparent is no less significant but requires moreeffort and co-ordination. Those who areinvolved in ensuring that care leavers achieve good housing outcome should notunderestimate the importance of their rolesin shaping these young people’s lives.

This guide has aimed to identify the uniqueposition of those leaving care, outlining thekey issues affecting care leavers and whatlocal authorities, housing and supportproviders and those supporting young peopleneed to do to address these. It has not beenpossible in this publication to outline all thegood practice that local authorities, thirdsector providers and others are involved in toimprove accommodation for young peopleleaving care. The aim has been to highlight

some of the ways in which local authoritiesand their partners have risen to the challengeof enhancing accommodation for this group ofyoung people. Research has identified thathousing for young people continues to beinsufficient to meet their needs; however,most of those leaving care do not have theoption to remain at home until either theircircumstances or the housing environmentimproves. While local authorities arereporting increases in the numbers of careleavers aged 19 in suitable accommodation,55

the impetus should not be lost to ensure thateach young person leaving care accesses andmaintains settled accommodation.

Conclusion

55 See Section one of this guide for local authorities reporting requirement on care leavers in suitableaccommodation.

National Care Advisory Service (NCAS)

Catch22 Office, 3rd Floor, Churchill House, 142—146 Old Street, London EC1V 9BW

T 020 7336 4824 F 020 7336 4801 E [email protected]

www.leavingcare.org

NCAS is part of the national charity Catch22.



care leavers’ successful transistion to independent accomadation

Documents