Care Leavers Local Offer

Leisure section has lots of information to help you get involved

Transport section has lots of information to help you get around

• Volunteer Centre – Dedicated local centre for local opportunities
• Halton Young Addaction – volunteer or become a young leader        Tel: 01928 240406  Volunteer App and Information Brochure
• Inspire – Wellbeing Enterprises support if you are experiencing difficulties or going through a tough time to get involved in things that interest you
• Mind Halton – volunteering to support mental health contact Mind Halton for more information
• National Citizenship Service  – programme for young people during school half terms and summer holidays

Community Centres

Provide a wide range of activities and groups that you might wish to get involved in

Local Libraries, Parks & Leisure

For details of groups, activities, ways to keep active and leisure opportunities

• Gov.uk – Leaving Care or Foster Care
• Care Leavers
• The Care Leavers Foundation
• Catch-22
• Childrens Commissioner
• NCB

We will encourage you to stay in care until you are age 18.  Most young people live at home with their families at this age. If you choose to leave care before age 18, the law says we must provide you with suitable accommodation.

When moving into different accommodation your PA will make sure that it is somewhere safe for you to live and fits in with your needs that will be found in your Pathway Plan.

We can give you a setting up home grant, to help you buy essentials for your new home, your PA, will help you find out how much you can get.

You should get help with your housing until you are 21, either from the local authority or through the benefits system.  If you are in full time education, you can get help until you are age 25.

If you and your foster carers decide you want to remain with them, we can support you through a ‘Staying Put’ arrangement which can last until you are age 21.  Your PA can help you with this.

When you first move into your own place you are entitled to a setting up home grant of £2000, this will help to get stsarted with furniture and decorating.  Things you require to help to make your house feel like a home. The grant can be used for:

• Halton Housing Trust
• Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT)
• Riverside
• Plus Dane
• Your Housing Group
• Sanctuary

For more information about renting social housing please see the property plus website.

If you are aged over 18, your PA will help you to think about finding suitable accommodation, which might include:

• Lead tenancy – own house/flat, you will have a tenancy agreement which is a contract between you and the landlord of the property, which gives you and your landlord certain rights. You are responsible for paying the rent to your landlord and paying utility bills, such as gas, electric, water, TV license and food.
• Residential care – living in a house with other young people in care, there will be a team of professional staff that work shifts within the house to care and support you.
• Supported accommodation –  this might be if you’re not ready to have your own ‘lead tenancy’, you’d be living in a flat or house with other young people with the support of adults.

If you are a Halton Care Leaver and stay living in Halton you will be exempt from Council Tax until your 25th birthday.

Your PA will help you to claim Housing Benefit/Universal Credit and to get your National Insurance Number.

Easy Read Guides about getting a TV Licence

Shelter

In a medical emergency (e.g. self-harm or suicide attempt) always ring 999 or go to a hospital Accident & Emergency

For non-medical emergencies, contact the NHS on 111 for advice about your health

To contact the local Police in a non-emergency you can ring 101

Don’t forget you can get free prescriptions, glasses and dental treatment until the age of 18.

Search for a service 

Health is more than being healthy, eating healthy or doing regular exercise.

It’s your physical, mental and sexual health, including problems with alcohol or drug/substance misuse.

The Health section has lots of information, support and advice.

Dedicated section with lots of information, advice and support for your mental health

• Talk to FRANK (Friendly, Confidential Drug Advice)
• TeensHealth

Moving from foster or residential care into independent living is a big change for care leavers

You might feel excited and ready to move, have concerns about how you’ll support yourself,  feel lonely or be worried about managing a household for the first time

You might want to reconnect with family members

You might want to socialise and interact with other care leavers due to a shared understanding of one another and shared experiences. Equally, you might wish to avoid any further association with the care system and will not want to be defined as a care leaver.

During this time, accessing social opportunities, such as sports, groups or volunteering  to meet new people and make friends might help – your Personal Advisor can help you with these things

An advocate is someone who can help you solve any problems you may have and can speak to people on your behalf.

They can help you:

• If you’re not being listened to, need some advice or if you are being bullied
• Feel you are not being treated fairly
• To stay where you want to
• Talk to your social worker or personal adviser for you
• Can come and see you and talk about your life
• When you are sad or need to change things
• Tell them anything you want

Advocates work for NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service).

• NYAS Leaflet
• NYAS Poster

If you want an Advocate to help you, ask your social worker or personal adviser and they can arrange one for you.

We want to make sure you achieve the best when you leave care and it is important we listen to what you have to say about the services you receive from us.

There are many ways you can get involved, you can join the Children in Care Council or care leavers group

You can contact tell your social worker or PA

Or you can complete a compliment and complaints form

GLOW – Youth Group for LGBTQ aged 13-19 years and  GLOW FB page

Brook sexual health and wellbeing information for under 25s

Get It On – Halton and St Helens

• Relationships Advice
• Sex and Sexual Health
• STI’s
• Pregnancy
• Sexual Health Clinics

TeensHealth – Sexual Health

• CEOP Reporting Centre for staying safe
• Child Exploitation and Online Protection
• Digital Parenting Guide
• Get Safe Online
• Guide to Keeping Safe Online
• Grooming – signs to spot it happening
• Internet Safety for Teens
• Internet Matters
• Keeping Kids Safe Online – O2/NSPCC
• Online Safety Resource Guide
• PACE – Parents Against Child Sexual Exploitation and Parent’s Support
• Sexting
• Thinkuknow – CEOP’s
• Underwear Rule
• Parents Protect

• Coram Voice for Young People Getting Heard
• Halton Young Addaction

Virtual School information

The Virtual School will help with all aspects of education when you are a Care Leaver.

If you want to go to university, we will try and arrange visits and help with advice and guidance about the support that each University and the Government will provide for you.

Halton Children Social Care will give you a £2000 bursary, paid in instalments.  We will cover the cost of your student accommodation and can also provide financial support for resources, on an individual basis.

The law around what Social Care has to provide you is always being updated, we will give you the most current advice of what you are entitled to Entitlements and Rights 

• Princes Trust
• Apprenticeships
• UCAS – Undergraduate Getting Started – Care Leavers
• Student Finance Advice
• V-Inspired

Halton’s Mersey Interactive

One place for all the publicly available links to career information and resources includes Barclays Lifeskills, Apprenticeship Vacancies, subject related career information and is being further developed to include local labour market information and local employer profiles.

u-explore

Discounted rate to Halton schools, colleges and education providers via 14-19Team@halton.gov.uk

Free for young people aged 16 to 18 who are not in education, training or employment – contact a local Career Connect Connexions Adviser or email 14-19Team@halton.gov.uk for the access registration code to view resources e.g. job profiles, employer video tours, interviews with employers and lots more to help you decide on your career

National Careers Service

Independent, professional and high quality careers and skills advice, available from age 13+ online or over the telephone.  Adults have additional access to community-based face-to-face advice.

Post 16 Directory

This directory is to support professionals working with young people to move on to Education, Employment or Training

Provides lots of information to help find a job e.g. Becoming an Ap prentice, Help with moving from Benefits to Work

Provides help and advice on moving from benefits to work, work experience/volunteering, starting your own business and support available when you start working, including the

Benefits Calculator

• Princes Trust
• Apprenticeships
• National Minimum Wage
• V-Inspired

• Care Leavers
• The Care Leavers Foundation
• Leaving Care
• Catch-22
• Childrens Commissioner
• NCB
• Community Care – learn to live independently

The law says that as a Care Leaver you have a right to see information we keep about you including files and records when you were in care, this is called ‘Access to Records’ or ‘Subject Access Request’ .

If you want access you can talk to your social worker or PA who will arrange for this to happen as it will require a  Subject Access Records Application Form to be completed.

More information is available on the Halton Borough Council website

Services available

• Childline
• NSPCC
• Info4Kids
• Children Legal Centre
• NYAS
• Halton CAB (Citizen Advice Bureau)
• Leaving Care
• LawStuff for children and young people
• Gov.uk 

When you first move into your own place you are entitled to a setting up home grant of £2000, this will help to get stsarted with furniture and decorating.  Things you require to help to make your house feel like a home. The grant can be used for:

We will try to help you financially, in a similar way to how parents support their own children for things like:

• You will be exempt from paying Council Tax;
• Tell you about money management training;
• How to access your Junior ISA, if you have one (this is a fund of money set aside by the Government and the Council);
• Support to set up a bank account, gain important identification documents e.g. Passport, provisional Driving Locence before your 18th birthday;
• Support to get your National Insurance Number;
• A financial gift on your birthday, christmas or other celebrations.

When you are 18, you will be responsible for paying your own bills, how much you pay depends on whether you are in education, employment or looking for work. These are some organisations that can help advice you:

• Citizens Advice Bureau
• Halton Credit Union (you must live or work in Halton)
• Money Advice Service
• Runcorn Debt Centre 
• Benefits and Welfare Advice
• Access To Work Fund
• Benefits and Council Tax
• Carers Allowance
• Entitled To – are you missing out on benefits?
• (PIP) Personal Independence Payment – What it is and How to claim it
• Universal Credit 
• Welfare Rights Fact Sheet

Easy Read Guides about opening up bank accounts and dealing with money

• MyBNK – financial education for young people
• National Debt Line
• Money Saving Expert
• Turn2us