Our offer for our care leavers

Can you receive support?

To get the full support of the Local Offer you must:
  • Have been in care for at least 13 weeks between the ages of 14 and 16 (including your 16th birthday)
  • Or have been in care for 13 weeks after your 16th birthday

Please note: The amount of support you get will depend on your age and circumstances.

 

Message from our Director of Children Services

Leaving care can be an exciting time. It can also feel quite scary and overwhelming. Some care experienced young people will have good support from Children’s Services, but others may feel they could have more guidance.

Although our Children’s Social Care service will be there to help you with the practical aspects of becoming more independent, it can be difficult to help manage the stressful changes this involves. Becoming a young adult is not always easy, especially if you have had a difficult time growing up.

We recognise that the help and support you receive from our Leaving Care Team is critical in helping you transition from care to independence. We take our responsibilities very seriously and want to be the best corporate parents we can be. We have high aspirations for you and want you to have the support you need to achieve your goals and potential.

We can help you access housing, education, training, work, physical and mental health support.

This offer focuses on the support we offer from the Leaving Care Team, but also the support you can access across services in Bromley.

The amount of support you get will depend on your age and circumstances. To get the full support of the Local Offer you must have been in care for at least 13 weeks between the ages of 14 and 16 (including your 16th birthday) or in care for 13 weeks after your 16th birthday. If you are unsure of your status or what support you are entitled to, please speak to your Young Person’s Advisor (known as a YPA) or our duty team who can help you understand your rights and entitlements.

Remember, we are here to support you. Please do reach out and get in touch if you have any questions or if we can help with anything.

With my best wishes
Richard Baldwin

 

The Local Offer

To view the full offer please click here

In Bromley our Leaving Care Team supports all of our care leavers, we  have a Group Manager who oversees the service, alongside Team Managers, Young Persons Advisors (YPA) and Social Workers, we also have some specialist workers who can offer more specialist support. It is all our jobs to support you in your journey towards independent living. We have a legal duty to support you until you are 21 – or up to the age of 25 if you are in education or would like that ongoing support.
We are based at the Civic Centre near Bromley town centre and are part of the Council’s Children’s Services.

Our local offer covers the following areas but I recommend that you read the full document for detailed information:

Your Voice is important

  • Advocacy – Independent advocates can inform you about your rights and help you to be heard in meetings. They are separate from the Council.
    Advocacy support is provided by an organisation called Advocacy For All.
    You do not need to arrange this contact through your worker. You can contact them directly by calling 0345 310 1812 or visiting
    advocacyforbromley.org
  • Change for Care Leavers

Pathway Plans

Every young person we are working with over the age of 16 who is care experienced will have a Pathway Plan up to the time we are no longer working together. It is a very important document because it sets out clearly what we will be doing for you. You should always have an up-to-date copy of your Pathway Plan and you can always look at what is written in it to make sure that you are receiving all the support you are entitled to.

Visit here for more details

Visits

We always want to keep in touch with you to make sure things are going well.
While you remain in care your social worker will visit you at least every 4 weeks. This is unless there has been an agreement with you, your carers and your Independent Reviewing Officer (known as an IRO) that because of your circumstances, and because you are settled, the visits will be less frequent. In these cases, your social worker will visit you at least every 8 weeks.
Once you become a care leaver your social worker or YPA will visit you at least every 8 weeks.
These are minimum expectations and your social or YPA should discuss with you what will work for you and what frequency of visits you need.

Support available – click on the links to read more

Qualifying care leavers

You will be entitled to support from the Leaving Care Team if you:

  • Left care on or after your 16th birthday and were looked after for less than 13 weeks after your 14th birthday
  • or had a Special Guardianship Order (known as an SGO) or had a SGO when you reached the age of 18 and were looked after immediately before the making of that Order
  • or were in care over 13 weeks but returned home for six months or more and ceased to be looked after prior to turning 18

If you can receive this support, you will not necessarily have an allocated worker or be eligible for all the support outlined in this offer. However, we can offer advice and guidance and can work with you to assess and consider any additional needs you may have. We can also work with you to make a plan for how those needs will be met. We can also offer help with living expenses if you are in higher education, up to the age of 25.

Access to your records

You also have a right to see the information we keep about you, including the files and records written about you when you were in care.

You can speak to your YPA or Social Worker about how to access this information. Alternatively, you can access your records by using our online Data Subject Request form on our Council website:
bromley.gov.uk/privacy
Your YPA or Social Worker can support you to look through your records when you receive them if that is what you want.