Where will I live

When coming into care, most children go into a foster placement. We have Bromley foster carers that we use but a foster placement can be anywhere in the UK. Our foster care placements are called in house placements (click here for details on how we recruit our carers) or we use foster carers from Independent Fostering Agencies (IFA).

Regardless of this, the care, support and encouragement you will receive is the same.

We expect all carers to:

• Make sure that where you live is safe for you and is a comfortable place to live
• Make you a part of the family by including you in activities, holidays, celebrations etc
• Treat you with respect, be kind to you and help you understand your care journey
• Clearly explain to you what is expected of you whilst you are living there
• Work with other adults to help to offer you support, such as your social worker, parents, teachers etc.
• Support you with family contact and friends as long as this is part of your care plan
• Support you with your education
• Celebrate your special occasions with you, such as your birthday or cultural and religious festivals
• Share information with other professionals to help to keep you safe
• Support you to be healthy
• Support you with participating in activities that you are interested in

Help you to learn independent living skills such as cooking, washing, shopping etc

You get a lot of wellbeing support no matter where you live. If you live with a carer who is with an Independent Fostering Agency (IFA), we also have a therapeutic offer for that you can access.

Sometimes when you are in care it’s possible to live with relatives, family friends and others who are connected to your family or you. We call this a Connected Person’s placement. In order for you to live with someone who is connected to you, that person must go through an assessment similar to a fostering assessment. This is so that we can make sure they are able to care for you and that you will be safe whilst you live with them. Once they are approved as a connected person, they will be classed as a foster carer but only for you.

If you are to be matched long term with your connected person’s carer the process is exactly the same as for the long term placements. You will still have a social worker to support you but you will remain in the place you call home and with the people you feel care for you the best. Once you turn 18 you will be entitled to a leaving care service from our Leaving Care Team.

A Special Guardian is usually someone with a close relationship to you, such as a family member, former foster carer or family friend. For someone to become a Special Guardian they need to apply to the court, who would consider their suitability and your needs, based on a report from us. If the court agrees then a Special Guardianship order is granted, this places you with your carer permanently and gives your carer parental responsibility for you. You will no longer have a social worker and will not be in care.

We find that for some of our children a residential home may be able to provide the care that they need better than some of our other placements. A residential children’s home is often a house, with other children in care living there too. You will each have your own room but just like in a family home share the bathroom, kitchen and other living areas. There is always staff present at the home, every moment of the day and they will support you just like foster carers would. They will offer you alone time and help to prepare your meals. The staff work on a rota and it wouldn’t be the same staff member on all the time but you will have one main keyworker who will offer you one to one support.

As you grow up, your needs will change and therefore your care plan may also change. Some of our young people preparing for independent living may get the opportunity to move into semi-independent accommodation. You receive on-site support from keyworkers, this could be 24 hours support for those requiring a high level of support, or 5 hours a week for those who need less support. We are working with a number of different semi-independent providers both in and out of Bromley. This type of accommodation is the bridge between living with an adult who fully takes care of you and living independently. In a Semi-independent placement, you are expected to take on more responsibility in coordinating your money, education, cooking cleaning etc.

If you are in a long term placement, either with a foster carer or a connected persons carer, your official care status ends at 18. This doesn’t automatically mean that your time with that carer or family ends. We work with carers to offer the opportunity for you to Stay Put. Staying Put is where as a care leaver you continue to live with your foster carer after your 18^th birthday.  If your foster carers are in agreement to the option of Staying Put then this will be discussed with your social worker and agreed at your CLA review so that plans can be made ahead of your 18^th birthday. This is good news, as you can continue to live with the people you know up until the age of 21. During this time we will help you to prepare for independent living so that you are prepared for living in your own accommodation.

There is a Staying Put agreement drawn up between you and your carers. The agreement will help you both to be clear on the expectations of you whilst you are an adult Staying Put, it can include things like washing the dishes, buying your food and acceptable times for you to come back home. Financially for those of you in education there will be no major changes until you have completed the academic year in which you turn 18. You will continue to receive full support from your foster carers and they will remain responsible for providing you with your pocket money, clothing money etc. Once the academic year ends you will be expected to take on more financial responsibility by contributing to the rent etc. If you are not working you need to make a claim for Universal Credit (UC). If you are eligible for UC, you may also be able to get housing benefit which will be paid to Bromley as your rent. If you are Staying Put and are working you may be asked to contribute up to 20% of your income towards your rent.

Some of our older young people take the opportunity to live in a supported lodgings home. Our supported lodgings scheme supports young people leaving care by giving them accommodation in the home of a supportive adult. A supported lodgings provider does not have the same responsibility as a foster carer. The carer is there to offer support and advice but you will have more independence than in a foster placement. You can stay in a supported lodgings home from 6 months to two years; however the length can be flexible and is dependent on your needs. If you are over 18 you will be expected to contribute to the rent and other household items. If you are not working, you will be expected to claim Universal Credit (UC) and housing benefit to cover the rent. Most of our carers also work and you will therefore be expected to buy and cook your own food. You will be supported with developing your independent living skills in order to prepare you for living in your own accommodation.

Moving into privately rented accommodation is a lot different to a Housing Association tenancy. It is important that you are completely sure that you are able to meet the monthly costs and that you are prepared to be asked to move out at short notice if the landlord decides to sell the property, or change the use, or if you are in breach of the tenancy agreement (this may be because of failure to pay your rent, or bringing pets into the property, noise nuisance or moving other people in without permission etc.).

The private rental sector does not provide you with the security of a permanent tenancy but may be an option if you choose to move out of the Bromley borough and wish to live independently. If this option appears to be the best for you at the time you can discuss this with your Young Person Advisor to see if you can get assistance with a deposit to secure a private rented property. In order to do this your proposed landlord would need to provide a full tenancy agreement and contract.  The most common reason for accessing this type of accommodation is for those who are attending university outside of London and do not wish to live in university accommodation. Unfortunately we are unable to act as guarantor for any privately rented accommodation so this would need to be checked out with the landlord who will normally require a guarantor, i.e someone over the age of 18 who is willing to guarantee your rent and can be approached to pay for any damages or loss of rent should you fail to abide by the tenancy agreement.

If you are going to study at University you may wish to live on campus, you can apply to the Student accommodation services for a place before you start the course. You may need an advance payment to secure the accommodation which can be accessed via your Young Person Advisor (YPA), assuming the university has sent you an acceptance letter and we are sure you have a place on a course. Alternatively you may choose to find a place of your own in the private rented sector. You will be responsible for paying your rent in full from your Student Loans and a leaving care grant from us as you will not be eligible for Housing Benefit as a university student. You should look for 52 week a year accommodation if you have no alternative place to stay during the holiday period. A lot of universities are now offering this service to care leavers and it is helpful if you feel able to identify yourself as a care leaver on your UCAS application to ensure you get all the additional help available at your university. If you are worried about the arrangements for student holiday accommodation you can discuss this with your YPA once you have an offer from a university and make sure that arrangements are in place before you start your course.