Being a care leaver

As you get close to your 16th birthday, your social worker will complete a needs assessment and pathway plan document with you. Care leavers helped to create this document.

We complete this assessment with you to find out about your needs, goals and what you want for your future. After the assessment, you will receive a plan that tells you:

• what support you can expect from carers and professionals
• who will do what to help and when they will do it
• what skills you can work on to help you become more independent

This plan will help you achieve your goals. Your Child Review Officer (CRO) will use the plan in your looked after reviews.

We do not want you to worry about any of this. We start planning early so you can make informed choices and have the right support at every stage.

You will have your first review after your 16th birthday. The Leaving Care Service will arrange for a Personal Advisor (PA) to attend the review. Before the meeting, they will look at your needs assessment and pathway plan. The PA can:

• advise you of additional things they think your plan should include
• explain your rights and what support you can get as a care leaver
• tell you about the team's drop-in sessions for young people under 18 to learn more about the service

Before you turn 17, your social worker will carry out the role of a personal adviser. However, our Leaving Care team can still help you if you need extra support.

When you are 17, you will get a personal advisor who, along with the Leaving Care Service team, will support you until you are 21. This support can continue until age 25 if you choose to receive it or if you are in education.

We know becoming an adult can be hard but it's also fun. We also know you may not always get it right first time and that is fine. We will keep supporting you to achieve your goals and become the independent adult we know you can be.