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16 - 18

16 - 18's

Being in Care 
Young people like you are in care or have been in care.
For most young people this means living away from your family. This can be a scary time as you will meet lots of new people and may not understand all that is happening or why.
There are many reasons why young people come into care. Whatever the reason, it is important to remember it is NOT YOUR FAULT. Try not to worry about what is happening or going to happen as there will be trusted adults and other young people you can talk to if you are worried or upset.

 

When a young person becomes 18 they are no longer legally in care. Although many young people leave care when they are 18, some young people may leave before that.
To qualify for support after leaving care from Solihull Children’s Services, young people would have needed to have been in care for 13 weeks either:
- between their 14th & after their 16th birthdays
- or after their 16th birthday.

 

Other young people who have been in care or subject to a special guardianship order or residence order or from another local authority, may also be able to get advice and assistance from Solihull Children’s Services.
 

Solihull Council are updating the Local Offer on the services on offer to help and support you.

If you would to find out more information, talk to your PA or Social Worker

NEW LOCAL OFFER

local offer_edited_edited.jpg

Coming Soon !

Listening to young people who have care
experience is essential in understanding what works well within Solihull and what improvements can be made.

View the full document

Education & Training 

As well as having a plan, there will be a specific teacher (who may be called a Designated Teacher) in your school who has the responsibility for young people in care and is there to support you with any issues you may have about being in care and your education. Ask your teacher or social worker to find our who this is.

If things get difficult at school, someone from the LACES TEAM can visit you in school to help sort out any problems and make sure your feelings are known to the school. They can also give you further advice about your education, but only if you want it.

Either your carer or social worker must go with you to parents evenings to find out how you are getting on, what you are good at and what you may need extra help with.

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As you get older, people at school and home will try and help you prepare to achieve what you want out of life. You may have lots of questions about what you want to do in the future. These are important bug questions. Children's Services and others, want to support you so that you achieve these goals and ambitions.

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IT'S YOUR LIFE AND YOUR FUTURE

The question "what do you want to do with the ret of your life?", doesn't just mean "what job do you want to do?"

It also includes your personal journey through life including;

  • where are you going to live

  • do you want to travel

  • what skills cn you develop

  • what do you want to achieve

  • can you help other people

Around the time of your 16th birthday, your social worker will support you with what you want to achieve out of life and will help you prepare for independant living. They will work with you to build your personal pathway plan. Your worker will support you until you are 21, or 25 if you continue in education or training.

Helpful Link

Checkout www.propel.org.uk for a guide and useful information on higher education.

Pathway plans 
As you are preparing to leave care, and after leaving care, you will be involved in agreeing and reviewing your Pathway Plan. Your Pathway Plan is important as it will look at the things that are important to you in moving to independence such as:

  • being ready to leave care

  • where you live

  • money management

  • looking after yourself

  • health

  • employment

  • education

  • training issues

Your Pathway Plan is also your proof of the support that Children’s Services have agreed to provide you.

Educational Funding Panel

Solihull Council has set up an Educational Funding Panel which has a small budget to allocate financial support to individual young people aged 16 to 25, who have left care, to support them in accessing education , training and employment.

Detailed information, through an application form, will be presented to the panel to consider each situation on its own merit. There is a possibility that the panel may ask you  to present your own application in the case of complex or costly decisions. Your PA or Social Worker can help you complete the application form.

Remember, applications will need to be made in good time to help you and so that you know what support you will receive. Please do not rely on the funding you have applied for from the Educational Funding Panel until you have had approval in writing. There is no guarantee that an application will be successful. 

Health

Hello, we work as a team of nurses, doctors and administrators and are employed by the NHS.

 

So what do we do?  We meet you for health assessments when you first enter care, then twice a year for children under age 5 and once a year for children and young people over 5 years.

We will complete health summaries with useful health information once you reach 18, this is for you to keep.

We are around for support if you want to talk and can be contacted at our office or via email.

We will support your health until you reach age 19+, we offer a Care Leaver “drop in” last Friday afternoon of the month. Please ring us for details.

 

It is really important for you to be healthy, happy and feel safe. Our aim is to support you with this by talking about your health, advising on any support you may need, but most importantly making sure that you have a say in your health.

Whilst you are in care you might meet with the nurse or the doctor for a Health Assessment at home of in a clinic, OR somewhere else you feel most comfortable, OR you may prefer to talk on the phone and that is OK.

 

We understand it can feel really hard if you are struggling with worries or think you have a health problem but not sure what to do about it.

Many young people will talk to their friends to get information about health issues. The problem with this can be you may not get the best advise to meet your needs.

Our team is happy to offer you support, health assessments and advise when you need it and where you feel most comfortable.

 

Your information is important.  We respect this and we talk to you about what we share and why – if it’s a worry that someone is hurting you or you aren’t safe, we have to share this with social care. But if it’s a personal and sensitive health matter, that’s different and we don’t have to share unless you agree.

 

The main this to remember is that there is someone you can talk to or if you would like information about websites you can access for information, please contact us.

 

Our team number is 0121 295 3010 or our email is bhs-tr.LAC-teamforsolihull@nhs.net

Support with Childcare Costs 

If you want to access training and education, you should find out what childcare support is on offer from your employer, training provider, college or university.

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If they are not able to offer support, then talk to your PA about what support may be available to help you access childcare.

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If needed, you could make an application to the Educatio Funding Panel, to request funding towards the cost of childcare whilst you study training or education. 

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