WIREDGOV

Help at Hand provides advice and representations to care leavers up to the age of 25 – many of whom express concerns about facing a sudden ‘cliff edge’ in support.

Help at Hand is staffed by a team of child rights experts who will be delivering free training sessions to professionals that work with care leavers, specifically aimed at Personal Advisors – individuals employed by local authorities to provide advice and support to care leavers – and advocates from October.

These sessions will draw on the team’s experience of listening to what problems come up for care leavers and their expertise on their rights and entitlements.  

If you are a professional working with care leavers and would like to attend one of these sessions, please email Benedetta at help.team@childrenscommissioner.gov.uk with your contact details, the area of the country you work in, your employer and your job title.  

Help at Hand has found that the most common issues that come up for care leavers are:  

• Housing for care leavers living out of area of their parent local authority (especially for care leavers post age 21); 
• Access to guarantors when care leavers cannot be given social housing and need to privately rent;  
• Access to support when at university in and out of area; 
• Pathway plans lacking major information, leading to previously discussed issues not being actioned in future years;  
• Access to mental health and financial support; and 
• Council tax exemption for care leavers living out of the parent local authority area. 

These are two examples of the work Help at Hand have done to assist care leavers: 

Jenny* was 21 when she rang Help at Hand to ask for help with her situation. She had hit a bad patch with her mental health in the last few months and as a result had lost her skilled job, which was providing her with a good salary. She was struggling with her finances and had accrued rent arrears. Jenny wanted to find out about whether she could access savings she was entitled to as a former child in care. She had already asked her local authority but they had not got back to her. Jenny also told us that she had also received no response for request to see her care records.  

Help at Hand made representations to Jenny’s parent local authority and managed to get Jenny the following resolution: 1) support to set up a payment plan to repay her  arrears; 2) immediate support with specific budgeting training so that she would know how to tackle her budgeting issues; 3) an urgent referral to community mental health that would be monitored by her personal advisor; 4) care records to be shared with Jenny with professional support; and 5) Jenny’s Personal Advisor committed to look into the savings issue for Jenny.   

Michael* is 21 and an apprentice. He contacted Help at Hand because he had not received his apprenticeship bursary and was in serious financial difficulties. Without financial assistance he could not afford transport to work. Help at Hand guided Michael through the process of getting his bursary and also requested that his local authority re-open his case and provide him with a personal advisor to help support him through this difficult time.  

If you are a care leaver or a Staying Put foster carer of a care leaver that needs Help at Hand, please call 0800 528 0731 or email help.team@childrenscommissioner.gov.uk 

(* identifying details have been changed)