Fostering a disabled child
The role of an independent fostering agency
What support is available for foster carers?
How to choose a foster care agency
Foster Care Fortnight: How to raise awareness about children in foster care
Can I choose who I foster?
How to foster
What are the benefits of fostering with an independent fostering agency?
What happens when a child is taken into care?
Fostering process: what happens on an initial home visit?
Can you foster if you have mental health issues?
Fostering with local authority vs independent agency
Interview: Life as a foster parent during the pandemic
A complete guide to becoming a foster carer
Becoming A Foster Carer
Benefits of becoming a foster parent
What is a Care Leaver?
What is a Foster Carer?
What is Foster Care?
Do I become a Foster Carer?
Fostering Regulations
How much do Foster Parents get paid?
How to Foster a Child
How long does it take to become a Foster Carer?
How to foster – everything you ever wanted to know
Facts about Foster Care
What are the Foster Care requirements?
Foster Care Handbook
Foster Carer Job Description
Changing IFA - Transferring to Capstone
Fostering Definition
Foster Care Statistics
What does Every Child Matters Mean for Foster Parents?
Fostering Stories
Fostering Children UK
Children needing Fostering
Reasons for a child to be taken into Care
Fostering as a Career
Looked after Children
A guide to fostering assessments
LGBTQ+ Fostering
Equality, Inclusion & Anti-discriminatory Practice in Foster Care
Can you foster if you’re on benefits?
Top transferable job skills to become a foster carer
Fostering as a same sex couple
Fostering while renting
Is there an age limit for fostering in the UK?
Do foster carers get a pension?
How to foster a child: A step by step guide
Can I foster if...?
Mythbusting the top 10 Foster Care Myths
Can I foster if I am disabled?
LGBT Fostering Mythbusting
Can I foster if I have pets?
Can I Foster A Child?
Can I Foster and Work?
Can you Foster with a Criminal Record
Can Single People Foster?
LGBT Family and Foster Care
Fostering across Cultures
Muslim Fostering
Christian Foster Care
Sikh Fostering
Empty Nest Syndrome and Foster Care
Can I Foster?
Fostering Babies - Myths
Focusing on Parent & Child Fostering
Fostering Siblings
Fostering Teenagers
Fostering Teenagers - Breaking down the Myths
Fostering Unaccompanied and Asylum Seeking Children
Mother and Baby Foster Placements
Private Fostering
Therapeutic Fostering - Multi-disciplinary Assessment Treatment & Therapy Service (MATTS)
Young Children Fostering Placements
Difference between short and long-term fostering
Reunification and Birth Parents: A Guide for Foster Carers
How to prepare a child for becoming a care leaver
Children who foster: impact of fostering on birth children
How to prepare your home for a foster child
How to help a lonely child: A Guide for Foster Carers
10 tips for foster children’s education
How to prepare your foster child for secondary school
Tips for coping when foster placements end
Tips for foster parents during Coronavirus
What happens if foster parents get divorced?
5 ways to manage Mother’s Day with foster children
Tips for managing foster children’s bedtime routines
How to handle foster child bullying
Fostering allowances and the gender pay gap
What discounts can foster carers get?
How to adopt from Foster Care
5 ways to manage Fathers Day for children in foster care
8 most common fostering challenges
Supporting foster children’s contact with birth families
A guide to independent fostering
Keeping Children Safe Online: A Guide For Foster Carers
Foster Care in TV and Film
Play-based learning strategies for foster carers
How to deal with empty nest syndrome
How to recognise signs of depression in foster children
Can you take a foster child on holiday?
Tips and advice on fostering with a disability
10 tips on connecting with your Foster Child
Fostering vs Adoption - What's the difference?
How Fostering can change a future
How to adopt from Foster Care
How to encourage children to read in Foster Care
How to prepare a Foster Child's bedroom
Reading and Storytelling with Babies and Young Children
Supporting Children's Learning
The 20 most recommended books Foster Carers and young people should read
Things you can do when your children leave home
The impact of early childhood traumas on adolescence and adulthood
Anxious Disorders in Foster Children
What is sexual abuse and sexual violence
Foster Child behaviour management strategies
Foster Parent Advice: What to expect in your first year of fostering
Capstone's twelve tips at Christmas
10 celebrities who grew up in Foster Care
Celebrating our Children and Young People
Could Millenials be the solution to the Foster Care crisis?
Do you work in Emergency Services?
Form F Assessor and Assessment Training
Foster Care Fortnight
Improving Children's Welfare - Celebrating Universal Children's Day
It's time to talk about Mental Health and Foster Care
New Year - New Career - Become a Foster Carer
Promoting the rights and wellbeing of persons with Disabilities
Refugee Week
Young people and Mental Health in a changing world
Young People Charities
There are many reasons why a young person may leave care, however, care leavers are young people who are no longer required to live in foster care. Care leavers are entitled to some ongoing help and support from Children’s Services after they leave care. The leaving care age in England is 18 years old, however some young people can leave care aged 16 or 17.
There are different categories of care leavers depending on age, when the care leaver was in care and for how long. Care leavers may also be entitled to a leaving care service if you were placed with a friend or relative under a Special Guardianship Order.
Leaving home and setting out on a life path is daunting enough for any young person. For young people who have been in foster care, there is the extra stress and pressure of feeling that they do not have the family support that their non-fostered peers have. Being a care leaver may seem terrifying to them. In the UK, there are about 10,000 care leavers annually.
Care leavers who feel that they are ready to age out are not left alone in the world. It’s not uncommon for foster parents to maintain contact with foster children after they age out of foster care. Care leavers also maintain contact with Children’s Services, which continues to provide support. The support begins with planning for the foster child’s future when the child is 15 years old.
This is the Pathway Plan, which includes details on how the local authority will provide assistance with accommodation, higher education, spending money, and finding employment. It reflects the young person’s wishes and desires. The care leaver has the right to have his or her needs assessed before leaving care, taking into consideration what the young persons’ wishes are, their social needs, the financial help available, and their ability to live independently. A personal adviser ensures that the Pathway Plan is followed, reviewed at least once every six months, and updated regularly.
Children’s Services has a duty to provide support for care leavers until the age of 21. If the care leaver is in full-time education or training or has a disability, Children’s Services provides support until they are 21. This allows college or university students time to complete their education.
Care leavers are also encouraged to discuss with their adviser if there is a grant or a charity for which they might be eligible. Student support for care leavers is an essential part of the mandate to provide better outcomes in life.
The Capstone Care Leavers Trust offers helpful advice on where to find support when leaving foster care. Our programme offers financial grants, as well as support for entering higher education courses and job opportunities.
Another option is the Staying Put program, which has been designed to help children who would benefit from an extended stay with their former foster family because of delayed maturity or vulnerability. Another reason is that they need the extra time to complete their education or training.
Care leavers are also entitled to various bursaries and grants from the government - these are available for those who wish to go into higher education or an apprenticeship scheme. For care leavers pursuing an apprenticeship, they are eligible for a £1000 bursary, paid by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
If a care leaver wishes to go to university, they are also entitled to various payment schemes known as Care and Foyer Leavers Funding. These schemes offer bursaries of up to £9000 each year, however, the amount of funding a care leaver might receive is dependent on the type of funding their UCAS choices provide.
The care leavers association is a growing network of care leavers, dedicated to improving support for young people who leave care. They host many charitable projects such as the ‘Young People’s Project’, where they offer advice and signpost services that can offer assistance to care leavers.
For further information, contact Capstone on 0800 012 4004, contact us or visit Capstone Care Leavers Trust for further information.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to find out more about fostering with Capstone, fill out the form below.
An experienced fostering advisor from your local area will then be in touch.
Start the conversation today. Our team of friendly advisors are on hand to answer any foster care questions you may have. We can offer you honest and practical advice that can help you decide if becoming a foster carer is the right path for you.
