Are you 16 and in Care or a Care Leaver under the age of 21?
Then you are entitled to advocacy support.
What can advocacy do for you?
Advocacy can help you understand your rights and entitlements.
The law is complicated when it comes to leaving care. Your entitlements vary depending on when you came into care, how long you have been in care and how old you are.
Most young people who have spent some time in care are entitled to:
A Leaving Care Advisor and a Pathway Plan
Financial Support
Setting up allowance
Help to get accommodation
Support to attend College and University
If you would like more information about your rights and entitlement to leaving Care support you can ask your Social Worker or Personal Advisor or you can contact the Youth Advocacy Project.
Advocacy can support you to have a say in the decisions that are made about you.
This year the advocacy project has supported Young People in care and Care Leavers to challenge a variety of decisions. YAP has advocated for individual Care Leavers to:
Get a laptop
Change accommodation
Access their ‘Setting up allowance’
Change social worker
Receive the correct financial payments
Access their records
Move from independent living back to their Foster Carers
We can’t guarantee that you will always get what you ask for but we can make sure that the right people will hear about what you want, if you want them to.
Advocacy might increase your chance of successfully challenging a decision that has been made about you especially where policy and procedure has not been followed correctly.
Other useful organisations and links
The Care Leavers Association www.careleavers.com
The National Care Advisory Service www.leavingcare.org
16 Plus Advisory Board. This Group of Brighton and Hove Care Leavers meet regularly to advise the 16 Plus Team on policy and practice. To contact the facilitator email: