Who is a Care Leaver?

You are a care leaver if:

• You are under 25 years old.
• You spent time in care as a child or young person.

The support you get depends on your age, situation, and amount of time you were in care.

For full support from the leaving care service, you must have been in care for 13 weeks between ages 14 and 16.

There are four care leaver statuses.

Eligible Child

If you are an eligible care leaver you will be aged 16 or 17 years, have been

Looked after by children’s services for a period of 13 weeks or more after your 14^th birthday and will still be in care.

*It does not matter if the times you were in care after your 14^th birthday were in a single period or over several different periods.

Relevant Child

If you are a relevant care leaver you will be aged 16 or 17 years, were

Looked after by children’s services for a period of 13 weeks or more after your 14^th birthday but have now left care and are no longer looked after.

Former Relevant Child

You are a former relevant care leaver is you are aged between 18 and 25 years and were previously an eligible child and/or a relevant child when you turned 18 years of age.

Eligible, Relevant and Former Relevant care leavers are entitled to a range of financial support from the leaving care service including a Personal Advisor, who will visit you regularly, at least up until the age of 21 years and up to 25 years if you need this and you will have a Pathway Plan which will be reviewed regularly with you.

Qualifying Care Leaver

Qualifying care leavers are young people who have not been in care for more than 13 weeks after their 14^th birthday but were in care on their 16^th birthday.

You will also be a qualifying care leaver, if you were immediately looked after before being cared for on a Special Guardianship Order you and are now aged between 16 years and 21 years of age. You are aged 16 or 17 and returned home to live with your parents for more than six months in a planned way or for six months as a relevant care leaver.

You may also be a qualifying care leaver if you were privately fostered.

If you’re not sure what your care leaver status is, you can contact the leaving care service 01274 436760 or 01274 437123.

You can also find out more about you care leaver status by visiting Coram Voice’s website Am I a care leaver? – Coram Voice