Who is a Personal Advisor and how will they help me?

Your personal advisor is not a social worker, and their role is to support you through your journey leaving care into adulthood. Their role is help you become more independent and work with you to plan for your future. They can advise you on the best ways to achieve your goals and will be a reliable adult for support.

You will normally be introduced to your personal advisor at 16 and a half years, and they will work with you until at least your 21st birthday.

Between 16 and before you are 18, your Personal Adviser will focus on getting to know you and build a relationship where you will start the conversation about what you want for your future. They will help you (alongside your Social Worker) bring together your Pathway Plan goals and when you turn 18 will continue to keep your Pathway Plan under review.

Your Personal Adviser will be at your side to help you work through decision making, even if these are tough, and celebrate your achievements. Your Personal Adviser will be open and honest with you and help you figure out new responsibilities as life changes.

When you turn 18 years of age you will no longer have a social worker and your personal advisor will be your main worker. They will keep in contact with you regularly, provide you with support and guidance. You will work out between you and your personal advisor the best way to keep in touch, and how often that should be. This will be reviewed in your pathway plan and can change depending on if you need more or less support.          

We will try to enable you to keep the same Personal Adviser, though this will not always be possible. The amount of support that you receive from your Personal Adviser will depend on what you want and your circumstances.

Due to changes from the Children and Social Work Act 2017, you can ask for support from your personal adviser until you turn 25, whether you’re in education or training or not. The support we can offer you might look different to when you we younger and will reflect your specific needs and focus on the areas you need support in.

Qualifying care leavers are not automatically entitled to a personal advisor. If you believe you are a qualifying care leaver, reaching out to the duty team is a great first step. Here’s what you can expect:

Support from the Leaving Care Service can vary; it might be brief or extend for a longer time, depending on your needs.

The duty team will conduct a thorough needs assessment to understand your situation and needs.

Based on the assessment, they will provide advice and assistance to you.