Local offer for care leavers

As a Leicestershire care leaver, we will:

• Assign a Personal Advisor to you, who can help prepare you to live independently. You will have an allocated personal advisor until you turn 21, or until 25 if you’re still in education or training. We will assess your needs from the age of 21 – 25 if you or a professional working with you feel that you still need support. If necessary, we will allocate a personal advisor to help you.

Your rights if you are an Unaccompanied Child Seeking Asylum

• If you arrive into the UK as a child (under 18) seeking asylum with no adults to take care of you, and you are in the area of Leicestershire, you will come into the care of Leicestershire County Council.
• We have a specialist team of Social Workers and Personal Advisors who have a deep understanding of supporting young people seeking asylum in the UK.
• We will ensure that any discussions that take place with you are done with an interpreter for you, so that you understand what is being said. We will provide interpreters to ensure your voice is heard. We will also provide written translations if needed.
• We are initiating a Pathway to Independence programme to support you as you approach adulthood and beyond. This is a specific programme for UASC young people to enhance your settlement in the UK and help you build skills.
• We support you to celebrate religious and cultural festivals that are important to you and ensure that you have access to food and clothing that is familiar to you, as we understand how different the UK can be to where you have come from. 
• We understand that you may wish to link in with others who have been through similar trauma to you and are also new to the UK and can provide opportunities for you to connect with people who can give you a sense of belonging.
• We will help you integrate into life in the UK and give you lots of opportunities to learn and practice English.
• We work closely with organisations such as Red Cross, the Refugee Council, After you are 18 and Freedom Youth Club who can provide support to you.
• We will support you to make a claim for asylum with a solicitor and access legal advice throughout this process. We will continue to provide you with accommodation whilst you are waiting for the outcome of your asylum decision, even if this is after you turn 18.
• If you are a child in care for more than 13 weeks after the age of 16, we will support you as a care leaver. If you weren’t in our care prior to this but were in the UK as a child, we will factor this in to your qualifying period.
  They will work with you to develop your pathway plan, which will specify:
  - who is going to help you
  - how they are going to help you and by when
• Make sure that you’re involved in decisions not only about your own life but also the service that we provide for our care leavers. We hold monthly After Care council meetings were you will be working on the issues that are important to care leavers, your voice will have an influence on making decisions that impact on practice. We meet monthly at our Supporting Young People After Care (SYPAC) group which is where care leavers have the chance to spend time with each other and socialise. You can continue to attend beyond 25.
• Encourage you to stay in care until you’re 18 and make sure that you’re fully aware of your entitlements if you choose to leave care before then.
• Help you to ‘Stay Put’ with your foster carer until you’re 21, if this is what you and your foster carer wants.
• Help you to move into safe and suitable accommodation.
• Help you to get into education, training and jobs. We can offer financial support in some circumstances to help you to do this.
• Support you to ensure that you are getting the right support at the right time.
• Support you to access complaints if you feel that your right are not being met. You can contact us on 0116 305 3051, or email careleaversuascduty@leics.gov.uk
• However should you want to make a formal complaint, which is your right to do, please visit Complaints and comments