
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
38 | AFTERCARE - THE NEXT STEP
Providing opportunities for
employment
The initial assessment of a young
person includes identifying their
experiences of any training, education
and volunteering, alongside their
aspirations. This also identifies any
strengths or weaknesses, contributing
to their tailored independent living
template and an action plan designed
to prevent them becoming NEET.
We achieve this through targeting a
successful transition into learning or
employment. The process is focused
on the individual and involves them at
all stages, motivating them to engage
with the SMART targets in their action
plan. We encourage our young people
to take control of their own destinies,
increasing their resilience and self-
reliance, thereby improving their
lifechances.
Each young person is offered a
referral to a personal education and
employability mentor, who provides
them with motivational support,
impartial careers advice, creative arts
and financial assistance.
Success in one area of a young
person’s life ensures success in
others. Therefore, we recognise that
young care leavers need continuing
access to a range of professional
and informal support services.
Furthermore, they must be involved as
key partners throughout the transition
period and beyond, alongside their
careers or significant others. We
work collaboratively with local
agencies to help to secure habitable
accommodation in safe locations.
The difficulties of tenancy
applications
One of the greatest difficulties facing
those leaving care is securing their own
tenancies, as, combined with a deficit
of available social housing, landlords
are reluctant to offer tenancies to
18-year-olds. This is exacerbated
for care leavers, who have often
experienced breakdowns in family
relationships, making them reliant on
local authorities or professional support.
We find that despite having to leave the
care system at 18, many young people
are not ready to live independently.
Leaving their stable home environments
is often a further trauma, creating
further emotional and mental health
setbacks. There is a substantial lack of
mental health services for those aged
16-18, with increasingly large waiting
lists. The greatest issue raised by our care
leavers is that their 18th birthday is not a
day of celebration but instead associated
with the uncertainty of their future.
The Government Care Leaver
Strategy 2013, and the introduction
of the Staying Put duty in 2014, is
already helping outcomes for many
care leavers. We believe that not
only should care leavers have the
opportunity to continue living in their
former foster care beyond 18 but also
that certain cases should be allowed to
remain within the care system – with
the chance to stay in stable, supportive
placements such as ours. The benefits
of such are evidential, with greater
successes and outcomes for those who
have remained within our service for
4-6 months following turning 18.
We encourage
our young
people to take
control of their
own destinies,
increasing their
resilience and
self-reliance,
thereby
improving their
life chances.
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Specialising in Personalised,
Tailored Support Packages and oering:
Intense 1:1 support for Young People,
who are victims of CSE, Drugs and Crime
• Group Living Semi Independent
Accommodation
Solo Placements
Floating Support
• Drop in Services
• Access to suitable Education,
Training and Employment
• Development in Independent Living Skills
Providing a range of exible,
targeted services for
Looked After Young People,
aged 16 to 21
Leaving Care and Semi-Independent
Support Specialists
...the next step
Aftercare
Aftercare the Next Step Ltd
Units 2b, Wavertree Boulevard, Liverpool. L7 9PF.
Email: aftercare@aftercare-tns.org
Tel: 0151 228 1633
Providing a range of
flexible, targeted services
for looked-after young
people, aged 16 to 21