Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 part 11 - continuing care: guidance

Preface

The Scottish Government’s commitment to supporting care experienced young people is reflected in the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act"). The 2014 Act sets out the responsibilities that corporate parents have to support care experienced children and young people and introduced Continuing Care provision.

Since the inception of the 2014 Act, young people leaving care after their sixteenth birthday, and who have been looked after in foster, kinship or residential care, have been eligible for Continuing Care, with the effect that young people can remain in their eligible care setting and receive the same level of support up to their twenty-first birthday. Continuing Care has promoted a needs-based approach and has allowed young people to maintain and build upon the strong and positive relationships developed in their care settings, so that they can make the transition to independent living when they are more ready to do so.

Independent living might mean different things for different individuals; for example, for some disabled young people, living alone may not be an option. Statutory guidance on self-directed support defines independent living as "people of all ages having freedom, choice, dignity, and control, and fulfilling your rights to participate in society and live a full life. It does not mean living by yourself or fending for yourself"^[1].

This refreshed guidance on Continuing Care aims to reflect developments in policy and practice as well as providing clarity to those who provide support services by addressing implementation gaps.

This guidance is intended primarily for local authorities. It is also important for other corporate parents (as listed in schedule 4 of the 2014 Act) and other individuals and organisations involved in supporting looked after children and young people and care leavers. This guidance, however, cannot provide answers or advice for every unique situation or particular set of circumstances. If necessary, looked after young people, local authorities and other corporate parents should seek independent legal advice.

Although the guidelines set out in this document are not in themselves statutory requirements, all local authorities and children’s services planning partnerships should have regard to them. They reflect the expectations of Scottish Ministers, in accordance with current legislative requirements and may be referenced by scrutiny bodies in the course of external inspection.

The aims of this guidance are:

a) to reinforce the legal and ethical responsibilities of local authorities towards looked after young people and care leavers;

b) to outline the duty of local authorities when providing Continuing Care;

c) to provide a framework for enhanced and improved personal support (based on on-going personal contact) for Scotland’s young people when they cease to be looked after;

d) to support a rights based, person centred, trauma-informed approach which builds on the values and principles of Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC)^[2].