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

13. Continuing Care allowances

It is strongly advisable that young people remain looked after until eighteen years old. Continuing Care under the age of 18 should be considered only if a compulsory supervision requirement needs to be removed. A local authority should carefully consider the financial implications of offering a Continuing Care placement on the carer to ensure that a lack of financial support is not a barrier to the continuation of the placement regardless of the placement type.

Finance should be considered early in the planning process for a Continuing Care placement and as part of throughcare support. While the young person should be included in all aspects of planning their Continuing Care placement, in most cases it will not be appropriate for them to be aware of the exact amount that their foster carers receive for their care.

Young people in Continuing Care are entitled to the same support they received prior to ceasing to be looked after.^[46] This includes financial support. Although a young person being provided with Continuing Care is not eligible for Aftercare financial support, the support they receive should be no less than a young person in receipt of Aftercare support.

There should be no difference between the planning for a young person’s finances before they ceased to be looked after and when they are in Continuing Care. Each case should be assessed based on individual circumstances. Local authorities should consider carefully how to balance meeting a carer’s costs and providing financial support to the young person as part of their developing independence and personal responsibility.

Once a young person reaches their sixteenth birthday, they may be eligible for Universal Credit, disability benefits and/or Housing Benefit. As corporate parents, local authorities and other partners should work collaboratively to ensure that young people in Continuing Care receive all the support to which they are entitled. This should be included in the young person’s plan.

Any payments made to the young person or their carer in the provision of Continuing Care should be disregarded by the Department for Work and Pensions when calculating entitlement to income-related benefits for the young person or carer. This means that such payments will not be taken into account in any benefits claim^[47].

If a carer is caring for a sixteen or seventeen year old in a Continuing Care placement, it may be that the young person is eligible for Universal Credit. This allowance should not impact on any benefits claim made by the carer. The local authority must cover the full cost of the continuing care placement. This may affect a very small number of carers and local authorities should make every effort to offset any financial burden.