Brighter futures secured for Scotland's care leavers in CYP Bill

Date: 6th January 2014
Category: Family Environment and Alternative Care

The Scottish Government announced that care leavers are to be given greater rights to continuing their care placement into early adulthood from next year.

From April 2015, teenagers in residential, foster or kinship care who turn 16 will be entitled to remain looked after until the age of 21 under new provisions proposed for the Children and Young People (Scotland) Bill.

This increased support, to be funded by £5 million a year up to 2020, is in addition to the Scottish Government's recent commitment to provide support up to the age of 26-years-old for care leavers to help them move into independent living.

The Scottish Government is also announcing a further, longer-term ambition to allow those care leavers who may need it the opportunity to return to care, up to the age of 21.

• Read the full article from the Scottish Government here.

Just before Christmas, Who Cares? Scotland supported a group of care leavers to present their Christmas wish list to MSPs.

These wishes asked MSPs to ensure that:

• All care leavers in Scotland live long and happy lives, that they control with support where needed.
• No care leaver in Scotland ever experiences homelessness.
• All care leavers in Scotland are surrounded by stable, loving relationships and get a chance to fulfil their dreams.
• Scotland continues to care for care leavers.
• Scotland listens to the voice of young people with care experience.

Read the full article by Who Cares? Scotland on how this group of care leavers had their Christmas wishes granted.