Staying Put Policy

1. Introduction

The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 recommended the conversion of foster placement of children in care at age 18 into supported lodgings arrangements. The Planning Transitions to Adulthood for Care Leavers (Regulations and Guidance) 2010, the Fostering Service (England) Regulations 2011 (Children Act 1989) and the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services 2011 all required local authorities to have Staying Put procedures in place.

Joint guidance was issued in May 2013 from Department for Education (DfE), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and His Majesty's Revenues and Customs (HMRC) in respect of arrangements where young people aged 18+ years could remain living with their former foster carers (see HM Government, Staying Put - Arrangements for Care Leavers aged 18 and above to stay on with their former foster carers, DfE, DWP and HMRC Guidance (May 2013)).

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a legal duty on local authorities to support every care leaver who wants to stay with their former foster carers with whom they were placed prior to their 18th birthday until their 21st birthday.

It is the duty of the local authority:

• To monitor the Staying Put arrangement; and
• To provide advice, assistance and support to the Former Relevant child and the former foster parent with a view to maintaining the Staying Put arrangement (this must include financial support), until the child reaches the age of 21 (unless the local authority consider that the Staying Put arrangement is not consistent with the child's welfare).

Under the Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010, Planning Transition into Adulthood for Care Leavers Guidance and Government Staying Put Guidance (2013), the Local Authority must provide information about extending placements beyond the age of 18. 

The intention of Staying Put arrangements is to ensure that young people can remain with their former foster carers until they are prepared for adulthood, can experience a transition akin to their peers, avoid social exclusion and be more likely to avert a subsequent housing and tenancy breakdown.

(Note that the term 'arrangement' should be used rather than 'placement' - the term 'placement' denotes a situation where the local authority arranged and placed the child with a foster carer. Once the child reaches the age of eighteen and legal adulthood, the local authority is no longer making a placement, but facilitating a Staying Put arrangement for the young person).

Consideration will need to be given to the impact on foster carers' approval and their terms of approval, including the numbers approved for, and whether this number includes the Staying Put young person.

2. Criteria for Continuing a Fostering Placement as a Staying Put Arrangement

There are no eligibility criteria for entering into a staying put arrangement, other than the young person being an 'Eligible child' for care leaver support. If on the day before their 18th birthday the young person was a looked after child placed with a foster carer, and had been looked after for at least 13 weeks since the age of 14, then by continuing to live with their former foster carers this constitutes a staying put arrangement. This applies whether the foster placement was long term or short term, and includes placements made at any time up to the young person's 18th birthday.

3. Planning

The Leaving Care Assessment of Need undertaken at the age of 15 - should determine whether it would be appropriate to provide advice, assistance and support to facilitate a Staying Put arrangement. Where they determine that it would be appropriate, and where the child and the local authority foster parent wish to make a Staying Put arrangement, then the local authority must provide such advice, assistance and support to facilitate a Staying Put arrangement.

The following issues should be considered as part of the ongoing Pathway Planning process to ensure that there is a clear understanding in place for all:

• Will the young person fit the Staying Put criteria by the time they reach their 18th birthday?
• Is the young person in agreement with the Staying Put proposal?
• Is the carer in agreement with the Staying Put proposal?
• Does the young person and their foster carer understand the criteria for and procedures associated with converting a foster placement into a Staying Put arrangement?
• Does the young person understand their financial and benefit responsibilities associated with being in a Staying Put arrangement?
• Does the foster carer understand the impact of a Staying Put arrangement on their income tax and welfare benefits?
• What is the contingency plan should the Staying Put arrangement not be a viable option?

To ensure that sufficient time is given to planning for the Staying Put arrangement a professionals meeting should take place when the young person is 16. The Staying Put meeting should include the foster carer, supervision social worker, young person's social worker and that social worker's team manager.

If the child is in an agency foster placement then a representative from the Access to Resources Placement Team should also attend the meeting. The purpose of the meeting will be to establish the viability and likelihood of a Staying Put arrangement occurring. The meeting should agree and allocate key tasks that need to be undertaken to progress the Staying Put arrangements.

The Staying Put arrangements should also be an agenda item at the young persons looked after statutory review from the age of 16.

The Staying Put meeting will be reconvened as and when required depending on the complexity of the case. A minimum requirement is that a second meeting is convened when the young person reaches the age of 17. This meeting should ensure that all final arrangements are in place by the young person's 18th birthday.

A key aspect of this meeting will be to ensure that National Insurance, Income Tax and Welfare Benefits issues for the foster carers, and Welfare Benefits issues for the young people have been considered and are understood by all parties. In preparation for the meeting there should have been a meeting regarding the young person's financial position with the Benefits Maximisation Officer in the 14+ Team.

The young person's Pathway Plan should set out all of the practical arrangements regarding the young person remaining as a young adult in the Staying Put arrangement. It should set out the 'ground rules' of the household as well as the areas of responsibility that all parties to the arrangement are expected to fulfil. Many of these will be an extension of the expectations on them when they were a foster child. This will cover arrangements such as:

• Preparation for adulthood and independence tasks;
• Finance, including young people having credit cards, loan agreements and mobile phone contracts registered at the address;
• Income and benefit claims;
• Friends and partners visiting and staying at the address;
• Staying away for nights/weekends and informing carers of movements;
• Education, training and employment activities;
• Health arrangements;
• Move-on arrangements;
• Issues related to younger foster care children in the placement, i.e. safeguarding, being a positive role model and time-keeping.

4. Legal Status and Safeguarding

Following the young person's 18th birthday, the legal basis on which they occupy the property (former foster home) changes (the legal term is that the young person becomes an 'excluded licensee' lodging in the home) - this should not denote that the young person will be treated differently than they were as a fostered child although there should be an emphasis on preparing the young person for independent living. In addition, the carer may also become, and be deemed, the young person's landlord/landlady.

The associated change from foster child to adult member of the household, and for the carer from foster carer to Staying Put carer, (technically the young person's landlord) should be carefully and sensitively planned in order to ensure that both young people and the carer/s understand the nature of the arrangement and that the positive aspects of being in foster care are not diminished by the new legal and financial arrangements and terminology.

A foster carer review should be completed prior to the final decision about Staying Put to ensure that the foster carer is aware of the implication in respect to the change of status of the placement.

Where Foster Children Are Living in the Staying Put Arrangement

Where fostered children are living in the household, the checks and requirements associated with fostering legislation will apply and will provide a framework for safeguarding and checking arrangements for the whole household.

In these situations the carer must remain an approved foster carer and the Fostering Services (England) Regulations and Guidance will apply with the consequential requirements of supervision, review and safeguarding. Whilst the fostering legislation will primarily apply to the placements of the fostered children, it does ensure that a system of approval, checking and supervision is applied to the whole household.

Additionally, where foster children are in placement, the foster carers will need to be returned to the fostering and adoption panel due to a change in circumstances as the child/young person Staying Put will have reached adulthood and become an adult member of the fostering household.

Young people remaining in a foster care household at the age of eighteen will become adult members of the household and will require a valid Disclosure and Barring Service check in settings where a foster child or foster children are living. To ensure that the check (and possible subsequent risk assessment) is completed by the young person's eighteenth birthday the process will need to commence in sufficient time.

Where No Foster Children Are Living in the Staying Put Arrangement

From the age of eighteen, young people are no longer legally 'in care' or 'looked after', and therefore fostering arrangements and legislation relating to children placed with foster carers no longer apply. Whilst legislation relating to fostering will no longer apply (if no foster child remains in the household), key standards should continue to govern the expectations of the Staying Put arrangement. This should include:

• Disclosure and Barring Service Checks on all adult members of the household, regular visitors and children of the carers aged sixteen and older;
• Health and safety requirements (as a minimum this should comply with landlord and licensee/tenant requirements);
• Regular support from the young person's social worker;
• Opportunities to attend appropriate training for all Staying Put/SL carers.

In circumstances where it is clear that the carer will not be fostering any further children, it may be deemed appropriate to terminate their approval as a foster carer. Connected persons' foster carers are not expected to maintain their registration.

• A return to the fostering and adoption panel if a person's approval as a foster carer should be ended and adherence to the deregistration/termination process in circumstances where the foster carer is unlikely to be caring for any further foster children in the future;
• Where a foster carer's approval is terminated, the local authority will need to ensure that the Staying Put arrangement continues to meet appropriate standards. An annual review of the Staying Put arrangement and carer/s to ensure that the arrangement complies with local authority expectations. Where the Staying Put carer is no longer maintaining an approval as an approved foster carer, this will be undertaken by the young person's SW or PA.

Sometimes Staying Put Carers are not able to take another foster placement whilst the young person remains living with them, but wish to remain approved as foster carers in order to resume fostering in the future. For Merton approved foster carers, if the fostering service agrees that it is appropriate for approval to continue, Merton will maintain foster carer's approval for a maximum of 3 years or until the end of the Staying Put arrangement, whichever is sooner

During that period, the Fostering service must meet the statutory requirements regardless of the fact that no child is placed. This includes regular visits by the supervising social worker (including an annual unannounced visit); reviews of approval; provision of training, advice, information and support for continuing professional development. Where a foster carer wishes to return to fostering after that time a short reassessment and review should be completed.

IFAs may wish to make the same arrangements with any of their carers who are offering a Staying Put arrangements to a Merton young person. In this instance, the requirements needed to maintain approval rest with the former IFA.

5. Financial Arrangements

5.1 All Former Foster Placements

All foster carers will have received additional payments to cover pocket money, clothing etc. This payment is often referred to as a subsistence allowance and may have been paid directly to the YP once they turned 17 years old. Staying put carers will no longer be required to cover the costs attached to the subsistence allowance and therefore the value of any subsistence allowance previously allocated, will be deducted from the allowance made to Staying Put carers; this is covered in more detail in Section 5.2, Merton In House Foster Carers/Supported Lodgings.

For most carers, their Staying Put allowance will be made up from a variety of sources including:

• Payment from the Local Authority under Section 23C of the Children Act, where money can be paid to carers from the Local Authority fostering service to ensure there is no loss of income for carers under a Staying Put arrangement;
• Young person's income: This includes income from benefits and/or from a wage. Where a young person is eligible to claim benefits, they must do so. It is the Staying Put/SL carers' responsibility to support the young person to complete this claim with support from the young person's social worker/personal advisor. Young people are also expected to manage their subsidence needs from their income as their entitlement to an allowance from Merton to cover these costs will cease.

N.B. It is our explicit expectation that all young people entitled to benefits will make a claim and any deductions made regarding the subsidy allowance will be based on their entitlement and not whether a claim has or has not been made. It is the Staying Put carers' responsibility to support the young person to complete all necessary benefit claims.

If the Staying Put arrangement continues beyond the young person's 19th Birthday, the Staying Put carer will receive the full allowance minus subsistence allowance and 50% of the foster carer fee. The SL carer's allowance will not change. This arrangement will continue until the young person moves on or reaches their 21st birthday.

Ideally, any Housing Benefit (HB) or Accommodation rate a young person receives under Universal Credit (UC) should be paid directly to the Council.

Where the young person prefers to arrange for any allowance towards the cost of housing to be paid direct to the Staying Put/SL carer, the carer is responsible for informing the Council and the amount will be deducted from the s.23 payment made paid to the carer by Merton.

Where a young person arranges for the payment to be made to themselves, they are responsible for paying the Staying Put/SL carer the rent/accommodation fee agreed. Failure to do so means that the young person is taking money under false pretences and is unacceptable. It may also be a criminal offence.

If a young person is in employment and therefore not in receipt of HB or any other means tested benefit, a weekly agreed amount should be paid to the carer in order to cover rent. This should usually be in line with the Housing Benefit/Universal Credit accommodation rate. This should be agreed and reviewed as part of the Pathway Planning process and will be deducted from the carer's allowance. Contributions towards the allowances will be agreed and regularly reviewed as part of the Pathway Planning process.

If food or other expenses are incurred by the Staying Put/SL carer, the young person should make a contribution from their subsistence allowance benefits to their living costs. This is part of their preparation for independent living and should be agreed and reviewed as part of the Pathway Planning process.

Where a young person has no recourse to benefits or is unable to work due to immigration issues, Merton will ensure that payment is made to the Staying Put Carer to cover any shortfall as a resulting from the Young Person's inability to contribute. This payment will be no greater than the agreed amount of the foster carer payments.

There are some differences between Merton In House/Supported Lodgings and Agency former foster carers.

5.2 Merton In House Foster Carers/Supported Lodgings

Prior to 18th birthday

When they reach their 17th birthday, all permanently placed young people should be given a regular agreed allowance with clear guidelines about what this is to cover. This is designed to help young people to learn to live within a budget and to understand the value of money.

This allowance should be given to the young person by the foster carer from the allowance payments made to them. The amount and areas covered by this should be decided by the young person and foster carer, in discussion with the young person's social worker.

However the allowance should not be greater than the expected benefit level as it is important for young people to understand that they may be required to live on a limited budget.

Some young people will struggle with this initially and will need the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe environment, with a foster carer to support and help them. Young people may spend their allowance all at once or be unable to understand the importance of being able to budget on a limited income. The expectation is that foster carers will help and support the young person so that once they reach the age of 18, they will have developed skills in this area.

In order to support young people to remain with their foster carers, Staying Put carers will continue to receive the full fostering payment (allowance and fee) being paid at the point the young person turns 18 minus subsistence allowance which is paid direct to young people on means tested benefits. This will continue until the young person moves on or until their 19th birthday, whichever is sooner. Merton Supported Lodgings (SL) carers who care for young people aged 18+ will receive the equivalent of the allowance paid to foster carers for young people aged 17 minus subsistence allowance.

In circumstances where the YP has income, (either from benefits and/or from wages), that is equivalent or more than the DWP subsidy allowance, the value of the DWP subsidy allowance will be deducted from the SP/SL carer payments. This will continue until the young person moves on or their 21st birthday, whichever is sooner.

N.B. It is our explicit expectation that all young people entitled to benefits will make a claim and any deductions made regarding the subsidy allowance will be based on their entitlement and not whether a claim has or has not been made.

Staying Put/SL carers will not receive the following additional payments:

• Birthday/Religious allowances;
• Clothing allowances;
• Holiday allowances;
• Payment for additional activities.

The Staying Put/SL carer is not expected to provide the following from their payment:

• Pocket money;
• Savings;
• Subsistence money;
• Clothing money.

When a young person leaves Staying Put placement in a planned way, Staying Put/SL carers will be paid a nominal sum of £30 per month for a period of 6 months, to offer on-going support to the young person for whom they cared. This will involve maintain a regular contact with the young person, including inviting them back to the home for meals etc. and may involve responding to emergencies/crises in the young person's life.

5.3 Independent Fostering Agency Carers

Prior to 18th Birthday

With the agency support, foster carers should be encouraged to give young people permanently placed in their care a regular agreed allowance with clear guidelines about what this is to cover. This is designed to help young people to learn to live within a budget and to understand the value of money.

As with in house foster placements, the amount and areas covered by this should be decided by the young person and foster carer, in discussion with the young person's social worker. However, the allowance should not be greater than the expected benefit level as it is important for young people to understand that they may be required to live on a limited budget.

Some young people will struggle with this initially and will need the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe environment, with a foster carer to support and help them. Young people may spend their allowance all at once or be unable to understand the importance of being able to budget on a limited income. The expectation is that foster carers will help and support the young person so that once they reach the age of 18, they will have developed skills in this area.

Post 18

For all young people who wish to remain with their IFA foster carer under a Staying Put agreement, this agreement is made directly between the carer and Merton.

Where there has been an agreed plan for a young person to remain in placement past their 18th birthday the allowance and level 3 fee element of the Merton foster carer payment minus the subsistence allowance will be paid to the foster carer up until the young person's 19th birthday.

In circumstances where the YP has income, (either from benefits and/or from wages), that is equivalent or more than the DWP subsidy allowance, the value of the DWP subsidy allowance will be deducted from the SP/SL carer payments. This will continue until the young person moves on or their 21st birthday, whichever is sooner.

N.B. It is our explicit expectation that all young people entitled to benefits will make a claim and any deductions made regarding the subsidy allowance will be based on their entitlement and not whether a claim has or has not been made.

5.4 Holiday arrangements

When a young person wishes to return to a foster placement for holiday periods whilst they are on a course of higher education, they will not be eligible to claim Housing Benefit;

In this instance, Merton will pay the allowance element and level 3 fee of the foster carer payments as specified on a pro rata basis for any young person who is returning to the care of their previous foster carer under a Staying Put arrangement. Consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis whether a retainer would be paid to the Staying Put carer in this instance.

If a young person is in employment a weekly agreed amount should be paid to the carer. This should be reviewed as part of the Pathway Planning process and will be deducted from the carer's allowance.

5.5 Means tested benefits including housing benefit

All eligible young people must be supported to claim all of the benefits that they are entitled to by their Staying Put/SL carers. Ideally, any Housing Benefit or Accommodation rate a young person receives under Universal Credit should be paid directly to the Council.

Where meals are provided within the Staying Put arrangement, the method used to calculate the level of Housing Benefit is the 1996 Housing Benefit maximum rent rules relating to 'Boarder' arrangements (Rent Officer assessment). Young People are able to claim Housing Benefit even when their Staying Put/SL carer is in receipt of Housing Benefit themselves.

Under Section 23C of the Children Act, money can be paid to carers from the Local Authority fostering service. The specific DWP legislation covering Staying Put arrangements highlights that (1) where a young person continues to reside with their former foster carer after their eighteenth birthday on a non-commercial and familial basis, and (2) where the child was looked after immediately prior to their eighteenth birthday, and (3) where the payments are made by the local authority to the carer under section 23C of the Children Act 1989, the payments are disregarded in calculating the carers entitlement to means tested benefits. In Merton's policy, this applies to any fee paid to a former foster carer as part of a local agreement.

In circumstances where Housing Benefit is based on the maximum rent rules, it is possible to request a Pre-Tenancy Determination in advance of the Housing Benefit claim being submitted, in order to determine the level of Housing Benefit that will be paid on a given property. Pre-Tenancy Determinations are carried out by the Local Rent Officer.

The non- section 23C portion is all of the other elements; some of these other elements may still be paid through the local authority fostering service for example, where a young person is not eligible to claim housing benefit. In that instance the local authority will ensure that the carer is paid to the agreed amount through additional section 23c payments. (See Appendix 1: Flowchart for Clear Pathways for further information).

Young People are able to claim Housing Benefit even when their Staying Put carer/s are in receipt of Housing Benefit themselves. However, where carers are in receipt of benefits themselves, the non-section 23C element of the overall allowance will be counted as income from the Staying Put arrangement; this non-section 23C element will be treated as income from a 'Boarder'.

As fostering regulations cease when a child reaches the age of 18 the primary framework governing these arrangements is tenure law. Young people are deemed excluded occupiers on a license.

5.6 Council Tax and Council Tax Benefit

Where a young person is living in a Staying Put arrangement with two or more adults who are not in receipt of Council Tax Benefit and who pay full Council Tax a Staying Put young person will not have any impact on the Council Tax liability. If the young person is claiming benefits they should submit a claim for Council Tax Benefit for administrative purposes.

From April 2013 Council Tax Benefit has been replaced by Council Tax Support schemes that reflect individual local authority priorities and are administered through local rules;

The impact of the Staying Put arrangement on Staying Put Carers' Council Tax and Council Tax Support will depend on both the circumstances of the Staying Put Carer and the young person. For example, full time students are 'invisible' for Council Tax purposes and will not have any impact on the Staying Put Carers' Council Tax or Council Tax Support;

In circumstances where a Staying Put carer is working and in receipt of the 25% single person Council Tax reduction, this discount may continue when a Staying Put young person is living in the arrangement. The continuation of the 25% discount will depend on the circumstances of the young person;

Where Staying Put young people are claiming a means tested benefit, a Non-dependent Deduction should not be applied to the Staying Put carers own means tested benefit claim;

When planning for a Staying Put arrangement, consideration should be given to the impact of the arrangement on the Staying Put carers Council Tax, Council Tax Support and whether a Non-dependent Deduction will be applied. In circumstances where an increase in Council Tax occurs; a reduction in Council Tax Support applies, or a Non-dependent Deduction is applied additional section 23C payment will be made to cover any financial loss to the maximum amount of the agreed allowance.

Staying Put young people will not incur an 'Under Occupancy' or bedroom tax charge on the Staying Put carers.

5.7 Income Tax and National Insurance Issues for Staying Put Arrangements

Where young people remain living with their former foster carer/s under a Staying Put arrangement, the Income Tax and National Insurance rules that apply are set out in the 'Shared Lives Carers' - 'Qualifying Care Relief' Guidance.

The 'Shared Lives Carers' - 'Qualifying Care Relief Guidance' sets out that Staying Put carers receive tax exemptions up to a given 'qualifying amount' for each Staying Put young person living with them. The Staying Put qualifying rate mirrors the system and amounts that applied when the placement was previously a foster care placement. (See Appendix 1: Flowchart for Clear Pathways for further information).

Staying Put carers will be covered by the Qualifying Care Relief system where they provide a Staying Put arrangement for a young person who was looked after immediately prior to the young person's 18th birthday. Qualifying Care Relief can continue until the young person reaches the age of 21, or, until they complete a programme of education or training being undertaken on their 21st birthday.

The Qualifying Care Relief system provides for foster carer/s and/or Staying Put carer/s to earn up to a given amount without paying Income Tax or Class 4 National Insurance Contributions on their caring income. The Income Tax free allowance consists of two elements. Firstly, a fixed amount per foster care or Staying Put household per year (for 2014 -2015 this was set at £10,000). Secondly, an additional amount per week per child (£200 per week under the age of eleven (0-10), £250 per week age eleven to their eighteenth birthday (11-17) 2014-2015) and £250 per week per adult aged eighteen to the twenty-first birthday (18-20) or until the end of the programme of education or training, as defined as Staying Put by HMRC (see Appendix 1: Flowchart for Clear Pathways for further information).

The £10,000 per year applies once per household regardless of how many foster children or Staying Put young people are placed. The additional amount applies per child/young person per week. Where there is more than one paid Staying Put carer in the household, the allowance is shared equally by both carers.

The tax free allowance is only available to households with three or fewer placements. However, foster care placements are excluded for this purpose, and sibling groups are counted as one placement.

The tax free allowance only applies to the Staying Put carer's income from caring. If they have income from other sources, they will pay tax on that income in the normal manner.

If the Staying Put carer/s exceed the allowance they will have a choice of using the 'simplified' method or the standard profit and loss method to calculate their taxable profits. The carer/s will also be liable to pay Class 4 National Insurance Contributions on their taxable profit. Under the simplified method, a carer's taxable profit is the income they receive from caring which exceeds their tax free allowance. Where foster carer/s or Staying Put carer/s do incur an Income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance liability and they have not used their personal allowance this can be used to off-set this liability.

Individual carers can consult their local HMRC office for guidance on their circumstances and liabilities.

In practice HMRC will treat the taxable profit from foster care or Staying Put care as earnings from self-employment for National Insurance Contributions purposes.

Staying Put carer/s as well as foster carer/s should note that they may be able to claim Working Tax Credits which are administered by HMRC. Fostering/ Staying Put care is counted as work for Working Tax Credit purposes. The carer's taxable income is included in the total household income that is used to assess the amount of tax credits that they are entitled to. So, where the carer is paid less than their tax free allowance, their income from caring for tax credits purposes is also nil.

HMRC is aware that a number of foster carers and Staying Put carers may not have registered for Class 2 National Insurance Contributions because they make little or no taxable profit. Foster care and Staying Put care is deemed as self-employment and as such carer/s should register as self-employed. All self-employed people aged 16 and over who are below State Pension age are liable and must register to pay Class 2 National Insurance Contributions. Failure to do this may affect their entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance, Maternity Benefit, State Pension and Bereavement Benefit. However, self-employed carers may be able to apply for Carers Credits which have replaced Home Responsibilities Protection, and those with no or low taxable profits may be able to apply for a Small Earnings Exemption.

To claim a carers credit, foster carers/Staying Put carers must complete form CF411A available from HMRC.

If carers have not previously registered as self-employed they can obtain further information by calling the Newly Self-employed Helpline on 0300 200 3504.

If they are currently registered to pay Class 2 National Insurance Contributions they can obtain further information by calling the Self-employed Helpline on 0845 915 4655 instead.

Foster carers and Staying Put carers should always inform the DWP and HMRC if their circumstances change and should always check with the DWP and HMRC regarding their personal circumstances and how payments for foster care or Staying Put care may affect their means tested benefits or any Income Tax or National Insurance liability.

See Appendix 1: Flowchart for Clear Pathways.

5.8 Insurance (Including Liability and Household Insurance)

Staying Put carers will be provided with information about liability insurance cover in situations where Staying Put young people may make an allegation against a foster child in placement, or against their Staying Put carer/s, or an allegation is made against the Staying Put young person.

Staying Put carers should be reminded of the need to check that their household and care insurance policies cover their particular circumstances since not all insurers approach fostering or staying put in the same way.

6. Ending of Staying Put Arrangements

The Staying Put arrangement extends until:

• The young person leaves the Staying Put arrangement;
  
  or

• The young person reaches their twenty-first birthday.

All young people reaching the age of 18 should have a Pathway Plan that sets out the arrangements for them moving onto semi-independent or independent living. For young people aged 18 who are entering a Staying Put arrangement the pathway plan should set out the provisional arrangements for the move-on from Staying Put. It is intended that the majority of young people will leave Staying Put in a planned manner and individual arrangements should be set out in the accommodation section of the plan.

Where a young person decides to leave the Staying Put arrangement of the carers decide that they would like the arrangement to come to an end a notice period of at least 28 days should be given. The social worker will then liaise with the Access to Resources Placement Team and Housing Department to seek identification of alternative accommodation.

Where a Staying Put arrangement becomes vulnerable to break down, or ends in an unplanned way, a disruption meeting will take place in line with the fostering disruption policy.

Appendix 1: Flowchart for Clear Pathways

Click here to view Appendix 1: Flowchart for Clear Pathways.