Find details about the Local Offer for Care Leavers so that you can decide if it's right for you and if you are eligible for support.
On this page
- Eligibility
- Your rights checklist
- What is a corporate parent?
- Vision and ambition from corporate parents
- Personal advisers
- Your Pathway Plan
- Your right to be heard
- Support for care leavers with SEND or disabilities
- Care leavers from other local authorities
- Former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
- Care leavers in custody or under probation
- What's next?
- The Care Leaver Covenant
- Latest offers
- Local Offer app
Eligibility
To get support from this Local Offer, you must:
- Have been in care for at least 13 weeks since turning 14 (this can be split into shorter periods), and
- Have been in care at some point after your 16th birthday.
You might still be eligible if you were in care after your 16th birthday but for less than 13 weeks.
If you're unsure whether the Local Offer applies to you, speak to your social worker or personal adviser.
If you don’t have a social worker or adviser, contact the Care Leavers Team to check your eligibility.
If you've had a personal adviser before and want support again, contact the team.
How to contact your Leaving Care Team
You can contact Nottinghamshire’s Leaving Care Team by phone or email:
Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood
Telephone: 0115 804 4401
Email: LeavingCare.North@nottscc.gov.uk
Mansfield and Ashfield
Telephone: 0115 804 1236
Email: LeavingCare.Central@nottscc.gov.uk
Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe
Telephone: 0115 854 6318
Email: LeavingCare.South@nottscc.gov.uk
If you're aged 21-24
Telephone: 0115 804 4154
Email: 21plus@nottscc.gov.uk
The Achievement Service
Email: achievement@nottscc.gov.uk
To contact the UASC Team (Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children)
Email: uasc@nottscc.gov.uk
Your rights checklist
By law, you have the right to:
- Be involved in decisions about your life
- Get support and advice from a personal adviser until your 25th birthday
- Have a Pathway Plan that sets out your goals and support
- Ask to see any information held about you
- Be listened to and supported with your housing choices
- Know that your personal information won’t be shared without your consent
What is a corporate parent
Nottinghamshire County Council and the seven district councils are members of Nottinghamshire’s Looked after Children (LAC) and Care Leavers Strategic Partnership (the Partnership) and are your legal ‘corporate parents’.
Vision and ambition from corporate parents
Being a corporate parent means that Nottinghamshire County Council and the seven district councils must provide certain support and services to you by law. These responsibilities go beyond legal duties. The goal is to help you find your way and succeed in life. The Care Leavers Team works with housing providers, schools, colleges, universities, employers, and voluntary and community organisations to make sure you have the support and opportunities you need. This includes:
- Stability, encouragement and strong, positive relationships
- Opportunities to grow and heal from past experiences
- Support to achieve your goals and live independently
What you can expect from your corporate parents
The Leaving Care Service and partners aim to help you:
- Stay safe and feel safe
- Have good physical, emotional and mental health
- Fulfil your potential
- Make a positive contribution to your community
- Move successfully into adulthood
- Achieve economic independence and find employment
Care Leavers’ Charter
Nottinghamshire supports the national Care Leavers’ Charter. This includes a promise to:
- Respect and honour your identity
- Believe in you
- Listen to you
- Keep you informed
- Support you
- Help you find a home
- Be a lifelong champion
Corporate parenting principles
All local authority departments are expected to act as corporate parents. This means:
- Acting in your best interests and promoting your health and wellbeing
- Encouraging you to share your views, wishes and feelings
- Listening to your views and using them to shape the support offered
- Promoting high aspirations and helping you achieve the best outcomes
- Keeping you safe
Read the full Care Leavers' Charter (Department for Education)
Personal advisers
By law, you have the right to a personal adviser (PA). Nottinghamshire County Council will allocate you a personal advisor prior to you turning 18 and continue to support until age 21. You can also ask for support from a personal adviser until your 25th birthday.
Your personal adviser will take over from your social worker when you turn 18. They are there to help you prepare for independent living and support you as you leave care and settle into adult life. They can also help you with any difficulties you face.
Your personal adviser will work with you to create your Pathway Plan and help you stay on track with your goals. The level of support you receive will depend on your individual circumstances.
The Care Leavers Team will look at what extra support you may need. This could include extra help if you:
- Are homeless
- Have special educational needs or a disability
- Are not in education, employment or training
- Are a former unaccompanied asylum-seeking child (UASC) with uncertain immigration status
- Are in custody, leaving custody or have been involved with the criminal justice system
- Are a young parent
- Are going through a difficult time in your personal life
The Care Leavers Team will also try to contact you by letter once a year. If you hear from the team and want support, you are encouraged to get in touch.
How to contact your Leaving Care Team
You can contact Nottinghamshire’s Leaving Care Team by phone or email:
Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood, Mansfield
Telephone: 0115 804 1236
Email: LeavingCareDuty@nottscc.gov.uk
Ashfield, Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe
Telephone: 0115 854 6318
Email: LeavingCare.South@nottscc.gov.uk
If you're aged 21-24
Telephone: 0115 804 4154
Email: 21plus@nottscc.gov.uk
Your Pathway Plan
You will start creating your own Pathway Plan with your social worker when you are around 16. The plan sets out what you want to achieve when you leave care. It includes your needs, views, and goals, and shows what support you will get and who will help you.
Your Pathway Plan will be reviewed every six months. Before age 18, this happens with your social worker. After 18, your personal adviser will support you to keep the plan up to date.
Your Pathway Plan will include details about:
- Your education, training, or job goals
- Where you want to live and what kind of accommodation you need
- Financial support for housing, bills and money management
- Your health and wellbeing needs, and how these will be supported
- Relationships with carers, family, and friends who can support your independence
Reviews will continue every six months until you are 21, or sometimes until 25 depending on your circumstances.
The Care Leavers Team can help with the cost of travel and refreshments for your reviews. You may also need to update your Pathway Plan between reviews, for example, if you move into a different type of accommodation.
Your right to be heard
An Independent Advocate can help you understand your rights and make sure your voice is heard in meetings. Advocates are independent from Children’s Services and are provided locally by The Children’s Society.
To speak to an Independent Advocate
Telephone: 0808 901 9488
Email: advocacy@childrenssociety.org.uk
You can also ask your personal adviser to help you contact one.
You can find more information in the Children’s Society Advocacy Service section of the directory.
Support for care leavers with SEND or disabilities
If you have special educational needs or a disability, you can access the SEND Local Offer. This explains the support available in your area.
More information is available on the Nottinghamshire SEND Local Offer page on the Notts Help Yourself website.
Care leavers from other local authorities
If Nottinghamshire County Council was not the local authority that looked after you when you were in care, please contact the local authority that was to find out what leaving care services and support you are entitled to under their offer.
If you don’t know how to contact them, get in touch with our Leaving Care Team and we will help you to do this.
Former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
If you identify as a former unaccompanied asylum seeking child or are awaiting leave status from the Home Office, there may be some elements of this Offer that you are not entitled to. Please discuss this with your personal adviser.
We will make sure that you have the support you need and that this is recorded in your Pathway Plan.
Care leavers in custody or under probation
If you are in custody, your care leaver champion in the prison, resettlement worker or probation officer will contact your personal adviser to make sure you receive the right support. This may also include help with completing your Court Order(s).
Support during custody may include:
- Regular visits, phone calls and emails from your personal adviser
- Financial help to cover essential items
- Support with sentence planning
- Help to prepare for your release
- Keeping your Pathway Plan up to date
What's next?
The Care Leavers Team is working to improve and expand the support available through this offer. The aim is to help you achieve your goals and have the best opportunities for your future.
Care leavers across the county are helping to shape and improve the Local Offer. The team is also working with councils across Nottingham, Derby, Derbyshire, the East Midlands and beyond. The goal is to make sure all care leavers can expect similar support, no matter where they live, work or visit.
If you have suggestions to improve the offer
Email: quality.improvementgroup@nottscc.gov.uk
If you would like to get involved in helping to shape the Local Offer, speak to your personal adviser or contact the Participation Team
Telephone: 01623 626972
Email: YouthService.BusinessSupport@nottscc.gov.uk
The Care Leaver Covenant
Every council area must create an offer of what’s its providing to help care leavers. Alongside this, there is the national Care Leaver Covenant where businesses, charities and other government organisations can pledge their services, support and opportunities to help you move on from care and towards a successful and independent life of your own. These include apprenticeships, work experience and free or discounted goods and services. You can find out more at MyCovenant website.
Keep up to date with the latest offers
The most up-to-date information about new offers for Nottinghamshire care leavers and the support available to you will always be published online first, so keep an eye on the website for any new offers which may interest you.
Local Offer app
With the Notts Next Steps app, you're able to easily check for the latest offers and access the offer on-line when you need to. You can download the app to your smart phone or tablet device by searching for NottsNextSteps (by This is Focus).