Leaving Care

The information on this page is the National Leaving Care Advisory Service' interpretation of statues, cases and other sources of rights and duties Where possible, links are porvided to the original. For further information please contact the nlcas enquiries service by email: ncas@raineronline.org or by calling us during office hours on 020 7336 4824.

The Legal Framework

The Children Act 1989 is the main law about young people leaving care. Most laws about care leavers that have been passed since 1989 have changed or added to the original Act, so the Act, as amended, is still very important.

The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the associated Regulations and Guidance were designed to improve the life chances of young people leaving care and provided important new entitlements. It did this primarily by amending the Children Act 1989. The Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 did this by requiring local authorities to do more for individual care leavers. Also, local authorities have to help care leavers until they are 21, and in some cases, until they are in their mid-20s.

The purpose of the Children (Leaving Care) Act is to improve the life chances of young people living in and leaving care. The main aims are:

To delay young people’s discharge from care until they are prepared and ready to leave
To improve the assessment, preparation and planning for leaving care
To provide better personal support for young people after leaving care
To improve the financial arrangements for care leavers

New local authority duties under the Children (Leaving Care) Act:

Assess and meet needs
Pathway Plans
Personal Advisers
Assistance to achieve goals agreed in Pathway Plans
Support and accommodation
Financial support
Keep in touch

Legal rulings since the Children Leaving Care Act

This section includes information about criminal injuries compensation, overnight stays at friends, access to files, parenting, maternity and paternity rights, dealing with the police, drugs, debt, hire purchase, utility bills, loans and credit, healthcare.

Young Persons Guide to Children (Leaving Care ) Act 2000 download