Moving on and lifelong support

Where is Scotland in 2024?

Support for care experienced young people transitioning into adulthood in Scotland remains a complex area which has seen both significant progress and ongoing challenges. Current efforts to provide training and practical support with moving to independent living are positive steps towards helping people to transition from the 'care system' effectively.

The extent of progress can be seen in programmes aimed at improving housing transitions and preventing youth homelessness, such as the ‘housing first’ approach. However, challenges in accessing affordable housing options persist. Variability in service quality and gaps in co-ordination between housing providers and support services highlight systemic issues that impact the stability and wellbeing of care experienced young people during transitions.

To ensure the needs of older children are met, further work is needed to understand what additional support and resources are required to make sure ‘Staying Put’ best practice is consistently operationalised. This includes understanding barriers to the implementation of Scotland's existing legislation around continuing care and aftercare, following research stating it is not currently being implemented consistently or in full across the country.

Through the 100 Days of Listening project, The Promise Scotland and Staf’s moving on experts heard from a predominately passionate, caring workforce who want to do their best for the young people in their care but often felt restricted by the confines of the 'system'. Likewise, the team heard about services that had a strong ethos of care and belonging and were trialing different ways of supporting young people in the 'moving on' stage.

Overall, while there are examples of good practice and commitment to supporting transitions, ongoing efforts are needed to address housing disparities, enhance life skills development, and ensure all care experienced young adults have access to the resources necessary for independent living and long-term success.

Where does Scotland need to be by 2030?

By 2030, Scotland’s care experienced young people will feel safe, happy, loved and prepared as they move from childhood to adulthood. Care experienced adults will be able to access help and support when they need it. This means:

Comprehensive thematic reviews of 'transition services' will have taken place; and all those with ongoing parenting responsibility will have explained how they plan to deliver integrated services from childhood to adulthood.
Young people and adults for whom Scotland has taken on parenting responsibility will have a right to return to care.
Young people will be encouraged to ‘stay put’ in their setting of care for as long as they need or want to. Rules, processes and culture will support that approach. There will be no regulatory barrier for young people to stay with foster carers for as long as is required.
Residential Care settings will be supported and resourced to keep places open for children and young people in line with continuing care legislation. Scotland will ensure this does not end when children and young people do not want, and are not ready, to leave.
Young people for whom Scotland has parenting responsibility will have access to services and supportive people to nurture them.
Scotland will continue to consider how to create greater equity and opportunity for care experienced children and young people. That consideration will include how to increase opportunity for care experienced adults to access employment, training, stable housing and support.
Older care experienced people will have a right to access supportive, caring services for as long as they require them. Those services and the people who work in them, will have a primary focus on the development and maintenance of supportive relationships that help people to access what they need to thrive.
There will be clear communication and streamlining of the range of financial supports available to those with care experience.

The route map to get there

Focus must be on unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people, as the number entering Scotland’s ‘care system’ has meant that an already stretched system is not well equipped to meet their needs. For the needs of all children and young people to be met consistently, work to reform the 'care system' must prioritise improving current processes and increasing resources to ensure unaccompanied children and young people, and those removed from their families, are given all they need to thrive.

The updated continuing care guidance is expected to be published.

The Scottish Government is expected to consult on a package of support for young people transitioning out of children's care services as part of a broader set of consultations to help inform the Promise Bill. This may include consideration of the ‘right to return’ to care settings.

The Minimum Income Expert Group will make its recommendations and publish its final report.

The Care Inspectorate is currently undertaking a thematic review of care leavers transition services. This has begun and a final report will be provided in November 2024, which will inform the Scottish Government’s broader work on the consultation and tests of change as part of Staf The Promise Scotland's work on 'Moving on'.

The Promise Scotland and Staf, supported by CELCIS and the Improvement Service, concluded the 100 Days of Listening as part of their Moving On work programme. The next phase of this work, beginning in 2024, is to use the information collected from what was heard and from the survey results collected at the end of June 2024, to understand how each local area supports a move on from care and to inform tests of change. This will contribute to the publication of a shared set of standards and principles that will guide systems and practice to support those moving on from care.

There should be consideration of the solution proposed by Who Cares? Scotland in their Housing Issue paper in relation to the implementation of existing Continuing Care duties: "The Scottish Government should work in partnership with Local Authorities and COSLA to agree the route map to ensure the number of care experienced young people accessing their right to Continuing Care increases. It should be assumed practice that young people will remain in Continuing Care and be able to opt out, rather than frequently requiring advocacy to access their right to this."

The Scottish Government is continuing to undertake improvements to data collection on care leavers to better understand provision of continuing care and aftercare support for young people aged 16 and over. This includes details on the levels of aftercare support provided and durations of time in continuing care placements for young people who remained in their placement after ceasing to be looked after.

The actions outlined in the Voice foundation are fully embedded at every stage to progress actions on Moving on and lifelong support.

What is helping?

The existing policy and legislative landscape for care leavers set out in the provisions of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 (including Continuing Care provisions) and the Staying Put Guidance can be built upon as Scotland considers how to enact policies such as a ‘right to return’ to care.

The Public Petitions Committee in the Scottish Parliament is currently considering a petition around the expansion on Continuing Care and aftercare. The petition, launched in August 2022, calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to extend aftercare provision and Continuing Care on the basis of individual need and ensure care experienced people are able to enjoy lifelong rights and achieve equality with non-care experienced people. The petition remains under consideration and the Committee have taken evidence from a range of stakeholders, including the care experienced community and the Scottish Government.

The Care Experienced Children and Young People Fund is a resource provided to local authorities as corporate parents to support care experienced children and young people from birth to the age of 26. The funding has a focus on delivering equity and improving educational attainment, achievement and experiences for care experienced children and young people. The Care Experienced Bursary is a non-repayable bursary that provides additional financial support to students who are currently in, or have previously been, the care of a local authority, for any length of time and at any stage in their life.

The Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill was introduced in October 2023 and includes a power which will enable Scottish Ministers to create one or more schemes to give financial assistance to individuals who have had experience of being in the care system.

A public consultation on a Care Leaver Payment concluded in January 2024 and the responses have been analysed, with a report recently published. This analysis will be used to inform further policy development and decision-making.

The Promise Scotland, Staf, the Scottish Government, CELCIS, COSLA, Who Cares? Scotland, Social Work Scotland, the Improvement Service and the Care Inspectorate have formed a 'Guiding Coalition' to ensure the positive momentum around 'moving on' continues to progress at pace. The Coalition will continue to meet regularly to share ongoing work programmes and information to avoid duplication and ensure cohesion and clarity and encourage better connection.