Care leavers’ transitions to independence
Resources and Information
Support and resources for care leavers
Below is a list of organisations and services that offer information, advice, and support for care leavers. This includes help with rights and entitlements, housing, money, education, work, and emotional wellbeing.
Become
Become is a national charity supporting children in care and care leavers. They provide advice and information about care leaver rights and support with issues involving local authorities, housing, education, or accessing services.
Website: https://becomecharity.org.uk
Care advice line: 0800 023 2033
Coram Voice
Coram Voice provides advocacy and advice for children in care and care leavers. They can support care leavers to understand their rights, raise concerns, and make complaints about the support they are receiving
Website: https://coramvoice.org.uk
Advocacy helpline: 0808 800 5792
Coram voice also provide multilingual resources explaining key immigration and asylum terms: https://coramvoice.org.uk/myrights/immigration-and-asylum-important-words-and-what-they-mean
Care Leaver Covenant
The Care Leaver Covenant is a national scheme linking care leavers with offers from organisations. This includes opportunities for employment, training, discounts and other forms of practical support.
Website: https://mycovenant.org.uk
Shelter
Shelter is a housing charity providing advice on homelessness, renting, housing rights, and support if you’re worried about your housing or facing housing difficulties.
Centrepoint
Centrepoint supports young people, including care leavers, with housing and wellbeing. They offer help with finding stability, accessing support services, and moving towards independence.
Website: https://centrepoint.org.uk/do-you-need-help/i-need-help-now/im-care-leaver
Turn2Us
Turn2us offers information and tools for people experiencing financial difficulty. This includes guidance on benefits, financial support, and a grants search for charitable help that may be available.
Website: https://www.turn2us.org.uk/get-support/information-for-your-situation
Citizens Advice
Citizens advice provides free confidential guidance on a wide range of issues including benefits, debt, housing, employment, and legal concerns.
Website: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Drive Forward Foundation
Drive Forward Foundation supports care leavers into work. They provide mentoring, career guidance, employability support, and help accessing job opportunities.
Website: https://driveforwardfoundation.org
UCAS (care experienced student support)
UCAS provides information for care leavers applying to university or higher education. This includes guidance on bursaries, support services, and help available at different institutions.
Amazing Apprenticeships
Amazing Apprenticeships provides information about apprenticeships routes, including financial and practical support that may be available for care leavers entering training or work.
Website: https://www.amazingapprenticeships.com/resources/care-leavers-guide-2
Mind
Mind is a mental health charity offering information, guidance, and support for people experiencing mental health difficulties. They also provide details of local services and how to access help.
Website: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support
Samaritans
Samaritans provides a 24-hour listening service for anyone who needs someone to talk to. Support is available by phone or online at any time.
Call: 116 123
Website: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/if-youre-having-difficult-time
Shout
Shout is a free 24/7 text support service for anyone feeling overwhelmed or in crisis. It provides confidential support through trained volunteers.
Text: SHOUT to 85258
Website: https://giveusashout.org
Care Leavers’ Association
The Care Leavers’ Association is a national organisation led by care experienced adults. They provide peer support, connection, and campaigning for care leaver rights and improvements in services.
Website: https://www.careleavers.com
Care Leaver Offer
Care Leaver Offer is an online resource that brings together information about the support different local authorities provide for care leavers. It can help you find out what you may be entitled to in your area, including support with housing, finances, education, and transition planning.
Website: https://www.careleaveroffer.co.uk
Department for Education – Support for care leavers
The Department for Education provides official information about the support available to care leavers in England. This includes guidance on care leavers rights and entitlements, local authority responsibilities, and help with areas such as housing, education, employment, and financial support.
Website: https://www.support-for-care-leavers.education.gov.uk/en/home
Department for Education – helplines
The Department for Education provides a webpage listing national helplines and support services for care leavers. This includes organisation offering advice on issues such as housing, mental health, money, and accessing rights and entitlements.
Website: https://www.support-for-care-leavers.education.gov.uk/en/helplines
Department for Education – Support after 25
The Department for Education provides information about the support that may still be available to care leavers after the age of 25. This includes guidance on accessing advice, services, and ongoing entitlements in specific situations.
Website: https://www.support-for-care-leavers.education.gov.uk/en/support-if-youre-25-or-older
Barnardo’s
Barnardo’s is a national children’s charity that provides support care experienced young people, including those preparing to leave care. Their services can include help with housing, education, employment, emotional wellbeing, and independent living skills.
Website: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/get-support/support-for-young-people/leaving-care
The Children’s Commissioner for England
The Children’s Commissioner for England provides information and support for children and young people, including care leavers. Their website includes advice about rights, services, and where to go for help if you’re not being supported properly.
Website: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/help-at-hand/help-information-advice/i-am-a-care-leaver
National Youth Advocacy Service
The National Youth Advocacy Service provides advocacy and legal support for children and young people, including care leavers. They can help with understanding your rights, getting your voice heard in decisions, and accessing support from services.
Website: https://www.nyas.net/get-support/young-people
Rees Foundation
The Rees Foundation is a charity that provides support for care experienced people, including care leavers and adults with care experience. They offer advice, emotional support, and practical help with areas such as housing, education, employment and wellbeing.
Website: https://www.reesfoundation.org
Break
Break is a charity supporting children in care and care leavers. They provide services to help young people as they move towards independence, including support with housing, wellbeing, relationships, and building stability after care.
Website: https://www.break-charity.org/charity/what-we-do/supporting-those-in-and-leaving-care
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a national charity that provides support for young people, including care leavers. Their services in some areas include help with leaving care transitions, housing, education, employment, and emotional wellbeing.
Website: https://www.catch-22.org.uk/what-we-do/childrens-social-care/care-leavers
Turn2Us Benefits Calculator
Turn2us provides an online benefits calculator to help people check what financial support they may be entitled to. This may be useful if you want to understand what benefits are available to you.
Website: https://www.turn2us.org.uk
Resources for practitioners
This page brings together a selection of resources for practitioners supporting care leavers, including guidance and practical tools across health, housing, education and employment. This is not an exhaustive list, so if there’s a resource you’ve found helpful in practice and think could support other practitioners, please get in touch.
Core guidance
Statutory guidance: Transition to adulthood for care leavers (Department for Education)
A professional document for personal advisers, social workers, managers and commissioners which covers pathway plans, entitlements and duties.
Local Offer guidance (Department for Education)
Explains what local authorities must publish and how partner agencies should contribute.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a9d1a73b41f783cca461d3/Local_offer_guidance.pdf
Child law advice: Leaving care services
Accessible explanation of duties around pathway plans, reviews and entitlements.
https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/services-for-children-leaving-care
Housing and accommodation
Social services duties and pathway plans (Shelter)
Outlines social services duties to care leavers including housing, homelessness professional and corporate parenting principles.
Health and wellbeing
Health and care passport (NHS England)
A practical tool for health and social care professionals aimed at improving communication and reasonable adjustments for patients.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/health-and-care-passport-plain-english
Example local authority health passport (Lambeth Council)
An example of a health passport for care leavers published by Lambeth Council.
https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/support-care-leavers/health-happiness/health-passport
Employment and workplace support
Toolkit for supporting care leavers into work (Local Government Association)
A toolkit for employers and councils building care leaver friendly recruitment and retention.
Care Leaver Covenant toolkit
A guide for creating employment opportunities and initiatives for care leavers.
Recruiting and retaining care leavers in employment: NHS managers toolkit (Care Leaver Covenant)
This toolkit was developed with care leavers’ lived experience at it’s core, to help NHS managers recruit and support care leavers in employment. This toolkit may also be relevant for employers beyond the NHS.
https://www.amazingapprenticeships.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/NHS-Managers-toolkit.pdf
Practice toolkits
The REAL toolkit
A collection of guides for practitioners focused on creating and improving relational practice.
https://www.therealtoolkit.scot/the-workforce
TACT (Language that cares)
The TACT language that cares age highlights words and phrases commonly used in children’s social care and suggests more thoughtful alternatives. It encourages professional to reflect on how language can shape identity, reinforce stigma, or affect how children and young people see themselves.
https://tactfostering.org.uk/knowledge-centre/language-that-cares/
Care leavers independence booklets for professionals (Manchester City Council)
An example of toolkits focused on teaching life skills at different ages during everyday life.
https://manchestercs.trixonline.co.uk/chapter/care-leavers-independence-booklets-for-professionals
Care experience as a protected characteristic (Terry Galloway, Care Leaver Local Offer)
A briefing report that argues that care experience should be recognised as a protected characteristic in law to address discrimination and stigma faced by care experienced people. It calls on government to introduce legal protection and recommends that public bodies take action now to recognise and respond to these inequalities.
Implementation toolkit (Warwick Business School)
A toolkit designed by Warwick Business School to help practitioners to implement new ideas that will improve practice.
https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/toolkit-innovations-care-leavers-life-chances
Service improvement and learning
Review of the local offer for care leavers (The professional association for social work and social workers)
A review of how the local offer is being implemented in practice including what is work and areas for improvement.
Understanding the local offer available to care leavers (Catch-22)
An accessible summary of the aim of the local offer, including what should be covered.
https://www.catch-22.org.uk/resources/care-leaver-local-offer
Digital support tools
Care Leavers App (FocusGov.)
A co-produced app used by local authorities to support and help care leavers.
https://www.focusgov.co.uk/our-solutions/2-care-leavers-app
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