Legal Update: Young people stay put to get ahead

The detrimental effect of not moving successfully into adulthood is impacting on care leavers and the public. This is not a new revelation. The Centre for Social Justice recently reported that despite representing less than one per cent of young people, care leavers make up 24 per cent of the adult prison population, 11 per cent of young homeless people and 70 per cent of sex workers.

Local authority duties

In 2014, the government introduced the "staying put" initiative into law. This was introduced under the Children and Families Act 2014 (as a new provision to the Children Act 1989: s.23CZA). The main duty set out in this provision is that the local authority is to monitor the staying put arrangement and provide advice, assistance and support to the former relevant child and the former foster carer with a view to maintaining the arrangement. That support must include the consideration of financial support, and the duty continues until the young person reaches 21. The intention of this new provision is that it will allow young people who remain in foster care to experience stability and security in family life on a level enjoyed by their peers, and making it more likely that they can access education, employment or training.