Young Person's Advisor (18+) for care leavers

What is a YPA?

A YPA is an experienced support worker who is not a social worker. YPAs have different backgrounds and qualifications, and we match you to a YPA who can best meet your support needs.

Meeting your YPA

You should find out who your YPA is around your 16th birthday. They will support you alongside your social worker until you are 18. Once you are 18, you are an adult and your social worker from children's services will no longer work with you.

What your YPA does

Your YPA is here to help you to prepare to live independently. They can offer you advice, guidance and support after you leave care.

You can receive support from your YPA until you are 25 if you remain in education or continue to need support.

You can decide at any point after you are 18 if you want a YPA or if you just want us to check in with you and remind you of our Local Offer for Care Leavers. We would check in with you twice per year using a method which you can decide, this could be a phone call, email or a letter.

We will send you text alerts about what is happening at our hubs and informing you about any changes to our Local Offer.

Your support

Your YPA will talk with you about any support you need. This support, and how you'll get it, will be written in your Pathway Plan. The amount of support you receive from your YPA will depend on your needs and what you want from them. You might, for example, need extra support because:

• you have special educational needs or a disability
• you are in or leaving custody or you have had contact with the criminal justice system
• you are a young parent
• you are going through a difficult time in your personal life

How often you will see your YPA

You should see your YPA face to face at least once every three months but you can speak to them on the phone more often than that. You can talk to your YPA about how often you'd like to see and speak to them.