Our Local Offer for care leavers

Our local offer tells you about all the support that we have in County Durham for you as a care leaver.

Just because you are leaving care, or have already left care, we haven't stopped caring about you. We want to make sure that you feel safe and supported and know where and who to go to for advice and help.

Did you know, that as a care leaver:

you can get up to £3,000 to set up home
you will get a discount on council tax and you might not have to pay any at all
you can get £2,000 to help you with going to university
you can get £1,200 if you go to sixth form or college
you can get £500 towards driving lessons
you can get a Freedom Card which is a leisure and activity pass

Your Young Person's Advisor (YPA) will talk with you about the information on these web pages.

We also have this information available in a leaflet - Contact Young People's Service for a copy.

Support for you

See our Support for you section to find out more about your rights and how your Young Person's Advisor (YPA) and social worker will help and support you. Find out about pathway plans and reviews.

Helping you find somewhere to live

See our Care leavers - where can I live? section to find out more about supported accommodation, supported lodgings, living on your own or how to keep living with your foster carer.

Money

See our Money section to find out how we can help you with your money. We can give you help with your benefits, help you to manage your money, give you support to open a bank account, get your national insurance number and other important documents such as photo ID so that you can access services.

Looking after yourself

See our Looking after yourself section to find out more about looking after your health and wellbeing. There's information about how we can help you to build strong and supportive relationships and also how we can support you to get involved and become an active member of society

Education, training and employment

See our education, training and employment section to find out more about going to sixth form, college or university. Find out how we can support you in getting an apprenticeship, training or a job. We can also help you get school holiday work experience and even give you help to learn to drive!

Who this information is for

To be able to get the support set out, you must have been in care for at least 13 weeks (or periods adding up to 13 weeks) which began after age 14 and included some time after your 16th birthday. If you have been an unaccompanied asylum seeking young person, you should also be eligible for support. If you are not sure whether you qualify for support, then ask your Young Person's Advisor (YPA).

Contact Young People's Service