Staying Put

For a young person living in foster care, the first Looked After Child Review following his or her 16th birthday should consider whether a Staying Put placement is likely to be an option post 18 years. This will entail assessing the implications for both the young person and the foster carer.

Following the young person's 18th birthday, the legal basis on which they occupy the former foster home changes (the young person is no longer a Looked After Child but an 'excluded licensee' lodging in the home). This should not denote that the young person will be treated differently than they were as a fostered child, but the different status should be acknowledged.

While Fostering Regulations will no longer legally apply once a young person is over 18 years, key standards should continue to govern the expectations of the placement.

The Local Authority will need to assess individual circumstances and consider the appropriateness of all of these checks particularly where the young person is the only person placed/living with their carer/s and it is not envisaged that further children will be placed.

Where carers decide that they are not in a position to offer a Staying Put placement post 18, arrangements for moving the young person on should be carefully considered and managed to minimise disruption.

The Pathway Planning process should identify the timescale required for young people to move to independence and should be used as the framework for beginning to explore the following issues:

• Is it likely that the young person will fit the criteria for “Staying Put” when they reach their 18th birthday and is the foster carer prepared to offer a Staying Put placement?
• Do the young person and the foster carer(s) understand the criteria for, and associated procedures for extending a foster placement into a “Staying Put” arrangement?
• Does the young person understand their financial and benefit responsibilities associated with remaining in a “Staying Put” arrangement?
• Does the foster carer(s) understand the changes in their funding arrangements associated with a “Staying Put” arrangement?
• Does the foster carer(s) understand the impact of a “Staying Put” arrangement on their welfare benefit income and on their Income Tax and National Insurance responsibilities and liabilities?
• What is the contingency plan for the young person, should the “Staying Put” arrangement not be viable?

To ensure sufficient time is available to make the necessary planning arrangements for extending a placement beyond a young person’s 18th birthday, a “Staying Put” meeting should take place as part of the Pathway Planning process. The “Staying Put” meeting should include the foster carer(s), the young person’s case holding social worker, and the foster carer’s support social worker. The meeting should establish the viability and likelihood of a “Staying Put” arrangement. The meeting should identify all tasks, roles and responsibilities related to extending the former fostering arrangement. The meeting should explore the impact on the foster carer(s) financial circumstances should the placement continue after the young person’s 18th birthday.

The “Staying Put” meeting should be repeated in preparation for the Leaving Care Review and should ensure any final arrangements and requirements are in place by the young person’s 18th birthday.

All requests for extending a placement post eighteen must be presented in writing to the 18+ Leaving Care Service Manager.

The Department for Education defines Staying Put as arrangements where;

• A young person who was looked after immediately prior to their eighteenth birthday (as an eligible child) continues to reside with their former foster carers;
• The carers were acting as foster carers to the child immediately prior to the young person’s eighteenth birthday(approved as foster carers in accordance with Fostering Service regulations 2011 and the child had been placed with them by a Local Authority or via an Independent Fostering agency);
• A young person is deemed an eligible child within the meaning of paragraph 19B (2) of schedule 2 of the Children Act 1989 immediately before s/he reached eighteen;
• The Staying Put arrangement is set out in the child’s pathway plan;
• A proportion of the allowance paid to the Staying Put carers is paid by the Local Authority under section 23C of the Children Act 1989;
• The Staying Put arrangement extends until the young person first leaves the arrangement or the young person reaches their 21st birthday or the young person completes the agreed programme of education or training being undertaken on their twenty first birthday, if continuously living in the arrangement since their eighteenth birthday.

Young people, "Staying Put" carer(s), LAC social workers and supervising social workers should meet to develop a 'Staying Put Living Together Agreement' prior to a young person's 18th birthday. The agreement should set out the expectation of all parties and clarify roles and responsibilities. This agreement should acknowledge the shift in the young person's status from child in care to "excluded licensee" and the change in the carer's role from foster carer to Staying Put provider.

• The agreement should cover:
• Preparation for independence tasks;
• Finance;
• Income and benefit claims and money management;
• Friends and partners visiting and staying at the address;
• Staying away for nights/weekends and informing carers of movements;
• Education, training and employment activities;
• Health arrangements;
• Moving-on arrangements;
• Issues related to younger foster care children in the placement, safeguarding, role modelling and time keeping.

A copy should be given to the provider and young person and a copy on Framework.

The total amount received by the Staying Put provider should be the equivalent of the basic fostering rate for 16/17 year olds and is made up of three elements – food/utilities, rent and support.

2015 Rates – rates to be reviewed annually in line with fostering allowance reviews:

• A weekly sum of £70 will be paid by the young person to the provider for their rent;
• A weekly sum of £30 will be paid by the young person to the provider for their food and utilities;
• A weekly sum of £85 will be paid by Nottinghamshire County Council to the provider for support.

Young people in Staying Put arrangements will be expected to finance their food and utilities and rent through their own income.

A benefit check should be done with all young people to ensure that income is maximised. An entitlement to benefits such as Housing Benefit or Income Support should be considered and can be worked out using Benefit Calculators available on council websites. Housing Benefit claims must be supported with a Proof of Rent form (see Appendix C: Proof of Rent Form). Some Housing Benefit offices will ask for a Licence or Tenancy Agreement but usually Proof of Rent is sufficient.

Where young people do not qualify for Housing Benefit or to a reduced amount of benefit due to their level of income, consideration will be given to “topping up” rent to ensure that there is no disincentive to work. A young persons payment of rent and personal contribution should not make up more than one third of their net income.

Equation required – young persons earnings divided by one third minus the rent and personal contribution. If the final figure is a deficit or minus figure then this will be the top up needed. A surplus or plus amount means no top up will be paid.

Whilst fostering regulations no longer formally apply, when a young person reaches the age of 18 the following standards should continue to govern the expectations of the “Staying Put” arrangement:

• All Staying Put providers to have access to a named contact within Children’s Social Care (either from the Fostering Service or 18+ Team). This named worker will be responsible for;
• Informing the Staying Put Panel when there is a change of circumstances;
• Annual Health and Safety checks. Appendix D: Health and Safety Checklist to be used as a checklist and a copy placed on the providers file.

It should be noted that young people remaining with foster carer(s) post eighteen will become adult members of the household and will require a valid DBS check in households where foster children are living (this remains the responsibility of the case-holding social worker of any foster children aged under sixteen).

Click here to view the Staying Put Arrangement Flowchart.

Appendix A: Staying Put Agreement

Appendix B: HMRC Factsheet HS236

Appendix C: Proof of Rent Form

Appendix D: Health and Safety Checklist

Appendix E: Information for Providers

Appendix F: Information for Young People