The Children and Families Act 2014 introduced a new duty for local authorities in England to enable a ‘staying put’ arrangement to commence after a fostered young person reaches the age of 18, whereby they can remain living with their foster carer up to the age of 21. In this way, stable family homes can be guaranteed at a crucial transitional period in the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society.
The Department for Education (DfE) has updated statutory guidance in line with the new duty. A Good Practice Guide for the sector has also been developed in conjunction with the Children's Partnership.
The DfE has updated its Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers guidance to include reference to Staying Put in Chapter 7. This will help local authorities and foster carers plan how to establish staying put arrangements. It also covers important areas such as the support foster carers might require, and advice and guidance that local authorities should provide to young people. The Fostering Network was closely involved in assisting with drafting its content.
Your local authority should already have a staying put policy in place because it has been considered good practice for a number of years. They should be updating it in line with the new duty. If you are unsure, you should discuss it with your social worker and ask them for an update.
FAQs
Isn’t Staying Put simply an extension of foster care to 21?
In practical terms the intention of the change in the law is “yes it is”, because the relationship between the young person and the foster carer(s) will continue just as it would in any other family. However, legally the arrangement is not the same as a foster placement. The “former relevant child” can no longer be a "looked after" child once they turn 18. They are a young adult and a care leaver.
They are entitled to support as a care leaver and will be allocated a personal adviser. The foster carer, with whom they were placed immediately before they ceased to be looked after, is no longer acting in the capacity of foster carer for that young adult. They are their "former foster carer". The foster placement becomes a "staying put arrangement" and is not governed by fostering services regulations.
How does Staying Put differ from Supported Lodgings?
The spirit behind the change in the law is intended to be different from supported lodgings or adult care, because there should now be an assumption from the very start of the foster placement that the young person will remain living with their foster carer beyond 18 – if they and their foster carer want to continue, of course. The guidance makes it clear that foster carers should receive financial support but it cannot specify how much this will be. Foster carers may also receive income for the young person from other sources, such as the young person’s housing benefit. The intention is that foster carers should not be made to feel like a “landlord”, but rather a parent to a teenager performing the same role as the millions of other parents of teenagers across the country.
If the young person and foster carer want a staying put arrangement, will the local authority have to agree to it?
Yes. Guidance clarifies that it should only be in exceptional situations that local authorities decide a placement is not in the young person’s best interest. The Fostering Network is working to ensure that as many people as want to are able to take up this new opportunity.
If the local authority decides not to agree to it, what rights will young people and foster carers have to challenge this?
Guidance covers how the foster carer and/or young person can challenge decisions.
Will young people staying put be required and/or eligible to have DBS checks?
If a foster carer wants to remain registered as a foster carer, the young person staying put will be subject to an enhanced check for DBS Children’s Barred List.
If a foster carer is agreeing to a staying put placement for an adult who is not classed as vulnerable and they also do not want to remain a registered foster carer, then they do not need any type of DBS check to be carried out.
If a foster carer is agreeing to a staying put placement for an adult who is classed as vulnerable where they are providing personal care, then they will be classed as a carer and will be subject to an enhanced check for DBS Adults’ Barred List.
If a foster carer is agreeing to a staying put placement for an adult who is classed as vulnerable where they are providing personal care as a carer, and they are also remaining as a registered foster carer, then they will need a DBS check to cover both the DBS Adults’ Barred List and DBS Children’s Barred List.
What will be the implications for the payment of the leaving care grant?
Payment of the leaving care grant can be delayed until the young person leaves the staying put arrangement.
What if the young person is going to university?
Bedrooms can be kept available if the young person is going to university. You should discuss with your fostering service how this might be possible.
How will I know what support, including financial support, will be offered so that I can decide whether to offer a staying put arrangement?
The local authority will be required to publicise levels of support to young adults and former foster carers in staying put arrangements so that foster carers can make informed decisions about whether they can offer this.
The intention from central government is that foster carers should not be out of pocket as a result of offering a staying put arrangement.
If young people leave their staying put arrangements, will they be able to return?
Young people who leave will not have a right to return, although this is certainly permissible, and would be good practice. This issue will be covered in guidance.
Will the young person need to have been in the placement for a certain period of time in order to be eligible to stay put?
There is no requirement on the length of time a young person is placed with their foster carer before they are 18 for entitlement is established – in theory it could be one night.
What if I foster for an Independent Fostering Provider (IFP)?
There will need to be consideration given as to how local authorities and IFPs work together with IFP foster carers who want to offer staying put arrangements to a young person they are fostering. The staying put arrangement is not a foster placement, so can be negotiated separately to the fostering agreements and contracts, although some frameworks are including reference to staying put within their tendering processes. However, the IFP will need to be fully involved in the negotiations, as decisions made will have an impact on that carer’s availability and the assessment of their ongoing suitability to foster, as well as having financial implications for all involved.
Where an IFP has a continuing role in supporting foster carers who are providing a staying put arrangement it would not be unreasonable for a fee for this support to be agreed. Commissioning frameworks will need to take this issue on board.
The law has also changed in Scotland and Wales to allow fostered young people to stay with their foster carers. In Scotland these changes also apply to young people in residential care. In Northern Ireland, young people in education, employment and training have the right to stay beyond the age of 18 as part of the Going the Extra Mile (GEM) scheme.
For more information on any of these arrangements, contact your country helpline.
