Leaving Care

Transition to independent living and adulthood can be the most challenging stage of life for a young person in care. Feelings of insecurity, uncertainty, confusion and fear often surface, which is why at Keys we have a dedicated Leaving Care division offering individual support packages to young people aged 16-21 years old.

At Leaving Care we aim to bridge the gap between leaving care and living in the outside world, by giving young people the best chance of living an ordinary life totally independently in their local community – whilst achieving their full potential. We work alongside statutory bodies, parents and others with parental responsibility to assist our young people to develop their self-care and independent living skills

Our Keyworkers provide the young people with a positive role model who will help them to develop the practical skills they need to look after themselves when they leave care – support packages include help with accommodation and housing applications, managing finances, finding employment, advocacy and guidance for further education or training.

We specifically focus on:

• Providing good quality accommodation in studio/one or two bedroom flats
• Budgeting Skills
• Home Care Skills (e.g. Shopping, Cooking, Cleaning)
• Accessing/Managing Education or Work
• Challenging anti-social behaviour
• Managing relationships
• Overcoming boredom and isolation
• Self-identity
• Self-care skills

Every young person will face different challenges and issues so we create an individual tailored programme and Pathway plan for everyone once the young person’s needs have been assessed.