The Scottish Government held a public consultation on 'moving on' from care into adulthood from July to October 2024.
We submitted a response to the consultation based largely on data from our 2024 State of the Nations' Foster Care survey. You can read our consultation response here. Our key recommendations for the Scottish Government included to:
- create a statutory right to advocacy for care experienced people
- introduce a 'right to return' to Continuing Care
- raise the upper age limit for Continuing Care with flexibility for young people to stay with their foster families until age 25
- introduce a Scottish Recommended Allowance for Continuing Care and a national foster carer fee framework which includes Continuing Care
- review and publish guidance on supporting care experienced children and young people to keep in touch with people who are important to them, including former foster families
- create a duty for local authorities to act as rent guarantors and provide deposits for care experienced people.
The Scottish Government published their consultation analysis in January 2025. We were pleased that several of the points we made in our response appeared as key themes in the analysis, including the need for access to advocacy for care experienced people, improved financial support for foster carers looking after young people in Continuing Care arrangements, and support for care experienced young people to access housing. We will continue to advocate for the Scottish Government to make these changes, as well as to take forward our specific recommendations around introducing a right to return, extending the upper age limit for Continuing Care, and creating a local authority rent guarantor and deposit scheme for care experienced people.
Read the consultation analysis here.
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