About our Care Leavers 18+ Service

Being a Corporate Parent, means that it is our responsibility to be good parents to all our young people in care.  Being a good parent means keeping our young people safe and providing them with the highest possible level of support to recognise and meet everyone’s individual needs.

We can assist you in accessing housing, education, training, work experience and health services; whilst being here to support you make the most of leaving our care; we are also able to assist you by providing advice, encouragement and financial advice to help you make the most of your journey through the care system.

The Care Leavers 18+ Service is based in West Malling and Dover; it is part of the specialist children’s corporate parenting service and works closely with young people who are over the age of 18. The Care Leavers 18+ Service team is made up of Personal Advisers who will support you with your journey to independent living. The Care Leavers 18+ Service has a legal obligation to support you and provide you with assistance until you are 25.

Other Teams working with Care Leavers

Care Leavers in the Young People’s Teams or the Adult Social Care Teams are able to access the same support and assistance as those in the 18+ Service and will be supported by Case Workers in those teams, including Social Workers, Social Work Assistants or Case Officers, who will carry out all the same tasks as Personal Advisers in the 18+ teams.

Within this website, when reference is made to Personal Advisers or the 18+ Care Leavers Service, this includes Social Work staff and managers in other teams fulfilling the Personal Adviser duties.  References to Children in Care Teams or Social Workers may apply to Social Workers in the Disabled Children and Young People Service too.