Leaving care support
The Pathway Team provide leaving care support to young people who have been in the care of City of York Council.
The Pathway Team offer information, advice and support for you to access:
- accommodation
- education and training
- work experience
- health services
- financial advice
- relationship advice
- social opportunities
The team work with other agencies to help you achieve your goals and ambitions.
The team is made up of:
- 6 Pathway Workers
- an Accommodation Officer
- an Education Training and Employment Officer (ETE)
- a manager
A great way to keep up to date with the Pathway Team is through their Padlet:
- Pathway Team: Keeping in Touch (Padlet)
There is certain support that the Pathway Team must provide by law. This includes providing you with an allocated pathway worker and supporting you to develop a pathway plan.
The amount of support that you require from the Pathway Team will depend on your circumstances.
- Your Pathway Worker
- Your Pathway Plan
- Your right to be heard and taken seriously heard
- Care leavers who reach age 21
- Care leavers aged from 21 up to age 25
Your Pathway Worker
In legislation, Pathway Workers are referred to as Personal Advisors, but we call them Pathway Workers in York.
Your Pathway Worker will provide you with advice, information and guidance to help you make informed choices and decisions.
Your Pathway Worker will keep in contact and arrange meetings with you; they will visit you at home and also arrange to meet you in the community. The relationship between you and your Pathway Worker is important; make the most of the support they can offer.
Following changes introduced through the Children and Social Work Act 2017, you'll be able to ask to have support from a Pathway Worker up to the age of 25 whether you are in education or training or not. This is to try to make sure you receive similar support to young adults who live with their families.
We'll try to let you keep the same Pathway Worker, though this will not always be possible.
Your Pathway Plan
Your Pathway Plan is written by your social worker or your Pathway Worker after consultation with you and important people in your life. Your Pathway Plan should be created by your 16th birthday.
Your Pathway Plan is unique to you and it's important that you are fully involved in creating your plan. It sets out your needs, your views, your future goals, and exactly what support you will receive from the Pathway Team.
Your Pathway Plan will be reviewed at least every 6 months, or if your circumstances change.
Your right to be heard and taken seriously
You have a right to be involved in all decisions about your plans for leaving care, and you have a right to support from an independent advocate if you're thinking about challenging decisions about the care we give you.
You have a right to see the information we keep about you, including the files and records written about you when you were in care. See more about your rights to access your records.
Care leavers who reach age 21
As you approach 21, your Pathway Worker will discuss support beyond the age of 21 with you. If you wish support to continue, your Pathway Plan will be reviewed and updated to reflect your support needs. Support will continue to be provided for as long as it is required, or until you reach age 25.
The amount of support and the frequency of contact that you receive from your Pathway Worker will depend on your individual circumstances.
Care leavers aged from 21 up to age 25
If you request leaving care support at any point after the age of 21 and up to the age of 25, the Pathway Team will assess your needs and depending on your identified needs:
- develop a Pathway Plan setting out the support to be provided
- allocate a named Pathway Worker (although we will try, we cannot guarantee this will be your previous worker)
The amount of support and the frequency of contact that you receive from the Pathway Worker will depend on your individual circumstances.