Minutes:
Cllr Grant referred to the Care Matters White Paper which aims to improve support for children preparing for adulthood by enabling them to remain with foster carers beyond the age of 18. However, this ‘Staying Put’ arrangement does not apply to those young people who are in residential care. A campaign has been launched to give young people in residential care the same right as those in foster care. The Head of Looked After Children and Care Leavers responded that there is a similar initiative ‘Staying Close’ in Durham for young people in Residential Care which would enable those young people to live near to and retain links with their Children’s Home. Bayna Brown, Strategic Manager, added that the Service is looking into the implications of this.