Young people who are ‘looked after away from home’ – living with foster carers, kinship carers or in residential care – on or after their 16th birthday have legal rights and entitlements to stay in the same place, (‘stay put’), with their same carers up until their 21st birthday.
Before your 18th birthday, you should be under no pressure or expectation to ‘leave care’ if you don’t want to or you don’t feel ready to. For example when someone under 18 years stops being legally looked after under a Supervision Order.
And you should be under no pressure or expectation to leave where you are living if you are under 21 years, even when there is no Supervision Order or Permanence Order in place anymore.
You don’t have to apply for continuing care, or be assessed for this, or to sign an agreement. If you are happy and settled where you are, with people you trust and who care for you, and you want to stay, then your local authority has a legal duty to support that and make it happen.
What matters is that you are supported to think through all the options available and you speak to someone you trust.
Information about continuing care
CELCIS Scotland: Your right to continuing care is a useful resource for continuing care, including video content, information about your rights and stories from other young people.
Who to speak to if you would like support
If you think you need advocacy support or independent legal advice, the organisations listed below can help. They can also help you find out more about continuing care and your rights, as it can be hard to understand. No-one expects you to know everything, so don’t be afraid to talk to any of these services, they’re all here to help.
Clan Childlaw
Anyone, of any age, anywhere in Scotland, can call Clan Childlaw with a question about children’s rights and about how the law and legal systems in Scotland work for children and young people.
Telephone: 0808 129 0522, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm
Email: helpline@clanchildlaw.org
Website: Clan Childlaw
Who Cares? Scotland
If you need advocacy support or someone to talk to, contact Who Cares? Scotland.
Telephone: 0330 107 7540, Monday to Friday from 12pm to 4pm
Email: help@whocaresscotland.org
Website: Who Cares? Scotland
Scottish Child Law Centre
If you are aged under 21 years and want to talk to someone about how the law affects you.
Telephone: 0800 328 8970 (from landlines) or 0300 330 1421 (from mobiles), Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 4pm
Website: Scottish Child Law Centre
Further information
Download this continuing care information as a leaflet (PDF 127 KB) to print or keep.