Bury Shared Lives Supports Care Leavers

Our Shared Lives team are working with children's services in a nationwide programme with Shared Lives Plus to support young people leaving children's care.

We worked together to find the best solution for Alex and his foster carer Susan after Alex turned 18: 

Alex had originally planned to carry on living with Susan as his Shared Lives carer, but when he decided to spend more time with his birth mother, the teams arranged short stay (respite) and day support instead. Alex got a job with Bury Council and he can now split his time between Shared Lives and his birth mother, spending the nights before he works with Susan. Now Alex is also looking forward to moving into his own flat, where he'll be supported by a scheme that will help him build more independence skills. Once he's moved, he'll still be supported by Susan and he's very excited about the next stage of his life.

We're making sure we can be there for other young people leaving care too, because Shared Lives Plus wants Shared Lives to be:

• the first choice for care leavers who have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
• part of the core offer for all care leavers, alongside Staying Put, Staying Close and Supported Lodgings

and we are doing this by:

• supporting foster carers and young people transition to Bury Shared Lives
• raising awareness of Shared Lives by offering the scheme as an option for young people's futures at children's fairs and working with colleagues in children's services to encourage more referrals to Shared Lives

How does it work?

Alex's social worker referred him to Shared Lives so he could continue getting support after he turned 18. During the transition, Bury Shared Lives and Bury Children's Services met regularly to share paperwork, training and reports and to adjust the support Alex wanted, to fit in with his plans. Some children's professionals have continued to suport Alex and Susan since the move too. 

Mo Arthur, Bury Shared Lives registered manager, said,

"Supporting Alex (and Susan) was a success, we are pleased to see Alex moving on to independent living with our support. Susan is also considering opening up her home to more young people leaving care as part of Shared Lives. We have some amazing carers with lots of knowledge and experience to support young people with the next part of their journeys and working with social workers, we’re looking forward to supporting more care leavers in Shared Lives.”
 

Want to find out more about how Bury Shared Lives can support you or how you can support care leavers?

• Care leavers - information and FAQ - contact us
• Foster carers - information and FAQ - contact us
• Social care professionals - information and FAQ - contact us

People's names have been changed to protect their privacy.