Have your say on a new draft strategy for children and young people who are in care and care leavers.

Overview

In West Sussex, we want to make sure that children who are looked after and care leavers get the best possible support and help when they need it. We have been working on putting together a new strategy which sets out how we are going to do this.

A copy of the full draft strategy for children and young people who are in care and care leavers is available for you to read.  We’ve summarised the main points for you below.

Our priorities for young people in care and care leavers

This Strategic Framework sets out West Sussex County Council’s principles and priorities to improve outcomes for children looked after and care leavers.   It relates to all children looked after and care leavers in West Sussex, including those placed out of our geographical area, up to the age of 25. We talked to lots of people about how we could make things better for children who are looked after and care leavers. Our task has been to focus on what the most important aspects are, and, in doing that, we have identified seven priorities for this plan.

1. • • Supporting children and their families when there is a risk of children becoming looked after, and where possible enabling them to live with their families
     • Ensuring we have a sufficiency of high-quality placements, in the right places to meet children’s and care leavers’ needs
     • The child's need for permanence will best be met by being brought up within a secure, stable and loving family environment, that can support them through childhood and beyond
     • Children looked after and care leavers are happy and healthy
     • Children looked after and care leavers are supported to achieve in education and to access leisure opportunities
     • Children looked after and care leavers can participate in decisions that affect their lives, and have their views sought and responded to
     • Children looked after are supported to leave care and transition into adulthood

Why We Are Consulting

We would like to know what you think of our strategy.   Your views are important to us as we want to make this the best strategy we can create – one that has the greatest impact   on making young people in care and care leavers lives the best they can be. We’ll listen to your views and consider these when we create the final version of the strategy.

Please complete the short survey below to tell us what you think.

Accessibility Statement

If you require any of the information for this project in an alternative format, please contact us on 03302 226709 or via email us at toby.wilson@westsussex.gov.uk   and we will do our best to assist you.  If you are deaf or hard of hearing and have an NGT texting app installed on your computer, laptop or smartphone, you can contact us on 18001 03302 226709.

We are committed to making this website accessible, in accordance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018.    Please view the West Sussex County Council Accessibility Statement, for further details.  Information about the accessibility of the Have Your Say Consultation Hub can be found by clicking on the 'Accessibility tab'   which can be found right at the bottom of this page.  

Where it exists, we will provide details of any project related content which is not fully accessible under a heading of 'Non-accessible content' below.   

We are always looking to improve the accessibility of this website.  If you find any problems not listed on this page or think we’re not meeting accessibility requirements, please contact us at haveyoursay@westsussex.gov.uk. 

What Happens Next

The Children in Care Council and Care Leaver Executive groups

The Children in Care Council and Care Leaver Executive is made up of a group of children and young people who are in care and care leavers. These groups give children and young people a chance to have their say on issues that matter to them. They get to talk to decision makers about their care experience in West Sussex and share ideas about how to improve services for children and young people.

This strategy will be reviewed by these groups. If you’re a child or young person looked after by West Sussex or care leaver, you can get involved in the work of Children in Care Council or Care Leaver Executive.

If you would like to find out more, please contact Toby Wilson on toby.wilson@westsussex.gov.uk or Claire Tooke on Claire.Tooke@westsussex.gov.uk.