2. Looked After Children and Care Leavers In UK law, children in care are referred to as after children’. A child is after’ if they ‘looked ‘looked are in the care of the local authority for more than 24 hours. Legally, this could be when they are: living in accommodation provided by the local authority with the parents’ agreement the subject of an interim or full care order or, in Scotland, a permanence order the subject of an emergency legal order to remove them from immediate danger serving time in a secure children’s home, secure training centre or young offender institution unaccompanied asylum seeking children. They might have been placed in care voluntarily by parents struggling to cope. A child will stop being after’ when they are either adopted, returned home or turn 18. The ‘looked local authority will continue to support children leaving care at 18 until they reach 21. The term 'care leaver' refers to a young person under the age of 25 who is currently or has been in public care for a minimum of three months, since the age of 14, and was in care on their 16th birthday. Public care includes but is not limit to: foster care semi-independent living residential care homes. At Kirklees College we recognise that any time in local authority care can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes, and therefore provide pre entry and on programme support to students who have spent any time in local authority care. The Children Act 2004 places a duty to safeguard looked after children, to promote their educational achievements and to ensure that they are able to to and reach their full “achieve potential”. The Guidance sets out six key principles: education; high expectations; changing and challenging attitudes; – continuity and stability; intervention priority action; and – to young people. Support for Looked Children and Care Leavers At Kirklees College we recognise the additional support that Looked After Children and Care Leavers may need in order to feel able to apply and complete their studies at College. A high proportion of Looked After Children have special educational needs and their emotional and behavioral health can often be a cause for concern. The college recognises that LAC and CL students are statistically much more likely to have a poor attendance record and are up to 5 times more likely to be excluded than their non-looked after peers.
2. Looked After Children and Care Leavers In UK law, children in care are referred to as ‘looked after children’. A child is ‘looked after’ if they are in the care of the local authority for more than 24 hours. Legally, this could be when they are: living in accommodation provided by the local authority with the parents’ agreement the subject of an interim or full care order or, in Scotland, a permanence order the subject of an emergency legal order to remove them from immediate danger serving time in a secure children’s home, secure training centre or young offender institution unaccompanied asylum seeking children. They might have been placed in care voluntarily by parents struggling to cope. A child will stop being ‘looked after’ when they are either adopted, returned home or turn 18. The local authority will continue to support children leaving care at 18 until they reach 21. The term 'care leaver' refers to a young person under the age of 25 who is currently or has been in public care for a minimum of three months, since the age of 14, and was in care on their 16th birthday. Public care includes but is not limit to: foster care semi-independent living residential care homes. At Kirklees College we recognise that any time in local authority care can have a significant impact on educational opportunities and outcomes, and therefore provide pre entry and on programme support to students who have spent any time in local authority care. The Children Act 2004 places a duty to safeguard looked after children, to promote their educational achievements and to ensure that they are able to “achieve to and reach their full potential”. The Guidance sets out six key principles: education; high expectations; – changing and challenging attitudes; continuity and stability; intervention – priority action; and to young people. Support for Looked Children and Care Leavers At Kirklees College we recognise the additional support that Looked After Children and Care Leavers may need in order to feel able to apply and complete their studies at College. A high proportion of Looked After Children have special educational needs and their emotional and behavioral health can often be a cause for concern. The college recognises that LAC and CL students are statistically much more likely to have a poor attendance record and are up to 5 times more likely to be excluded than their non-looked after peers.
Safeguarding-guidance-2015-16.docx