Care and support

Help from childrens, schools and families service

Your local Children, Schools and Families Services team may be able to offer practical advice and assistance, including financial help under the Children Act.

What benefits can I claim if I’m being ‘looked after’?

Children, Schools and Families will assist care leavers and those still in care. But there are some young people who are looked after, or who have just come out of care, who are still able to claim benefits.

16 or 17

The only 'looked after' young people or care leavers who are able to claim income support or ESA are those who are ill or disabled or lone parents. Otherwise, Children, Schools and Families will be the people who pay you.

If you are unfit for work or you have a child living with you, then you can claim ESA or income support as soon as you are 16. It doesn’t matter where you are living – in a home, home on trial, on your own or in foster care. It also doesn’t matter whether you are still studying or not. You can still claim income support or ESA but you will not get any housing benefit. Children, Schools and Families will assess any help you need with housing costs.

Non-means tested benefits such as incapacity benefit, child benefit and disability living allowance can be claimed by looked-after young people. If you have a child of your own living with you, you will be able to get child tax credit too if you are aged 16 or over. You will have to meet the rules of who can claim in exactly the same way as other claimants.

Leaving school?

If you are in care, have left school and are fit for work, then you will have to get your money from Children, Schools and Families, not jobcentre plus. Your social worker should be helping you with living expenses instead.

If you can’t get income support, ESA or jobseekers allowance, you will not be able to get community care grants from the social fund either. Your social worker will help you with grants for setting-up home instead.

Even if you want to have nothing to do with social workers, you will still need them in order to get your money from CSF until you reach 18.

Your pathway plan

The County Council will agree with you what financial support you need and record this in your 'pathway plan'. Priority should be given to accommodation and maintenance and include support for education, training or work – travel, materials and equipment, help to set up in independent living, clothing, leisure, childcare costs. You should get no less than you would have got in benefits.

You will not get any housing benefit to pay your rent even if you are getting income support. Once you come out of care at 18 though, you will be able to claim even if your social worker is still giving you some money from ‘after care’ funds. Tell the people who pay your housing benefit that you have been in care – this will mean that they won’t restrict your benefit like they do for most other young people.

Under 16

The only benefits that you might be able to claim in your own name before you are 16 are child benefit, Healthy Start vouchers for your child and the new £190 Health in Pregnancy Grant(see MAU ’extra money for families’ pack. You get child benefit if you have a child living with you, even if that child is being ‘looked after’ too. From April 2009, it’s worth £20.00 per week for the oldest child and £13.20 for others. It doesn’t matter if you are at school, in foster care or in a home – what counts is that your child is living with you.

If you are disabled and under 16, you might be getting a benefit called disability living allowance (often just called DLA). If you are getting this, it will be paid to an adult on your behalf. After you reach 16 though, it can be paid straight to you. DLA is paid if you need someone to help you look after yourself or you need help getting around. It is a hard benefit to claim, so ask a social worker for help.

18 or over

Once you are 18, you are in exactly the same position as any other young person. This means that you can claim benefits without any of the special rules that apply to 16/17 year olds. You can claim jobseeker’s allowance if you are a part-time student (less than 16 hours per week) as long as you are still available for work. If you are still in non-advanced education, aged 18-20, you might get income support instead of JSA.