The Pathway Plan for Care Leavers
This page contains information about what a Care Leaver Pathway Plan is, what it includes and who can support you to create your plan.
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The Pathway Plan
You must have heard about Pathway Plans quite a lot from your social worker or other professionals. You would have also seen a copy of your Pathway plan. It's important to remember that first and foremost the Pathway Plan is your plan. You should be a part of the process of writing it and should always receive a copy of your pathway plan. It should be written in a language that you understand and you can ask for changes to be made to your plan if you don't understand it.
From the age of 16 your Social Worker, your Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) and other professionals involved with you will start to talk with you about a new plan for your future, called ‘a pathway plan’. Pathway plan is a personalised document outlining the support and services you will receive during your transition from being in care to living independently. Your Pathway Plan looks at the things that are important to you and your wishes and feelings as you move towards independence. This might be being ready to leave care, where you might live, managing your money, staying healthy, employment, family and social networks, education and training. In short, most of the things that are needed to ensure that you have a safe and secure future. Your Pathway Plan is also your record of the support that we have agreed to provide you now and in the future. Make sure that you hold on to a copy of your pathway plan.
Your pathway plan is important for you and for us so that we can agree goals that support your future needs and aspirations. We have high ambitions for you; therefore it is important that you are involved in the writing of your plan.
When writing your plan, we will focus on what is working well, what you may be worried about, and what practical things need to happen to make your plan work for you. We must check what is working with your plan at least every 6 months, but life changes happen so often that it would usually be more regular. Remember, your plan belongs to you. If you want us to look at it at any time and make changes, please ask your Personal Adviser.