What is my care leaving status?
There are four different legal status’ for care leavers: eligible, relevant, former relevant, and qualifying.
Statuses
To be eligible for the Local Offer, you must have one of the following four statuses.
Eligible child
You are an eligible child if:
- You were in care on or after your 16th birthday
- You were in care for 13 weeks or more after your 14th birthday
- You are still in care
Relevant child
You are a relevant child if:
- You were in care on or after your 16th birthday
- You were in care for 13 weeks or more after your 14th birthday
- You are not still in care
- You are under 18
Relevant young person
You are a relevant young person if:
- You were in care on or after your 16th birthday
- You were in care for 13 weeks or more after your 14th birthday
- You are not still in care
- You are over 18
Qualifying young person
You are a qualifying young person if:
- You were in care on or after your 16th birthday for more than 1 day
- You were not in care for 14 weeks or more after your 14th birthday
No care leaver status
You have no care leaver status if:
- You were not in care on or after your 16th birthday
- You were not looked after directly before a Special Guardianship Order was granted
If you are not sure what your leaving care status is, please speak to your personal advisor.