About Us
Leaving Care Solutions are a leading provider of semi-independent accommodation and support for young people leaving care. With over 20 years’ experience in providing services for care leavers and other disadvantaged teenagers, we have a demonstrable track record of providing high quality and flexible services for both care leavers and their commissioning local authority.
We offer both standalone and staffed shared, semi-independent accommodation for care leavers, with flexible packages of support from well trained, and professionally supervised, support workers. Our services are built around the needs of the young person, and the objectives of their responsible authority, whilst remaining excellent value for money.
All young people placed with us get good quality accommodation. We believe that this, combined with flexible outreach support from our support workers, gives them the best chance of achieving full independence.
Our experience and infrastructure allows us to manage the most difficult of situations, whilst holding a strong focus on child centred safeguarding and a well embedded need for regulation. We pride ourselves in working in partnership with all of our referring local authorities and tailor our support to the individual needs of young people.
At LCS we support young people who might experience:
- Learning difficulties
- Physical difficulties
- Affected by domestic abuse
- Affected by substance misuse
- Affected by exploitation (including child sexual exploitation, gang or drug related exploitation)
- Young people deemed to be vulnerable and at risk
- Complex and chaotic lifestyles, including those displaying anti-social behaviour
- Young people who need support to develop independent living skills
- Functioning at an age below their peers
- Difficulty in managing and understanding their emotions
- Distrust of professionals that are involved in their care
- History of poor relationships
- Feeling lonely and isolated
- Still processing the reasons why they were placed in care
- Financial loss and insecurity
- Low self-esteem and lack of confidence
- Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASCs)
- Young people who need a safe place to live due to external threats to their safety
- Young people at risk of offending and or with a current offending history including those on remand or planning for release
“I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your team for always going above and beyond for (Young Person) and ensuring that he was given a high standard of care... It has been invaluable for (Young Person) to have had a place that he can call home and feel safe and settled"
- Social Worker
Our Service Model
Our service model is based upon:
- Suitable and stable accommodation that meet all legislative requirements and guidelines
- Thorough initial risk and needs assessments, to ensure appropriate matching
- A strengths-based approach to gathering baseline data for measuring progress
- Flexible support from experienced, qualified and consistent staff
- Personalised support tailored to young people’s needs and Pathway Plans
- Supporting and motivating young people to enter education, training and employment.
- A structured Preparation for Independence programme
- Evidence-based assessment tools to monitor and report upon progress
- Access to employment, education or training
- A multi-agency approach for all young people, including Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC)
- The rights of all young people are advocated and followed by LCS at all times. Advocacy services are contacted if the young person requests this
- Following a clear pathway to post-18 housing and independence
- Participation and co-production opportunities for all young people
- Exit interviews, with Moving On Plans shared with the placing authority and Leaving Care teams
- Well-established and compliant Polaris policies and procedures with ISO 9001 Quality Assurance Accreditation
- Our properties are adapted to meet the young person’s needs. This can be things such as providing additional items, removing items that could be a potential trigger.
- All young people will be provided with an independent program that is suitable and adapted to individuals.
Young People's Entitlements
All our Young people will receive a placement agreement, which highlights they can expect from LCS. We also have an agreement that is bespoke to individuals, this highlights important information such as legislation and care acts. In addition this has placement expectations and how they are required to abide to these conditions to remain safe.
We work closely with the placing local authority and advocacy services to ensure all young people receive their full entitlements whilst placed with LCS.
All young people receive a welcome pack, which is bespoke to the individual area. This has specific details for the local area. These include things such as meeting needs around culture, religion, dietary requirements.
The young person’s voice is captured throughout their time with LCS. This starts from the moment a placement is being considered, such as soft furnishings and the colour of their bedroom. We also ensure that all our documentation where possible/suitable has the young person’s voice and views. Our aim is to allow young people to make informed decisions around their care planning and ensuring they fully understand what support they will be receiving.
We want young people to tell us if they think we are doing something wrong, or are acting unfairly in some way. Complaints will always be treated seriously and we will try to put things right as quickly as possible.
Staffing
We recognise that excellent support can only be provided if we have the right staff supporting young people, and that staff, in turn, are supported and enabled to achieve their best. The staff group comprises a balanced mix of experience, skills, knowledge and personal qualities.
LCS recruits staff in line with safer recruitment procedures. All staff are recruited using clear, thorough selection and vetting procedures (including enhanced DBS checks), designed to protect the young people we support and to ensure that staff have the appropriate competencies and approaches to interact effectively with young people who may present complex needs.
We invest heavily in a comprehensive training programme for our staff and managers which is outcome-focused and ensures that the young person’s journey and experience is at the heart of our Learning & Development Programme.
Complaints and Compliments
Complaints and compliments provide us with important insight into the experiences of young people, partner agencies and referrers. This is particularly important for those who have not had a positive experience. Learning from complaints - whether within specific areas of the service responding to individual complaints or through contract monitoring, enriches our understanding of service provision and assists us to ensure service improvement.
We are always pleased when we receive positive feedback. It helps us to understand where we are getting things right and how to further develop and improve.
Staff members ensure that all young people are made aware of our Complaints Procedure and provided with our Complaints Leaflet at the initial point of contact.
Our Approach
LCS knows that every young person is different. We don’t believe in ‘one size fits all’. We understand that we need to earn trust and respect by being reliable, safe and having caring staff who you can get to young people gradually. We won’t assume how they feel – it’s up to them to tell us when the time is right.
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Our Placements
Our placements include 24/7 staffed shared houses for multiple placements, including a female only unit, as well as a variety of standalone flats with floating support and bespoke placements. Our bespoke placements accommodate high risk, vulnerable young people with one to one support around the clock.
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Case Studies
Case studies around our pre and post support approach, how we address mental health concerns, how we prepare young people for independence, our method of monitoring outcomes and many more.
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Part of the Polaris Community
As one of the largest providers of children’s services and the very first provider of independent fostering in the UK, our community of services span the length and breadth of the whole of the UK.
Our nurturing community works collectively to support the very best outcomes for each and every child in our care. We’re ambitious for our children and young people, families and staff, and believe in their futures.
The Polaris Community has a united commitment to measure and maximise our social value; defining it as ‘The positive emotional, environmental and economic impact we have on the Polaris community and wider society’. This includes opportunities we offer staff and our children and young people, but also how we work with suppliers, create job and training opportunities and our impact on the environment.