You and your support

The 16+ team has a mixture of social workers and personal advisors. If you are aged 16 or 17 you will have both an allocated social worker and personal advisor to support you. If you are aged 18-21 you will have a personal advisor. If you are aged between 21-25 you will have a personal advisor if you want one and need some extra support.

What will my social worker do?

At 16 you're allocated a social worker from the 16+ Team. They will work with you to develop your Pathway Plan to help you become able to live independently when you are ready. Their role is to fulfil the council's legal duties to you as your corporate parent.

Your social worker is there to listen to your views, support you to understand your life journey so far and support as you think about your future plans for education, training, family contact, finances and accommodation. They work to help you achieve your goals and make sure that other agencies such as education and health are meeting their duties to you too.

Your social worker will visit you at least once every six weeks or every three months depending on your agreed Care Plan with your independent reviewing officer (IRO). They will stop working with you when you reach 18 when you are then supported by a personal advisor (PA).

What will my personal advisor (PA) do?

A personal advisor is an experienced support worker who is not a social worker but is trained to work with care leavers on a range of issues. Your personal advisor is there to offer you support, advice, guidance and assistance to help you develop your independence. They can help you with finding accommodation, filling in forms, understanding information and signposting you to other agencies. They are there to listen to your views and help you to manage friendships and relationships which at times can be tricky!

Your PA will be in contact with you regularly and will see you face to face at least once every three months. Their work with you can end at 21 if you would like. However you can always come back to the team until you are 25 for additional advice and guidance at the times you might need it.

Just like social workers, personal advisors will update your Pathway Plan with you every six months. This makes sure you have the support you need at the right time to help you achieve your life goals.