Moving on and lifelong support : Plan 24-30

The Care Inspectorate’s Thematic Review was published in November 2024, with its findings shared in the months that followed. The review provides reassurance that an increasing number of young people are being well supported as they move on from care.

The Scottish Government’s Moving on from care into adulthood consultation closed in October 2024. While it did not include a specific question on the ‘right to return’ to care settings, it gathered a wide range of perspectives. The analysis of responses, published on 6 January 2025, highlighted that:

“Alongside other evidence, the consultation responses provide valuable and informative evidence for the Scottish Government to draw upon when developing policies to help ensure all young people in Scotland who are care experienced can reach their full potential.”

The National Minimum Expert Group has not yet published its final report. In the interim, STAF has launched its Care Leaver Modern Apprentices Blueprint and has called on the Scottish Government to pilot the proposals set out within it.

The Scottish Social Security Agency now has the powers required to deliver a Care Leaver Payment, although further detail on implementation has yet to be confirmed. However, the Programme for Government 2025 includes a commitment to:
“Introduce a new Care Leavers Payment from 1 April 2026 – a one-off £2,000 payment to help improve the financial security of young people leaving care.”

In response to the conclusions of the Moving On Change Programme and the findings from the 100 Days of Listening, Staf has committed to taking forward a focused programme of work to address key areas of inconsistency, inequity, and systemic barriers experienced by young people moving on from care.

Financial literacy and financial support emerged as a significant theme. Evidence highlighted limited awareness of existing allowances, alongside substantial variation in the levels of financial support available to young people. In response, Staf has begun initial scoping work to improve transparency and accessibility of information, including the development of an interactive map of allowances. In parallel, Staf is supporting a Test of Change with a partner and several Local Authorities to address inequities in financial literacy provision. Learning from this work will inform decisions on wider implementation and contribute to consideration of whether a more consistent or statutory approach to financial support and allowances is required.

Support for those moving on from care, while in further and higher education was also identified as a priority area. Some young people experience challenges when they age out of care while still undertaking their studies. Staf has committed to raising the profile of this issue and supporting work to promote more consistent practice, including approaches that ensure care arrangements align with the full duration of a young person’s course of study rather than being constrained by age thresholds or local interpretation.

Support during the ‘moving on’ phase itself has been recognised as requiring increased priority across the care system. Findings point to a need for earlier and more individualised planning to ensure appropriate resources are secured at this critical transition point. Staf will continue to work with partners to reinforce the importance of coordinated planning, while also recognising the financial pressures faced by local authorities in supporting young people during this phase.

Finally, workforce capacity remains a fundamental enabler of change. The Moving On Programme reinforced that stretched capacity continues to limit the ability of the workforce to provide consistently high-quality, relational care through and beyond transitions from care. Staf has committed to capturing and sharing effective practice where staff have found ways to sustain relationships and standards of care despite these pressures, to support learning and inform future system improvement.

Together, this focused programme of work reflects Staf’s commitment to addressing the structural and practice-based issues identified through the Moving On Change Programme, with the aim of improving consistency, equity, and outcomes for young people as they transition from care.

Further action is required to strengthen awareness of Continuing Care and to increase uptake among those who are entitled to it. Local areas will be expected to review current capacity and identify the actions needed to ensure young people can access their entitlement. This work should form part of wider local planning and commissioning arrangements.

Support for young people moving on from care must be reviewed to improve access and consistency for all entitled young people. This review should also support forward planning in anticipation of increased entitlement in the future, ensuring that systems, pathways and workforce capacity are able to respond effectively over time.

Further work is required to strengthen how learning from inspections, reviews and government consultations is used to inform service improvement. The Scottish Government and partner agencies should support services to embed this learning within improvement planning, working collaboratively with young people. Staf’s Blueprinting approach, alongside the Standards and Principles developed through the Moving On Change Programme, will be used as core tools to support this activity.

Thresholds for accessing adult services continue to create barriers, particularly for young people with additional support needs (ASN). Work is required to improve shared understanding and alignment across children’s and adult services. Adult services must prioritise transitional support for young people with additional support needs, ensuring continuity and reducing the risk of unmet need during transition.

Across the change period, learning and development will be required for staff within Children’s Services, Adult Services, Housing Services and the wider corporate parenting family. This will strengthen understanding of moving on from care and ensure staff are equipped to fulfil their corporate parenting responsibilities consistently and effectively.

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill extends entitlement to Aftercare services. Further work is required to support local authorities to implement these changes, including the removal of cliff edges in to support and strengthened early planning. Learning and development across corporate parents will be essential to ensure awareness of new duties and entitlements. Consideration should also be given to the need for further legislative change where gaps remain.

Staf will continue to progress its work on a guaranteed income for care leavers, including promotion of the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) for apprenticeships. Preparation will also be required to support implementation of the Care Leaver Payment, which is scheduled to be introduced on 1 April 2026, ensuring young people are supported to understand and access this entitlement.

In response to the Moving On Change Programme, Staf has committed to a focused programme of work to strengthen workforce capability. Embedding financial literacy in practice is a key priority. Learning and development opportunities will be identified to ensure young people, and those supporting them, understand financial rights and responsibilities. Financial literacy will be embedded as a core component of moving on planning.

Strengthening understanding of further education entitlements will be progressed through Staf’s learning and development work. While current legislative proposals do not extend entitlement, the workforce will be supported to explore what future extensions could mean in practice, enabling informed engagement with policy development and service design.

Improving support during the moving on phase will be progressed through coordinated learning and development across corporate parents. This work will emphasise early planning, continuity of support and consistent practice. Staf will work with Corporate Parents to ensure this area is prioritised and embedded across agencies.

Addressing workforce capacity and sharing effective practice remain ongoing priorities. Staf will support the identification and dissemination of effective practice across the sector, while continuing to highlight resourcing and capacity pressures. Sustainable improvement depends on a workforce that is adequately supported to maintain and build on the quality of care currently being delivered.

Staf will deliver a Learning and Development Programme to strengthen workforce knowledge, skills and confidence in supporting young people as they move on from care. The programme will focus on the following core areas:

Financial literacy – supporting understanding of financial rights, responsibilities and entitlements for young people moving on from care.
Further education – improving awareness of education pathways, entitlements and support available to care-experienced young people.
Support during the ‘moving on’ phase – strengthening early planning, preparation and coordinated support for young people moving on from care.
Workforce capacity – supporting workforce capability through shared learning, effective practice and sustainable approaches to delivery.

Staf will systematically review feedback, evaluation findings and learning from its Learning and Development Programme. This review will be used to assess impact, identify gaps and strengths, and inform the design and prioritisation of next steps.

Learning from this process will be integrated into future programme development, improvement planning and delivery activity, ensuring that learning and development remains responsive, evidence-informed and aligned with the evolving needs of young people moving on from care and the workforce supporting them.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Who needs to work on this:

Care Inspectorate, Scottish Government, COSLA, Staf, SOLACE

Other route maps this links to:

Leadership

Workforce support

Scrutiny and inspection

Listening

Relationships

Health

Documenting decisions

Participation and engagement

Poverty

Money and commissioning

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.

The Scottish Government published updated Continuing Care guidance on 30 July 2024 to make it more accessible, particularly for young people who are about to leave care. The guidance provides greater clarity for local authorities, those who provide support services and other corporate parents on their responsibilities towards young people entitled to Continuing Care and reinforces the expectation that eligible young people can remain in their care setting (“stay put”) until their 21st birthday. This has established a clearer national framework to support more consistent practice.

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill has been introduced, including proposals to extend aftercare provision in Scotland. This represents a significant step in strengthening legislative support for care experienced young people as they move into adulthood.

In parallel, sector-led evidence gathering has been undertaken to inform system change. In 2023, Staf, working collaboratively with partners, delivered 100 Days of Listening, with findings published in 2024. This work captured extensive lived-experience insight from care experienced young people and those supporting them, identifying both strengths in current practice and areas where change is required to deliver the promise for those moving on from care. The findings highlighted:

Examples of effective practice alongside significant variation in access to practical support and life-skills opportunities, underlining the importance of planned, naturally occurring opportunities to support young people’s independence.
Ongoing lack of clarity about whether the current legislative framework enables a meaningful ‘right to return’ to care settings, as envisioned by the promise, and whether residential care settings are sufficiently enabled to continue caring for young people when requested.
Evidence that the ‘right to return’ remains a live and important issue for young people, despite its absence from the Scottish Government’s Moving on from care into adulthood consultation.
Identified variance and inequity in experiences across Scotland, with finance and resource constraints acting as barriers to consistent delivery.
The need for improved understanding of referral pathways and access to early help and support, alongside care planning approaches that assume young people will remain in care for longer and can access Aftercare support up to age 26.

Collectively, this work has established a strong evidence base and policy direction to inform ongoing legislative and practice change.

Resourcing and capacity must be carefully considered to ensure that services responsible for delivering statutory entitlements are able to fully support young people as they move on from care. Robust learning and development for all those involved in transitional planning, is also essential to strengthen practice and improve outcomes.

The Promise Scotland will share the legal advice that it has commissioned and suggestions on how to embed a statutory 'right to return' to care in Scotland.

The Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill has been laid before the Scottish Parliament. As this progresses (subject to parliamentary approval), the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament will work with The Promise Scotland to consider ways to strengthen the Bill. This is likely to include discussions around a 'right to return' to care. Engagement with both local and national government will be required to ensure robust planning and development to determine how this commitment can be realised by 2030.The Promise Scotland will review and update the route map depending on the outcome of the legislative processes and the legal advice it receives.

The Scottish Government should set out a clear view of the current position and any intended changes ahead of 2030 on enabling young people, where it is in their best interests and their carer is willing and able, to stay where they are living as part of Continuing Care beyond age 21.

A dedicated programme of work is needed to explore the nuances surrounding the right to return. Consistency in culture and practice across Scotland is essential, and further work is required to understand how this right can be delivered effectively for all young people. Services need to be adequately resourced to enable this to happen.

Staf will deliver a Learning and Development Programme to strengthen workforce knowledge, skills and confidence in supporting young people as they move on from care. The programme will focus on the following core areas:

Financial literacy – supporting understanding of financial rights, responsibilities and entitlements for young people moving on from care.
Further education – improving awareness of education pathways, entitlements and support available to care-experienced young people.
Support during the ‘moving on’ phase – strengthening early planning, preparation and coordinated support for young people moving on from care.
Workforce capacity – supporting workforce capability through shared learning, effective practice and sustainable approaches to delivery.

Staf will systematically review feedback, evaluation findings and learning from its Learning and Development Programme. This review will be used to assess impact, identify gaps and strengths, and inform the design and prioritisation of next steps.

Learning from this process will be integrated into future programme development, improvement planning and delivery activity, ensuring that learning and development remains responsive, evidence-informed and aligned with the evolving needs of young people moving on from care and the workforce supporting them.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Who needs to work on this:

Scottish Government , Staf, COSLA, Social Work Scotland, The Fostering Network

Other route maps this links to:

Intensive family support

Money and commissioning

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.

A number of Moving On experts from local authorities have contributed to the co-design of services and the development of blueprints, which are now informing the creation of new Standards and Principles. These will provide a framework for reflecting on current practice and identifying areas for improvement.

Staf continues to strengthen its learning and development offer to support practitioners and partners in improving outcomes for care experienced young people.

Expansion of Aftercare Provision: The draft Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill includes proposals to increase the provision of Aftercare. This represents a significant step forward in supporting young people as they move on from care.

Workforce Support: The workforce will require targeted support to meet the challenges associated with increased entitlement in Aftercare services. This includes ensuring that staff have the knowledge, skills, and capacity needed to deliver high-quality support in line with their expanded responsibilities.

A broader programme of Learning and Development, specifically focused on the “moving on” phase, is essential for robust implementation of the new Bill and related legislation and policy. This programme should be grounded in the lived experiences and needs of young people, as well as those who support them as they transition from care.

Learning and development must be delivered across the entire corporate parenting family and should be prioritised by the Scottish Government. Staf has already contributed significant work in this area through its Blueprinting approach and the Standards and Principles developed as part of the Moving On Change Programme.

Staf will develop and deliver a targeted Learning and Development Programme to strengthen practice and improve outcomes for young people as they move on from care. The programme will focus on the following priority areas:

Financial literacy for young people moving on from care
Strengthening understanding of financial rights, responsibilities and entitlements, and embedding financial literacy within moving on planning to support confidence, independence and informed decision-making.
Supporting participation in further and higher education.
Building workforce knowledge and confidence to support young people moving on from care to access, sustain and succeed in further and higher education, including understanding entitlements, support arrangements and pathways for moving on from care.
Early and effective planning for the moving on phase.
Improving the quality and consistency of early planning for transitions from care, with a focus on preparation, continuity of support and coordinated working across corporate parents.

Staf to review feedback and results from their Learning and Development Programme and integrate into next steps.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Who needs to work on this:

Staf, Scottish Government, SOLACE, COSLA

Other route maps this links to:

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.

In 2023, Staf worked collaboratively with partners to deliver 100 Days of Listening, as part of the 'Moving On' change programme, with findings published in 2024. This work gathered extensive evidence from care experienced children, young people and adults, alongside practitioners. The findings have informed ongoing policy, practice and legislative considerations relating to transitions from care.

Key evidence and learning identified through the 'Moving On' Change programme include:

Advocacy and legal representation

The work highlighted inconsistent access to independent advocacy and legal representation across care experiences. Care-experienced people reported varying levels of awareness of, and ability to access, advocacy and legal support at different stages of their care journey and beyond.

Further and higher education support

100 Days of Listening identified variation in how universities and colleges fulfil their corporate parenting responsibilities. In response, enhanced mentoring and support for care-experienced students has been embedded within Staf’s Learning and Development Programme. This has been complemented by a Test of Change delivered through the Moving On Change Programme, which explored strengthened approaches to student support.

Housing transitions and age-related expectations

The evidence highlighted challenges associated with young people entering autonomous tenancies at 16–17 years of age, particularly where preparation and ongoing support were limited. Participants’ experiences emphasised the importance of local authority involvement in tenancy arrangements, including the provision of support mechanisms that promote stability and longer-term tenancy sustainment.

Planned and supported tenancy moves

Findings identified wide variation in practice when young people move into their first tenancy. While some examples of well-planned and supported transitions were reported, other experiences were described as reactive and isolating. Access to trusted individuals or dedicated teams to support practical and day-to-day needs was identified as a key factor in successful transitions.

Housing supply and system pressures

The work reinforced existing evidence on the impact of housing pressures in Scotland, particularly the limited availability of social and affordable housing. Care experienced people’s needs were identified as requiring specific and sustained consideration within national approaches to housing supply and allocation.

Housing protocols and consistency

100 Days of Listening identified inconsistent application of housing protocols across local areas, including for young people placed outwith their home authority. This aligns with findings from the Oversight Board and wider sector analysis, which highlight the need for clear national guidance and strengthened routes into housing support. Ongoing work to implement Improving Care Leavers’ Housing Pathways has been informed by this evidence.

Support beyond Continuing Care and Aftercare

The evidence highlighted gaps in support for care-experienced adults once statutory Continuing Care and Aftercare duties conclude at age 26. Many participants reported difficulties accessing ongoing assistance, contributing to work to clarify definitions and expectations within emerging legislative and policy frameworks.

Collectively, this work has strengthened the evidence base underpinning current change activity and has informed tests of change, learning programmes, and legislative development linked to the promise.

As the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill includes proposals to extend Aftercare provision, young people will have increased access to advocacy. Learning and development must be in place to ensure that young people—and those who support them—understand their rights and how an advocate can assist them as they move on from care.
Staf’s focus group dedicated to Education, Employment and Training will play a key role across the sector in supporting this part of the workforce. It will also lead further tests of change to explore how support in this area can be strengthened and enhanced.

Ongoing engagement with Staf’s Standards and Principles, as well as continued collaboration with system leaders, is essential. Targeted work with the leadership of housing services and housing providers is required to strengthen their learning and development, and to deepen their understanding of the specific needs of young people moving on from care.

Further work is needed to enable local authorities to act as guarantors for young people, ensuring they can move into housing with greater ease when required. Housing protocols should also be revisited to ensure young people are supported to move between local authority areas, should they wish or need to do so.

Staf’s Learning and Development Programme will support the workforce to achieve the learning outcomes needed to strengthen their capacity to care in the way The Promise requires. The Staf REAL Toolkit and the Standards and Principles have been developed as key resources to help the workforce meet the needs of young people as they move on from care.

Work must continue to ensure that care leavers are prioritised for housing and tenancy support. No young person leaving care should be required to live in emergency homeless accommodation.

The Care Leaver Homelessness Pathway Taskforce has been established. A particular focus must include strengthening cross–local authority placements and reviewing housing protocols to ensure young people can be housed in areas different from those in which they were originally cared for, when this is what they need.

Work is required to ensure that young people who are no longer eligible for Aftercare continue to receive appropriate support, and that planning for this takes place much earlier. Support should be available on a lifelong, when-you-need-it basis, ensuring young people can access help whenever challenges arise.

Staf will design and deliver a Learning and Development Programme to strengthen workforce understanding of young people’s rights and the responsibilities of corporate parents as young people move on from care. The programme will focus on the following priority areas:

Rights to advocacy
Improving awareness and understanding of young people’s rights to independent advocacy, ensuring these rights are consistently promoted and upheld as part of planning and decision-making.

Duties of universities and colleges as corporate parents
Strengthening understanding within the workforce of the statutory duties and responsibilities of universities and colleges as corporate parents, and how these duties should lead to improved practical support for care-experienced students.

Support to manage tenancies
Enhancing knowledge and practice around the support required to help young people establish and sustain tenancies, including understanding housing rights, responsibilities and access to appropriate advice and assistance.

Rights to Aftercare and Continuing Care
Building workforce awareness of young people’s entitlements to Aftercare and Continuing Care, ensuring these rights are understood, communicated clearly and reflected in consistent support pathways.

Staf to review feedback and results from their Learning and Development Programme and integrate into next steps.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Who needs to work on this:

All Corporate Parents, Housing, Health, Education, Third Sector, Scottish Government, COSLA

Other route maps this links to:

Relationships

Advocacy and legal advice

Scaffolding Route Maps

Workforce support

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.

The 'Moving On' Change Programme has enabled a greater understanding of the opportunities, pressures and inconsistencies in the current delivery of support for those moving on from care. Service blueprints have been co-produced to inform new Standards and Principles, which in turn can be used to evaluate and strengthen practice development.

The Moving On Change Programme has strengthened understanding of the opportunities, pressures, and inconsistencies in the current delivery of support for young people moving on from care. Through this work, service blueprints have been co-produced to inform the development of new Standards and Principles, which can then be used to evaluate existing practice and support ongoing improvement.

Blueprinting, along with the Standards and Principles, is available with bespoke support to enable services to co-produce approaches and solutions that lead to improved outcomes for young people.

Integration of Moving On standards and principles into practice.

Review impact of the Standards and Principles in improving the experience of moving on from care.

There are no milestones identified for this year yet. Once progress is made in earlier years, the work required in this year will be clearer and milestones will be added here.

Who needs to work on this:

Staf

Other route maps this links to:

Workforce support

To see which calls to action from the promise sit under this outcome, click here.