21 Plus service - leaving care

The 21 Plus service is delivered countywide supporting 400 care leavers who are aged 21 years and over. These individuals were previously supported by the Central, North, South and Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC) leaving care teams. The service is offered up to a young person's 25th birthday.

The service can be different to that of 18+ Personal Advisors (PA's) as we offer support to young people at a point of crisis, including:

finance
housing
mental health teams
employment
training
education.

It is available as a duty service where 21 Plus young people can contact us when they need support or need to access the Nottinghamshire's Local Offer for Care Leavers [PDF].

In addition to the 21 Plus care leavers, advice and guidance is offered to 'Qualifiers'. There are currently around 50 young people who qualify for this service.

21 Plus drop-ins

To support young people transitioning to the service, countywide drop-in sessions are offered each month. These events are advertised to young people who are approaching 21 years of age and PA's are encouraged to attend alongside their young people to introduce them to the service. Invites are also sent via a mailing list to 21 Plus young people to meet the team in person.

The young people attending are encouraged to bring any paperwork if they would like to be advocated for. The team are keen to meet young people in person to understand each individual's wants and needs.

All young people who come along are welcomed with refreshments and leave with goodies.

One to one support

While the team operates a duty service, workers are occasionally allocated to offer one to one focused support to young people. Any allocations of workers to offer one to one support are discussed in team meetings and agreed by the Team Manager.

Most young people strive for independence and are happy to know the service is available if they need it. However, some young people experience difficulties or have multiple needs, which would benefit from a named worker being their main contact. In addition, some individuals when turning 21 may still need more support from a named worker.

Prior to moving to the 21 Plus service, young people are asked to provide a summary of their circumstances to be uploaded onto their record. This further supports the young person and ensures they are part of the service.

Initial contact is made with any new young people via a 'Welcome to the 21 Plus Team' email, which gives details on how to get in touch with the service.

Keeping in touch

Birthday cards are sent to 21 Plus young people to not only celebrate their birthday but to remind them of how they can get in touch with the service. This gently reminds young people that our service is available to them if they need it, and they can can make direct contact.

Bi-monthly newsletters are also sent to young people, to remind them of how to make contact and what they can access, including: