7.19 Pathway Planning Guidance and Checklist

AMENDMENT

This chapter was amended in February 2012 to reflect the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations, 2010, Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010 and the Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers Guidance (all of which became effective from 1 April 2011).

1.	The Purpose of Pathway Planning
2.	Pathway Plans and Good Practice
3.	Content of the Pathway Plan
4.	Review of the Pathway Plan and Contingency Arrangements
5.	Pathway Planning Checklist
	i.	Accommodation
	ii.	Education and Training
	iii.	Employment
	iv.	Family and Social Relationships
	v.	Practical and Other Skills
	vi.	Health Needs
	vii.	Financial Support
	viii.	Personal Support
	ix.	Contingency Planning

1. The Purpose of Pathway Planning

“The Pathway Plan should be pivotal to the process whereby young people map out their future, articulating their aspirations and identifying interim goals along the way to realising their ambitions. It will also play a critical part in making the new arrangements contained within the Act work”.

“The Authority should work to ensure that the Pathway Plan is owned by the young person and is able to respond to their changing needs and ambitions. It should look ahead at least as far as the young person’s 21st birthday and will be in place beyond that where the young person is in a programme of education or training, which takes them past that age “.

2. Pathway Plans and Good Practice

The Pathway Plan should reflect best practice in that:

Young people must have the option to remain looked after until they are prepared and ready to leave;
Pathway planning should run parallel to a young person’s Care Plan and LAC planning, including any Personal Education Plan or Connexions plan;
Pathway Planning should take place early, recognising the need for structure and stability;
All people with an interest in or involved in supporting the young person should be fully involved in the process;
Pathway planning should be at the young person’s pace and ensure that young people are fully involved and informed about options available;
Real choice is vital, as a young person’s assessment of need will have identified which options will be most suitable and agreeable to the young person;
The Leaving Care Team must be involved at an early point in order to ensure that they offer specialist knowledge to young people and help focus the Pathway planning process.

3. Content of the Pathway Plan

The Pathway Planning process will be where arrangements for continuing support and contact will be agreed. The plan should include the following areas:

The plan for the young person’s continuing education or training when he/she ceases to be looked after - where the young person is no longer of statutory school age, the Pathway Plan may need to incorporate the goals and actions that were previously included in the PEP;
How the Responsible Local Authority will assist the young person in obtaining employment or other purposeful activity or occupation, taking into account his/her aspirations, skills and educational potential;
The financial support to be provided to enable the young person to meet accommodation and maintenance costs; taking into account his/her financial capabilities and money-management capacity, along with strategies to develop skills in this area;
The nature and level of contact and personal support to be provided, and by whom, to the young person;
Details of the accommodation the young person is to occupy (including an assessment of its suitability in the light of the young person’s needs, and details of the considerations taken into account in assessing that suitability);
Details of the arrangements made by the Responsible Local Authority to meet the young person’s needs in relation to his or her identity, with particular regard to their religious persuasion, racial origin and cultural and linguistic background.

The essentials of the Pathway Plan are specified in Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations, 2010 (for Eligible Young People), Care Leavers (England) Regulations 2010 (for relevant and Former Relevant Young People) and the Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers Guidance (all of which became effective from 1 April 2011).

4. Review of the Pathway Plan and Contingency Arrangements

Reviews must be arranged if the young person asks for one, or at least every 6 months and arrangements must be made to enable the young person to attend meetings. The purpose is to check that the goals and milestones are still right and that they are being met. Analysis of all levels of support should be reviewed to ensure they are adequate and delivered according to plan.

The Personal Adviser would normally take charge of the review and be responsible for recording the outcomes. It may be appropriate for someone other than the Personal Adviser who has case responsibility to take charge of the reviewing process - for instance, in the case of Eligible Young People who will still have a social worker.

Contingency plans should be in place that recognise potential difficulties young people may face and arrange for appropriate support mechanisms. Planning should be flexible and sensitive to any problems and acknowledge the right of young people to return for support.

5. Pathway Planning Checklist

i.

Accommodation

Consideration should be given to the young person’s:

Pre-care experience;
Care experience;
Family contact;
Ethnicity;
Gender;
Sexuality;
Disability;
How well prepared a young person is to leave care.

The needs assessment will have identified what specific assistance a young person will need in relation to accommodation and what types of accommodation are suitable to meet the young person’s needs.

In addition, local authorities must consider the range of needs they may need to meet when they consider their duty to provide accommodation for eligible and relevant young people. A range of accommodation options must be established.

Local authorities should:

Avoid moving young people who are settled unless it is unavoidable or offers clear advantage;
Assess young people’s needs and prepare them for any move;
Where practicable, offer a choice in the type and location of accommodation;
Set up a package of support to the accommodation;
Establish a clear and sufficient financial plan for the accommodation;
Develop a contingency plan in case the proposed accommodation breaks down.

ii.

Education and Training

Pathway planning for eligible and relevant young people must build on the educational progress while the young person was looked after. It must take into account the young person’s Personal Education Plan (PEP). It should include continuous assessment of the young person’s progress.

The Pathway Plan should:

Reflect the needs and potential of the young person;
Enable young people to make the most of educational opportunities;
Provide for the young person’s Personal Adviser (and Connexions Adviser if different) to intervene as necessary to solve any problems;
Demonstrate contact with school/college and include attendance at parents’ events (as appropriate);
Cover any remedial education required.

Any financial needs in relation to future education/training must be included within the Pathway Plan.

iii.

Employment

The Pathway Plan should set out how the responsible authority will assist the young person in, or seeking, employment. (Schedule 1, paragraph 4)

Specific attention should be given to:

Gathering information about the young person’s achievements and potential;
Carrying out an assessment of a young person’s capabilities with regard to employment;
Identify what work needs to be done to increase a young person’s employability;
Exploring employment opportunities;
Developing links with local employers;
Identify range of support for the young person.

Any financial needs in relation to assisting a young person to find and maintain employment must be included within the Pathway Plan.

iv.

Family and Social Relationships

Local authorities must enable and support young people to maintain and create links with families and friends whilst looked after. This should always include members of the extended family.

The Pathway Plan should explore sources of informal support and a young person’s ability to make and sustain such relationships. All suitable adults who have been a part of the young person’s life should be considered as a means of future support, e.g. foster carers/residential workers/teachers.

Consideration should be given to means of assisting the young person of accessing that support.

Every effort should be made to combat social isolation and to enable young people to strengthen their resistance to exploitation by others. The Pathway Plan should include reference to interventions by the personal adviser/leaving care services to support the young person in this area.

v.

Practical and Other Skills

The Pathway Plan must demonstrate a holistic approach attaching equal importance to practical, emotional and interpersonal skills. It must develop strategies to address assessed need for life skills development to ensure that the young person achieves, at appropriate pace, the ability to live as a confident and independent adult.

Assessment and agreed action in respect of the following should be included in the Pathway Plan:

Self Care Skills	Personal hygiene Diet Health Sexual health
Practical Skills	Budgeting Shopping Cooking Cleaning Laundry
Interpersonal Skills	Formal and informal relationship building
Identity	Knowledge of and links with family and Community Sexuality Cultural knowledge for young people from ethnic minority communities

It is important that the particular needs of young people with learning or physical disabilities are addressed.

vi.

Health Needs

The Pathway Plan must deal with the young person’s health needs, including any mental health needs, and detail how they are to be met.

The Pathway Plan should:

Involve a holistic assessment and maintain detailed records of the young persons health;
Promote a healthy lifestyle;
Ensure appropriate use of primary healthcare services by young people;
Provide access to specialist help and therapeutic services;
Promote leisure interests;
Ensure appropriate discounts for prescribed medication, dental treatment, and vision care. (Form HC1);
Pay attention to healthy living including, physical, mental and sexual health.

vii.

Financial Support

The Pathway Plan must include the financial considerations for achievement of all aspects of it. A commitment for financial support throughout the life of the plan, which should be projected into adulthood, should be given.

The financial support of the plan should allow for normal activities that stretch the potential of the young person, e.g. part time employment, and encourage such activity.

The local authority acts a good parent and should offer support that is realistic and similar in nature to that provided by similarly to young people who are not looked after in the area.

viii.

Personal Support

The support of the Personal Adviser and/or Connexions Adviser is crucial for the success of the plan. Strategies for support must reflect assessed need and the young persons ability and willingness to accept support.

The Pathway Plan should give detailed information about what support he/she can expect. It should also include a mechanism for the young person to seek additional support in the short term should this be necessary.

ix.

Contingency Planning

What will happen if all or part of the plan is not met? E.g. what next if exam results unexpectedly preclude acceptance at university?

It is important that the Pathway Plan explores alternatives for the young person if things have to change.

All material or substantial changes should be brought to a review of the Pathway Plan so that life changes can be developed and mapped out in light of them.

End