As a care experienced young person, you have the right to be involved in all decisions about your plans for your future, and to know everything about your time in care.
Independent help for care leavers
You're entitled to support from an independent advocate if you want to challenge any decisions about the support we give you.
An independent advocate will:
- Inform you about your rights
- Listen to your thoughts about your support
- Help you be heard in any meetings about your support
Speak to your social worker or personal adviser about requesting an independent advocate.
Request access to your records from your time in care
Accessing the information about your time in care can be daunting, exciting, exhilarating and nerve-wracking.
It can be life-changing or merely satisfy your curiosity. For many, it's a very positive and uplifting experience.
You can request access to your records in 2 ways:
- Ask your personal adviser if you would like help accessing your records.
- Make a Personal Information Request to access records from your time in care. We usually charge a fee for making a Personal Information Request, however, this does not apply to care leavers. Make a Personal Information Request to access your records.
Reasons for accessing your records
You do not need a reason to want to see information about your time in care - and we will not pry into the reasons why when you make your request.
However, there are many reasons why you may want to do this, including:
- Curiosity about why you came into care
- To find out what happened and when
- Wanting to make sense of difficult memories and life events
- To clarify explanations
- A desire to trace family members
- Seeking medical information about family illness or disease
- To obtain photos, letters or certificates
Legal information about your records
If you want more legal information about accessing your records, you can visit:
Learn about your rights as a care leaver
To learn more about your rights and get our support you can:
- Get in touch with us using the contact details on this page
- Speak to your personal adviser or social worker