Your social worker or Personal Adviser will support you to become independent with your money. They can help you to:
Find out more about managing your money on our youth link pages.
Find information from Coram Voice to help determine if you are a care leaver if you are unsure.
It can be very complicated to know exactly what support you should be getting. We have tried to make things a bit easier for you, by creating these categories:
You are Group A if you:
You are Group B if you:
You are Group C if you:
If you are 16 or 17 and have left care, you'll have a personal allowance from your social worker or Personal Adviser. This personal allowance will be the same as, if not more than the amount you'd get from Universal Credit.
Your social worker or Personal Adviser will make sure you have a passport before you're 18.
If you lose your ID, we will help with the cost of one form of replacement. You can use your personal allowance too if you need more ID.
You can use legal aid in the UK to help you make a claim for asylum. Find out more about this from the Right to Remain Toolkit.
If you are 16 or 17 and have left care, your social worker or Personal Adviser will give you a monthly clothing allowance until you are 18.
If you need clothes for college you should use your college bursary to buy them. You can use your monthly allowance if you need clothes for work.
If you are 16 or 17 and have left care we can give you a SIM card to help you stay connected with us while we're supporting you. The SIM card has:
We do not give money towards contracts you already have, or any that you've set up on your own. If you need a phone, you can budget for this from your personal allowance so that you can buy one.
We'll tell you about any schemes we know about that help care leavers learn to drive. The Rees Foundation is a provider used by Dorset care leavers in the past.
You can use your personal allowance to pay for your:
Find out if you can get discounts for activities and events with the My Max Card.
Talk to your social worker or Personal Adviser to work out how to help you stay connected with the people who are important to you.
Speak to your social worker or Personal Adviser who may help you with a food parcel.
If you are 16 or 17 and have left care we'll give you a birthday gift up to and including your eighteenth birthday.
Your social worker or Personal Adviser will send you a card and gift at Christmas or at your chosen festival celebration up until you're 18 years old.
From April 2021 you will have access to a personal budget of up to £700. This £700 is for you to use over 7 years.
If you're already over the age of 18 on 1 April 2021 we will work out your budget based on £100 per year up to the age of 25.
This personal budget can help to pay for:
Your social worker will make sure you have a passport before you're 18.
If you've lost your ID we will help with the cost of one form of replacement. You can use your personal budget too if you need more ID.
You can use legal aid in the UK to help you make a claim for asylum. Find out more about this from the Right to Remain Toolkit.
If you have applied for asylum but have not yet been granted leave to remain in the UK, you'll be given a weekly personal allowance and monthly clothing allowance from your Personal Adviser until your asylum claim has been processed. This personal allowance will be the same as, if not more than the amount you'd get from Universal Credit.
You can use your personal budget to buy new clothes. If you need clothes for college you should ask your college bursary to pay for them. If you need clothes for work and you're claiming Universal Credit you can ask your work coach to help you.
To help you keep in touch with us we can give you a SIM card while we're supporting you. The SIM card has:
We do not give you money towards any contracts you've already got or any that you've set up on your own. If you need a phone you can use your personal budget to buy one.
We'll tell you about any schemes we know about that help care leavers learn to drive. The Rees Foundation is a provider used by Dorset care leavers in the past.
You can use your personal budget to pay for your:
You can also use your personal budget to pay for leisure or gym activities.
Find out if you can get discounts for activities and events with the My Max Card.
You can use your personal budget to help you keep in touch with the people who are important to you, like visiting them. We will buy your travel tickets for you.
If you need help with money or food we'll help you get a food bank voucher.
We'll also give you details of how to contact the local assistance fund.
Your Personal Adviser will send you a birthday card and gift up until your twenty-first birthday.
Your Personal Adviser will send you a card and gift at Christmas or at your chosen festival celebration up until your twenty-first birthday.
Depending on your personal situation and if you meet the specific criteria you may be able to claim Universal Credit. We can help you speak with the Jobcentre to see if you can make a claim.
You can use legal aid in the UK to help you make a claim for asylum. Find out more about this from the Right to Remain Toolkit.
If you need clothes for college you should ask your college bursary to pay for them. If you need clothes for work and you're claiming Universal Credit you can ask your work coach to help you.
We'll tell you about any schemes we know about that help care leavers learn to drive. The Rees Foundation is a provider used by Dorset care leavers in the past.
If you need help with money or food we'll help you get a food bank voucher.
We'll also give you details of how to contact the local assistance fund.
We believe in continuously improving our services, so if you have a comment, compliment or a complaint we would like you to tell us. You can also talk to your personal advisor.
Specialist Access to Records support is available from the Rees Foundation, to guide and support you when your receive your records, please speak to your Personal Advisor for more information.
