Types of fostering

6. Staying put

Young people can continue living with their foster carers until they are twenty-one. Because the young people are no longer children, once they turn eighteen, this is not foster care as such. However, foster carers continue to receive some financial support from the local authority.

A 'staying put' agreement means that a young person can continue living in a safe family environment until they are physically and emotionally ready to live independently. These arrangements can help young people focus on education, training or employment before they need to manage all the demands of adult life.

We know that young people are especially vulnerable when they leave local authority care at eighteen and these additional years living with a foster carer can make a vast difference to the start of adult life for a young person.