Who are Staf? 

Staf, formerly the Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum, was formed in 1998 and is Scotland's national membership organisation for all of those involved in the lives of young people leaving care. Staf is the only membership organisation with a specific focus on the throughcare and aftercare of young people leaving care, with over 70 members.

Who are Staf's members?

Our members are committed to delivering better lives for care leavers through delivering services, providing support as Corporate Parents or developing policy and practice. Our membership includes local authorities, education providers, third sector organisations and private or independent sector service providers.

Why join Staf?

• Connect with other 70 individuals, organisations and leaders who are also delivering support to care leavers
• Join your peers from across Scotland at our free focus groups and forums to share practice and develop better policy
• Receive discounted rates for our conferences and large training events
• Access opportunities for your young people to take part in national projects focussed on trauma (Project Return), relationships (Building Relationships) and youth justice (Youth Justice Voices)
• Bespoke member support available through the Staf Enquiries service, helping you to benchmark practice with colleagues across Scotland
• Work alongside us to develop and distribute policy and practice materials
• Opportunities to inspire and influence our project work – and for your own good work to be highlighted by us
• Access to learning and development opportunities, including training and consultancy work

Join today

What we do

All of Staf’s work is underpinned by our values: We Listen, We Care, We Love.

We strive towards our collective vision of a Scotland where the wellbeing and success of young people leaving care across Scotland is indistinguishable from that of their peers in the general population. 

Here's just some of what we do:

• Three Focus Groups on Supporting Care Leavers Into Employment, Continuing Care and Supported Lodgings/Supported Carers
• Biannual Local Authority Members’ Forum, providing a specific and safe space to discuss statutory responsibilities for delivering services to care leavers
• Project Return: a project supporting care-experienced young people and workers to explore how safe nurturing environments and healthy relationships can resolve trauma
• Building Relationships: a project to design and deliver a tool to support relationship-based practice in the care system
• Youth Justice Voices: a project amplifying the voices of care and justice-experienced young people to achieve change
• Develop policy that improves practice in the care system, including responding to government consultations
• Bespoke training and consultancy work, particularly around working with care-experienced young people; trauma-informed practice; trauma and stress management; and leadership training
• National conferences and training events bringing together experts on issues that matter to our sector

Membership Levels

We have a range of membership levels available to all those involved in the lives of young people leaving care. Memberships run on an annual basis and we will be in contact at least one month in advance of your membership expiring each year with details on renewal and available upgrades.

Individual Membership £199.00

Individual membership allows one named person from an organisation to attend Staf events at the discounted member rate, including free access to Staf focus groups and forums.

One-Plus-One Membership £399.00

One-Plus-One membership allows two named people from an organisation to attend events at the discounted member rate, including free access to Staf focus groups and forums.

Team Membership £599.00

Team membership allows up to 6 people in the organisation to be eligible for attending Staf events at the discounted member rate, including free access to Staf focus groups and forums, and is fully transferrable between other members of your team.

Join today

Support our work through Individual Associate Membership

If our full membership options aren't suitable for you, you can still support our work through Individual Associate Membership. At £25 per year, this will help us continue our work and will help you keep in touch with Staf for those who have an active interest in support for young people leaving care.

Purchase Individual Associate Membership

Further Information

If you would like any further information regarding the benefits of Staf membership or the work of the organisation – email us on [email protected] or give us a ring on 0141 465 7511 and one of our team would be happy to talk to you!