Staf aims to promote policies that will support an environment with love at its heart; that promotes recovery from trauma; and where life chances are not determined by care experience. By doing so, we hope to achieve an environment where policy and practice ensures that our young people and workforce feel loved, safe and supported. To deliver this, we will hear, reflect and act on the views of our members, care leavers and all of those who support them. 

All of our influencing work will support our 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.

Cross Party Group on Care Leavers 

Staf are the secretariat of the Cross Party Group on care leavers which meets at least twice a year to discuss issues raised by the care experienced community to an audience of MSPs and changemakers. You can find out more about the CPG, view previous minutes and forthcoming meetings at the Scottish Parliament's website or you can email [email protected] to sign up to be a member. 

Where we’ve influenced 

• In May 2020 we reported on the impact of COVID-19 on care leavers and those that support them. We found the pandemic had shed new light on loneliness, isolation, digital exclusion, food poverty and financial precarity.  
• We took a deeper dive into how our member organisations were tackling these issues in our #WeLove report, published in June.  
• We drew on three years of Care Leavers Into Employment Focus Group meetings to recommend a ‘Family Firm’ approach to supporting care leavers into work with  full report submitted the Scottish Parliament in August.  
• Representation on Children in Scotland’s Children's Sector Strategic and Policy Forum, as well as the CCPS Committee on Care and Support for Children and Young People.  
• Supporting calls for the UK Government to top-up child benefit and highlighting the importance to care-experienced parents.  
• Calling for the Care Experienced Students Bursary to be increased and extended to year-round to ensure care leaver students are better supported during the summer.  
• Calling for the £100 payment made to low-income families this Christmas to be extended to all care leavers.
• The Youth Justice Visionaries were commissioned by the Scottish Government to engage with their care and justice experienced peers on Scotland’s new Vision and Action Plan for Youth Justice. And both groups gave their views on the UNCRC Incorporation Bill directly to the Convener of the Scottish Parliament Equality and Human Rights Committee.  
• Promoted the interests of care leavers and those who support them at external forums. This has included attending the first SDS (Skills Development Scotland) Care Experience Focal Point meeting; Social Security Scotland’s new Corporate Parenting Champion’s Board; and the SFC (the Scottish Funding Council) Care Experience Governance Group.  
• Attended roundtables hosted by the UK Money and Pension Advice Service on supporting the financial wellbeing of care-experienced young people, as well as ongoing participation in their Scottish Financial Education Forum. We’re now looking forward to being involved in specific work to support care-experienced young people to get a good financial education.  
  
• We’ve begun a conversation with care leavers on the potential for a pilot care leaver Guaranteed Income – looking at how this policy could help ensure no young person leaving care lives in poverty. We look forward to continuing this conversation with partners, including Aberlour, CELCIS and Who Cares? Scotland.
• We held our second Staf Summit in March, focusing on supporting shared learning between Corporate Parents and delivering The Promise. The asks from this will be shared with the Scottish Government. 
• Quarterly Policy and Practice briefings sharing findings from our focus groups and project work with the Scottish Government, Funders and Senior Leaders in Local Government. 
• We are secretariat to the Cross Party Group on Care Leavers. Email [email protected] to become a member. 

Growing our members’ voice

In addition to a continued focus on the transition to adulthood for care leavers, we will also work to influence policy and practice to achieve better outcomes for care leavers in terms of poverty, education, employment, housing, justice and health.

We deliver a range of opportunities for members to participate in this work:

• the Care Leavers into Employment, Education and Training Focus Group;
• the Implications of Continuing Care Focus Group;
• the Supported Lodgings, Supported Carers Focus Group;
• a Local Authority Members’ Forum; and
• networking events for senior leaders, including the Staf Summit and webinars.

In addition, we have established short life working groups to look at specific areas of practice which includes looking at issues around Unaccompanied Asylum Seekers and Supported Carer paperwork. 

We also have a range of policy resources on our website where you can find out more about the following policy areas.

 

Education    Employment    Poverty and Social Security    Justice

 

Health    Housing    Relationships    Trauma    Children's Rights

 

Be a part of our platform

By becoming a Staf member and joining our network of more than 70 organisations, you can help us make sure we are advocating for the care legislation the sector needs. You’ll be able to contribute in a number of ways, including:

• Forums 
• Focus groups
• Contributing to consultation responses
• Online and telephone enquiries

Become a Staf member