The Scottish Care Leavers Covenant is corproduced by a cross-sector alliance of organisations: Barnardo's Scotland, Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland (CELCIS), Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ), Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS), Life Changes Trust, Quarriers, Staf and Who Cares? Scotland. There was also active participation from another 30 key agencies and stakeholders who contributed to Covenant's creation.

In essence, the Scottish Care Leavers Covenant is an 'Agenda for Change' which, if implemented fully and consistently, will transform the way care leavers are supported as they transition into adulthood across Scotland.

The Covenant offers corporate parents a set of guiding principles and actions required to support the implementation of Part 10 (Aftercare) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. The Covenant asks corporate parents to fully integrate its principles and actions into their Corporate Parenting Plans, through Champions Boards, Community Planning Partnerships and Health and Social Care Partnerships to ensure consistency of entitlement and support to care leavers.

Building on the principles of Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), the Covenant takes a holistic, person-centred approach by focusing on the long-term wellbeing needs of young people as they transition out of care. Aligning the Covenant with GIRFEC will make sure that the 'One Child - One Plan - One Care Journey' principle continues beyond the young person's care setting. It outlines high standards of cooperation, joint working and communication between agencies locally and across Scotland.

By endorsing the principles of the Covenant and putting the actions outlined in the agenda for change framework at the heart of Corporate Parenting Plans, coporate parents will be better able to fulfil their duties and realise their ambitions for care leavers.

You can find out more about the Scottish Care Leavers Covenant by clicking on the links below.

Resources

Scottish Care Leavers Covenant (external website)

Scottish Care Leavers Covenant: Supporting corporate parents to improve the lives of care leavers (PDF)

Summary: Scottish Care Leavers Covenant: Supporting corporate parents to improve the lives of care leavers (PDF)

Sign up to the Covenant (external website)