Becoming Independent
FCA want to help you when it comes to building independence by supporting our young people as they prepare to leave care.
Getting ready for adult life
Moving onto independent living can seem daunting, but leaving care doesn’t mean you’ll no longer be supported. Here at FCA we pride ourselves on the support, guidance and opportunities we offer to help all our young people on the path to independence. Whether this is a care leaver or whether you are Staying Put with your foster parents, we offer all the tools to equip you with life after foster care.
A wrap-around team of support:
You are the star of the show here and will have a team around you to support you in conquering the challenges and grabbing the opportunities ahead. With you at the centre, you’ll have the following team working to support you:
- Personal Advisor
- Local Authority Social Worker
- Participation Team
- Foster Parent
- FCA Social Worker
Education without compromise
We believe that a good education is one of the most important things to help you have a positive future.
That’s why we’re ambitious about your education to ensure you reach your full potential. Take a look below at just some of the ways we help you achieve the best outcomes:
AQA Awards
The AQA Unit Award Scheme is for children and young people of all ages to help motivate yourself, encourage you to try new things, support you to achieve something positive and raise self- confidence. It rewards your personal success which might otherwise go unrecognized. The AQA Unit Award Scheme helps you with your job chances by showing employers what you have been learning, helps you learn new skills for when you become an adult and makes you feel as though you have achieved a great success by rewarding you with a certificate.
Completing AQA Awards will help you to:
- Gain accreditation for your achievements
- Develop your skills & knowledge
- Access thousands of topic units
Employability Workshops
Your education and experience may make you eligible to apply for a job but, to be successful in most roles, you will need skills that you are likely to develop over time. Some will be specific to the job, but the vast majority, known as ‘soft skills’, can be used in any job or employment sector.
We offer 1-to-1 sessions to help you create and develop your CV. You may have skills you didn’t even realise could be valuable to employers. We also offer interview training sessions where we will help you prepare for what to expect at an interview and the kinds of questions you might be asked. This will also be followed by a mock interview with you so you can get some first-hand experience and practice when applying for jobs.
University Applications
Remember to tick the box on your UCAS application to let the university or college you are applying to know you have been in care.
Look at the Care leaver’s guide, which explains the reasons why UCAS encourage you to tick the box in the care questions on your application.
This is confidential and will not be used against you. It does, however, let the right person at the university or college know that you might need financial or other support, and can help you put that in place before you start your course.
Become a Care Leaver Consultant
We recognise the power of the knowledge and experience you can bring to young people, foster parents and staff. As a Care Experienced Consultant you will be employed on a casual basis to sit on FCA panels (after training) and for staff recruitment. You will also be a part of our Journey to Foster Training for potential foster parents and may act as a mentor for other young people. This offers a great opportunity to build relationships within FCA, whilst gaining first-hand experience in employment.
You will have the training to enable to you:
- Sit on interview panels
- Mentor our young people
- Engage in one of the many workshops we offer to our young people
- Promote positive outcomes
- Take part in foster parent training sessions
- Be part of our panel process
Supporting Your Next Steps
Download our Skills for Life Guide which contains useful resources along with allowing you to track your progress and tick off skills learnt, milestones reached and targets to achieve – all in one handy checklist.
#ChangeTheStory – Meet FCA Care Leaver Billie
Meet our care leaver Billie, who is currently studying social work at University. After seeing how she could make a difference mentoring others growing up in foster care, she’s now using her own experiences to pursue a career as a social worker.
Start Planning For Your Future
LifeSkills, created with Barclays is a great tool that will help you find out what your current skills, interests, and personality traits are, then find help to develop them further to support your future.
