Young Wrexham

Being in Care

Sometimes things happen within families that mean children or young people are not able to live with their parents. This can be for many different reasons including illness, family problems or that due to circumstances, your parent or family are unable to look after you properly.

If this happens to you then the local council will take care of your accommodation and education needs, sometimes this might mean that you live with what is known as a foster family. Depending on your circumstance, who looks after you can be a temporary or a long-term arrangement. You will have someone that helps to make sure you are looked after called a social worker and they should keep you up to date with what's happening.

Once you are in care of social services a plan must be made for how you will be looked after. This will include things like where you are going to live and how often you can see your parents if you and your family wish to keep in touch.

The law says social workers have to take notice of your wishes and feelings. Your thoughts and views matter so its important for you to say what you want when your social worker, your family, and the people caring for you are making plans for the future.

If there are things you're not happy with, its best to talk to your carers or your social worker who can usually sort things out. There are also organisations who provide an Advocacy Service to support you whilst you are in care and to help you to deal with any problems you might be having. An advocate is a trained professional, independent to social services, your carer and social worker who can speak on your behalf if necessary.

This section looks at what it is like being in care, the types of care available and the support you might need while in care.