New homes for Doncaster children moving out of care system to set them up for adulthood

Two new homes for young people moving out of the care system in Doncaster are now open.
Councillor Rachael BlakeCouncillor Rachael Blake
Councillor Rachael Blake

The scheme, which aims to bridge the gap of young people leaving care with little or no support, is in partnership between Doncaster Children’s Services Trust, Doncaster Council and St Leger Homes.

DCST have been looking for more sites of this nature and the two homes follow on from their first home which opened in Cantley back in 2018.

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The homes aim to help prepare young people to learn skills for independent living. It also means they will no longer have to rely on expensive private supported accommodation provided outside the borough.

DCST bosses said they have developed a ‘bespoke package of support’ which focuses on emotional and physical wellbeing post-care.

Through the programme, young people learn life skills such as shopping for best value, cooking healthy meals on a budget, as well as how to keep their home clean and well maintained.

Once the young people have completed the course, they then get to practice their new skills by moving into the supported accommodation scheme.

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Initially, four young people who have already been supported by Doncaster Children’s Services Trust will live in the two new properties.

The homes will save council partners in the long run rather than having to send young people elsewhere outside of the borough.

The young people on the project said: “It’s good because you don’t get distressed. It helps teenagers like us become adults of the world.”

Another said: “The project is mint. We can’t wait to tell other young people in care to come on it, you get lots of support.”

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Mags Silvester, housing independence at DCST, said: “It’s great to see the amount of accommodation for young care leavers in Doncaster is growing – offering young people the chance to live independently with the support from youth workers, social workers and other agencies where needed.

“We hope this new accommodation will help these young people to take those first steps towards living on their own so they can hopefully move on to their own tenancies in Doncaster in due course.”

Councillor Rachael Blake, cabinet member for children’s social care, said: “This is a fantastic example of partners coming together to offer a service that provides support for our care leavers to ensure they have the best possible start to adulthood. These properties will help give these young people wider skills and confidence to make sure they can have a happy and independent future.”

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