July 2014 saw the publication of the “Staying Put – good practice guide”.
The transition into adulthood is difficult enough for any child let alone a young person moving from care to independence. Many young people in the care system can have very disjointed progress often behaving as an adult in many complex situations and struggle in other situations that their peers excel in due to the continued support from their family.
Care leavers should expect the same level of care and support that others would expect from a reasonable parent. The local authority responsible for their care should make sure that they are provided with the opportunities they need, which will include offering them more than one chance as they grapple with taking on the responsibilities of adulthood.
The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 3:
Planning transition to adulthood for care leavers
The guide has been written for everyone involved in making and supporting staying put arrangements in England. It will be particularly relevant to practitioners and managers in children’s social care services, independent reviewing officers, foster carers and looked after young people. Its purpose is to promote good practice so as to ensure that care leavers are provided with the maximum possible opportunity to thrive and achieve as adults. It will assist local authorities to fulfil their duties effectively, assist fostering services to support foster carers to take on the role of staying put carers, and help foster carers and other professionals to understand what is expected of them in relation to staying put.
The guide builds upon the statutory guidance on staying put which is contained in the May 2014 revision of The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 3: Planning transition to adulthood for care leavers and should be read in conjunction with that. It is also complemented by Staying Put: Arrangements for care leavers aged 18 and above to stay on with their former foster carer which is joint guidance produced by the Department for Education (DfE), Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). This provides more detail relating to many of the financial aspects of staying put arrangements.
Published by the Children’s Partnership, the voluntary and community sector strategic partner to the Department for Education.
To access the full guidance click Good Practice Guide (Staying Put) 
For an overview click Staying put overview