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Future Pathways

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to common questions about Future Pathways

About Future Pathways

Future Pathways is a service that supports people who were abused or neglected as children when they were in the Scottish care system. We support people in their life goals and help people to work towards them.

Future Pathways is delivered by the In Care Survivors Alliance. The Alliance is made up of four organisations. These are:

  • Glasgow Psychological Trauma Service (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde)
  • Health in Mind
  • Penumbra Mental Health
  • Scottish Government

Staff members from each of these organisations are on the Alliance Leadership Team which runs Future Pathways. The team also includes people who have been supported by Future Pathways.

You can find out more about the In Care Survivors Alliance at www.incarealliance.scot

Yes. Three people who have been supported by Future Pathways are on the Alliance Leadership Team. This team runs Future Pathways.

There is also a group of people called Voices for a Better Future. This group can offer guidance and advice to the Alliance Leadership Team. They make sure that the views of people supported by Future Pathways are considered in decisions about the service. You can find out more about Voices for a Better Future here.

In 2015, the Scottish Government published its Survivor Scotland plan. The aim of the plan was to improve services for people who had experienced abuse or neglect as children when they were in the Scottish care system. One part of the plan was to set up a support fund.

In 2016, a fund called the In Care Survivors Fund was set up.

In 2017, after asking for input from people accessing the fund, its name was changed to Future Pathways.

Future Pathways is funded by the Scottish Government.

Who can get support from Future Pathways

Future Pathways supports people who were abused or neglected as children when they were in the Scottish care system.

You can get support from Future Pathways if the abuse or neglect happened:

  • in a care setting
  • in Scotland
  • when you were under 18

You also need to be over 18 now. 

By “in care”, we mean:

  • children’s homes
  • foster care
  • boarding schools (state, private or independent)
  • long-term stays in hospital
  • young offenders institutions (YOIs)

Please note: the term “in care” does NOT include: 

  • Children living with their natural families   
  • Children living with members of their natural families   
  • Children living with adoptive families   
  • Children using sports and leisure clubs or attending faith-based organisations on a day-to-day basis  
  • Hospitals and similar treatment centres attended on a short-term basis   
  • Nursery and day care   
  • Short-term respite care for vulnerable children   
  • Schools (public or private) which did not have boarding facilities   
  • Police cells and similar holding centres which were intended to provide care for the short-term  
  • 16 or 17-year-old children in the armed forces and accommodated by the relevant service 

The above is for guidance only. If you are not sure if you can get support, please contact Future Pathways for more information.

You must be 18 or over to register with Future Pathways. There is no maximum age limit.

If the abuse or neglect took place before you were 18 and you are 18 or over now, you can register with Future Pathways.

Yes. If the abuse or neglect took place when you were in care in Scotland, you can get support from Future Pathways. It does not matter where you live now.

Yes. You can still get support. An ongoing civil or criminal case related to the abuse you experienced in care does not stop you from getting support from Future Pathways.

Yes. You can still get support if you have any past or present criminal or civil charges or convictions.

If you are currently serving a prison sentence, you can still register with Future Pathways but support will not start until you have finished your sentence.

No. The abuse or neglect does not need to have been reported for you to access support.

Yes. You can still get support from Future Pathways if you have applied to Scotland’s Redress Scheme or received a payment from Scotland’s Redress Scheme.

Registering with Future Pathways

To get support from Future Pathways, first you need to get in contact with us. We will then speak to you on the phone to register you. You can get in contact with us by phone, email or filling out the form on our website. 

If you email or complete the online form, we ask that you give us a phone number that we can contact you on. We will then call you to register you with us. 

We will make three attempts to call you. If you have missed our calls, you can always call us back.

Our phone line is staffed by Support Coordinators. It takes around 10 to 15 minutes to register. After you register, we will send you an Information Pack and Support Agreement. It is important that you please sign the Support Agreement and send it back to us.

You can view the Information Pack here

You can view the Support Agreement here.

A family member, friend or other support person can contact Future Pathways for you and ask for you to be registered. But they must have your permission to do this.

To register, we still need to speak to you directly. But you can have a family member, friend or other support person there with you to support you with the call.

To register, we will ask you a few questions to confirm that you are eligible for our support, but we will never ask about your experiences of abuse or neglect. You also do not need to provide any documents from your time in care.

Support from Future Pathways

Yes. Support from Future Pathways is free.

You might know what support you are looking for or you might need some help to find out. Everyone is different. 
 
Here are some of the ways we can help:

  • We can help you find local supports and services 
  • We can help you access local activities, and explore your interests 
  • We can help you access support for your mental health 
  • We can link you to services that can help you find your care records
  • We can help you access training and education 

Our support will focus on what is important for you and your own goals. You will have a Support Coordinator to help and guide you.  
 
You can find out more about the types of support you can get in our Information Pack.

We do not provide one-off payments. However, we can support with the costs of items that are within a support plan that has been agreed with your Support Coordinator. You can find out more about how support works in our Information Pack.

It is not always possible for us to say how long people will have to wait. This is because timeframes can change. Each month, we update our Waiting List information. You can view this here.

Before support can start, we also need your signed Support Agreement.

Yes. You can ask for a female or male Support Coordinator. 

When you register with us, we will ask you what your preferred method of contact is. Your Support Coordinator will contact you in this way This might be phone call, email or text. Usually, your Support Coordinator will then arrange to call you. This will be at a time that suits you. A face-to-face meeting may be arranged once support has started.

Yes. You can have someone else with you when you speak to your Support Coordinator. This could be a friend, family member or support worker.

After that first phone call, we would work towards you feeling comfortable to speak with your Support Coordinator yourself without the need for extra support. We will make sure this happens at a pace that feels right for you. 

It is unlikely that support from Future Pathways would affect your benefits. If you have any questions or concerns about this, you can speak to your Support Coordinator.

Future Pathways does not offer financial redress. You can apply for financial redress through Scotland’s Redress Scheme. The Redress Scheme may also offer an apology and/or emotional support. For more information on Scotland’s Redress Scheme, you can:

Registering with Future Pathways does not affect access to the Redress Scheme, either now or in the future. 

The Redress Support Service can support people who are applying to the Redress Scheme. They can support you if you have already made the application, if you are still in the process of applying or if you are thinking about applying. A team of Link Workers provides emotional and practical support. The service also has an Emotional Support Helpline that anyone can call. 

www.redress-support.scot

Information Pack and Support Agreement

After you have registered, we will send you an Information Pack by email or in the post. This pack has information about the service and how support from Future Pathways works. You can also view the Information Pack here.

To get a paper copy of the Information Pack, you can: 

  • email us at engagement@future-pathways.co.uk  
  • phone us for free on 0808 164 2005 (Monday-Friday, 10am to 4pm)  
  • write to us at Future Pathways, 40 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RT 

The Support Agreement is an important document that explains what you can expect from Future Pathways and what we expect of the people we support. It also asks you to confirm how you would like us to contact you. Everyone who accesses support from Future Pathways must sign a Support Agreement. You can view the Support Agreement here.

Keeping in contact with Future Pathways

To contact Future Pathways, you can:  

  • email us at engagement@future-pathways.co.uk  
  • phone us for free on 0808 164 2005 (Monday-Friday, 10am to 4pm)  
  • write to us at Future Pathways, 40 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RT 

You can sign up for the newsletter by:  

  • emailing registration@future-pathways.co.uk  
  • phoning us for free on 0808 164 2005 (open Monday-Friday, 10am to 4pm) 
  • filling in the online newsletter form here

We send out a newsletter every few months by post or email. The newsletter tells you useful information about Future Pathways and shares examples of our support.  

You can give us feedback – good or bad – at any time by filling in the form on our website: www.future-pathways.co.uk/feedback  
 
If you would like to get a copy of the feedback form by post instead, you can let us know by:  

  • emailing engagement@future-pathways.co.uk  
  • phoning us for free on 0808 164 2005 (open Monday-Friday, 10am to 4pm) 
  • writing to us at Future Pathways, 40 Shandwick Place, Edinburgh EH2 4RT 
  • speaking to your Support Coordinator  

If you fill in a feedback form, the answers you give will be anonymous. This means that you do not have to provide your name or any personal details. 

If you have a concern or a complaint, we want to know about this as soon as possible. And we will take it seriously. We will look into any concerns or complaints carefully.  
 
You can find out more about making a complaint or sharing a concern by:

Date Protection and Confidentiality

Any information you share will be treated confidentially. This means that we will not share it with anyone else unless you have given us your permission to do so. Information that helps us to understand your support needs will be stored securely on an electronic database.

The only time we would share your information outside of Future Pathways without asking your permission, is if we thought that you or other people, like vulnerable adults or children, may be at risk of harm. If this was the case, we would only share information with services that had to know. We would also do our best to contact you first and let you know that we need to do this and why.

You can find out more about how we look after your information from the Support Agreement. You can view the Support Agreement here. 

At Future Pathways, we safely store the information you give us on an electronic database. This information helps us understand your needs and get the right support for you. We also gather and look at information on how the service is delivered.

You can find out more about how we store and use your information from the Support Agreement. You can view the Support Agreement here.

Yes. Any personal information is stored securely on an electronic database. The only people who can access this database are Future Pathways staff. 
 
You can find out more about how we store and use your information from our Support Agreement. You can view the Support Agreement here.

Delivery Partners

Future Pathways works with a range of different services to help support people to work towards the goals in their support plan. We have a contract in place with some of these services to help us with the work we do. We call the services that have a contract with us our ‘Delivery Partners’.

We work with Delivery Partners in Scotland, the UK and overseas.

If you are interested in becoming a Delivery Partner, contact us at partner.relations@future-pathways.co.uk
 
You can find out more about our Delivery Partners here.