Supporting Young People with Money Management

Some young people are able to manage their own finances and bank accounts with minimal support.  However, for some, a level of support is needed from the Service to develop money management skills. All living in the service should have the mental capacity to manage their finances when they reach adulthood.

Planning for When a Young Person turns 18

When a young person turns 18, they may be entitled to various welfare benefits and the social worker/personal assistant should look with the Service at who is going to support the young person with claiming these benefits and how their money should be managed. This should be considered well before the young person turns 18.

If the young person has the capacity to make decisions about finances, they can decide where they would like to keep their cash and any bank cards. Any potential risk of theft from others should be explained to them, so that they can consider this as part of their decision-making process.

If possible, the young person should be discouraged from storing large quantities of money at the accommodation as this increases the risk of abuse and/or financial anomalies.

If the young person has the mental capacity to make decisions about how to spend their money, they must always be permitted and supported to do so. They may need staff support with shopping, paying bills and budgeting or to access online banking facilities.

If the young person has the mental capacity to manage their finances and has their own bank account, staff may need to support them to liaise with the bank and any utility providers to make payments or set up a direct debit/standing order.

If the person lacks the capacity to make financial decisions, an Appointee, or Deputy (when over the age of 18) can make arrangements to pay any bills from the young person’s account.

Money in the Young Person's Accommodation

If the young person has the capacity to make financial decisions, there does not need to be a record kept of their spending, unless they ask staff to do so or there are safeguarding concerns around the young person.

The record should include a starting balance (which should reflect the end balance of the previous record), details of the incoming or outgoing money and an end balance.

Staff should sign and date each record.

Monitoring of financial records for anomalies should form part of the registered person’s quality assurance and monitoring processes.

All financial irregularities should be reported to the registered person at the time they are noticed.

Recording processes should be sufficiently robust to allow a back-tracking of records in order to identify at which point the anomaly occurred, and what the potential reason for it was.

Unexplained financial discrepancies may warrant a safeguarding concern being raised.

Substantiated cases of dishonesty, theft or fraud are gross misconduct and staff involved can be dismissed and/or face possible criminal proceedings.

The young person should be encouraged and supported to store all bank statements, benefits letters or other financial documents securely in their property/home.