New leaflet makes young parents benefits clearer
It is now easier for young parents and parents-to-be in Warwickshire to find out about the benefits they are entitled to.
Warwickshire Welfare Rights (WWRAS) and Warwickshire County Council’s Family Information Service – with support from Warwickshire’s Respect Yourself Campaign - have produced an information pack highlighting the help available at different stages of pregnancy or parenthood.
It includes three simple flowcharts for under 16’s, 16 to 17-year-olds and 18-plus explaining their entitlement to benefits such as Child Tax Credit, Health in Pregnancy Grant and Maternity Allowance, as well as Educational Maintenance Allowance and Jobseekers Allowance.
Useful contact details for a range of organisations such as Connexions, Job Centre Plus and the Citizens Advice Bureau have also been included to provide young people with all the information they need access to.
Kathy Siddle, Respect Yourself Campaign Co-ordinator, said: “The flowcharts were created in response to feedback from our young parent’s consultation ‘BIGMOUTH!’ when a number of young parents expressed that they found it difficult to understand the benefit system. They also felt that they were not always given the best advice.
“Once the leaflet was completed, young parents across the county were again consulted to ensure that it was easily accessible and gave clear information to help them understand what they were entitled to.”
Sarah Tiffany, LGYPP Project Manager, said: “The benefits flow chart has been extremely useful as often young parents and practitioners receive conflicting information when calling benefits help lines.
“This chart is a straight forward guide to an altogether complicated process. Any parent, regardless of their age, would find the benefit system difficult to understand. So this chart enables young parents to get access to the information they need quickly and easily, and we think it is a very useful tool.”
The flowchart is available from the Family Information Service website – http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fis and click on ‘Parents and Carers’ - and will be updated every April and October.
To find out more information regarding Warwickshire’s Respect Yourself Campaign or relationships and sexual health, visit http://www.respectyourself.info.