nd agree their reasons for this, especially where the young person is a relevant child and has not yet reached legal adulthood. 57 Chapter 7: Planning and arranging suitable accommodation for the transition to independent living Introduction 7.1. The top ten most concerning factors about leaving care, reported by young people to the Children’s Rights Director for the 2006 report21, all relate to accommodation and young peoples’ ability to cope with independent living: 1. Being on your own. 2. Not being able to cope. 3. Not being able to get help when you most need it. 4. Not having enough money to live on. 5. Cleaning up after yourself. 6. Leaving care before you’re ready. 7. Having nowhere to go/come back to. 8. Being put in a ‘dodgy’ place. 9. Having nowhere to live. 10. Not being settled anywhere and having to keep moving around. 7.2. When young people leave their care placement the local authority must ensure that their new home is suitable for their needs and linked to their wider plans and aspirations, for example located near their education or work. Moving directly from a care placement to living independently will often be too big a step for young people. It will therefore be good practice for local authorities to commission a range of semi-independent and independent22 living options with appropriate 21 Young People’s Views on Leaving Care – report of the Children’s Rights Director (CSCI 2006). http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/young-peoples-views-leaving-care 22 For the purposes of this guidance, ‘semi-independent’ accommodation refers to accommodation which is not regulated under the Care Standards Act 2000 and which combines suitable accommodation with dedicated support attached to the property. Examples of semi-independent accommodation include building-b