Care Leaver Strategy

From the end of October young people leaving care will be able to see what support is available to them as they take the first steps into adult life as part of the Government’s new Care Leaver Strategy.

The strategy sets out in one place the steps the government is taking to support care leavers to live independently once they have left their placement.

The new strategy includes a wide range of commitments from government to improve the help and support available to young people leaving care across all areas of life, including:

  • The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has introduced a care leaver ‘marker’ so that employment support for these young people is better tracked and improved; and the Department for Education (DfE) will continue to fund the Care to Work programme, providing care leavers with work experience, apprenticeships and other vital training opportunities;
  • The Department of Health and DfE will improve guidance on promoting the health and well-being of looked-after children - making it clear how health organisations should work with local authorities to ensure care leavers receive the support they need;
  • DfE will work with the National Care Advisory Service to improve the training of children’s home staff so they are better able to support young people as they leave their placement; and Department for Communities and Local Government will consult on new social housing guidance that will prioritise the most vulnerable, including care leavers; and
  • DfE will continue to encourage all local authorities to pay at least £2,000 to young people leaving care which can be used to pay for essential things such as the deposit on a flat or train fares to a job interview; while DWP will ensure, as part of Universal Credit, that care leavers who need help managing their money are able to access personalised budgeting support.

Around 10,000 young people aged between 16 to 18 leave care each year. The government believes that care leavers should expect the same level of care and support that their friends and classmates get from their parents. Yet some can find it difficult to navigate services or work out what support they are entitled to, with too many ending up unemployed, out of training or education or living in poor accommodation.

Figures published by the Department for Education this year shows that:

  • Over 1,100 care leavers aged 16 or over are now living in independent accommodation without any formalised support;
  • 34 percent of care leavers aged 19 or over are not in education, employment or training; and
  • Just 6 percent of care leavers aged 19 or over went on to higher education.

The launch of the care leavers strategy is the latest in a series of reforms the government has made to improve outcomes for young people leaving care as they make the transition to adulthood, including the Care Leavers’ Charter, a contract between local authorities and young people leaving care which sets out the support they can expect right up to the age of 25.

To download the Care Leavers Strategy visit www.gov.uk/government/publications/care-leaver-strategy.

For further information on the Care Leavers’ Charter visit www.education.gov.uk/childrenandyoungpeople/families/childrenincare/a00216209/care-leavers-data-pack.

In addition, the All Party Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers has published the final report of its Entitlements Inquiry, which heard from more than 1,000 children in care, care leavers, and professionals.

The inquiry found that more than 70 percent of children in care and 80 percent of young care leavers do not think they have all the information they need about the support they should receive from their local authority. It also found that fewer than half of care leavers know they're entitled to help with the costs of getting and keeping a job, and only one third are receiving the £2,000 setting up home allowance.

For further information visit www.thewhocarestrust.org.uk/pages/entitlements-inquiry-2013.html.