In 2009 the average number of care leavers aged 19 in employment, education or training in England was 63%. In Torbay, however, the leaving care service achieved an astonishing 93.3%. The London borough of Wandsworth and Southend on Sea borough council achieved similarly impressive results with 81.5% and 80.6%.
Southend was performing well below the national average until 2007 when it made a huge leap in the number of 19 year old care leavers in education, training and employment, from 47.6% in 2006 to 73.3%, and it has improved consistently ever since to last year’s figure of 80.6%.
The change is down to a continuous focus on education, according to leaving care team manager Fleur Nichols: “As a team we’re committed to creating learning opportunities, we really promote their education.
“We have a culture of learning within the team and I think that has filtered down to the work with the young people.” Of the 150 young people currently accessing leaving care services 15 – or 10% - are at university. This is well above the national average for care leavers at university, which sits somewhere around 1%.
The team arranges visits to universities and promotes educational achievement wherever possible. They also try to identify high achievers early and arrange for them to stay in their foster placements for longer, supporting them until they go to university.
“I think the opportunity to remain in their foster care placements has been invaluable to that process, not moving them on before they’re ready and just encouraging them around their education,” adds Nichols. They are also moving now towards placing the same value on employment, with incentives and packages in place and a weekly job club.
Others also make the link between the provision of good quality accommodation and outcomes for care leavers, believing if they have stable housing they are more likely to stay engaged with education or employment.
In Torbay between 2006 and 2008, 100% of care leavers were in suitable accommodation – it dropped slightly in 2009 to 93.3% - and in that time its figure for engagement with education or employment rose from 68.8% to 93.3%.
The London borough of Wandsworth has had a specialist housing support scheme for care leavers in place since 1987, and in the last five years extra emphasis on education has seen its figures for the number of 19-year-olds in education, employment or training rise from 57.6% to 81.5%.
A grant to support the provision of specialist programmes aimed at re-engaging non-participating care leavers “enabled the service to establish education as a key focus,” says Michele Harris, service manager with responsibility for care leavers.
They also ran a programme of direct tutorial support to young people engaged in mainstream programmes of learning.
“This was very successful and resulted in course completion rates of 100% for those using the service,” adds Harris. “We also had outstanding success in re-engaging particular groups of careleavers - most notably young black men and single parents.”
They now have a dedicated Connexions personal adviser and volunteers who offer direct tutorial support to young people in learning.
“The volunteers are an important part of service delivery, particularly in this time of budget pressures,” she adds.
“Participation in education and training is clearly the single most effective method of preparation and the most reliable route to better life chances and continues to be a key priority.”
Harris is clear about the importance of good quality accommodation for care leavers and the part it plays in keeping them engaged in education or employment.
Her assertions are borne out by the national figures: in 2009 the average number of care leavers aged 19 in employment, education or training in England was 63%, up from 58.4% in 2005. This followed the same pattern as that for those in suitable accommodation, which rose from 83.9%-89.6%.
Wandsworth provides an effective range of housing options for those leaving care which range from permanent tenancies in council accommodation to varying levels of provision in training flats or with registered social landlords with support from the Wandsworth Independent Living Scheme (WILS).
“I think [care leavers] need stability but also we have to make sure that when we move young people into permanent accommodation we’re not setting them up in a poverty trap of benefits,” says Harris.
“How do they make the transition – that’s the bit we have to work with them very carefully on. The transitions have to be really well managed and they have to be managed according to need. There’s not a one size fits all.”
In 1987 Wandsworth changed the way it provided accommodation for care leavers, as a result of lobbying by foster carers. The council and registered social landlords entered into a partnership arrangement with a voluntary organisation to deliver a programme of building flats for care leavers.
“So then we were able to build up a whole range of one-bed flats that would be for care leavers in perpetuity,” says Harris.
The young person gets floating support in the flat from the WILS team until they’re 21 when they become an ordinary tenant. If they leave the flat it reverts back to the leaving care team to be allocated to another care leaver.
“They’re lovely flats, good quality accommodation. It’s a treasured resource and it’s one thing care leavers do want – their own accommodation and it really matters how we place them and where,” adds Harris.
Other accommodation options include three three-bed flatshares, where a resident adult lives with two care leavers for those who need a more staggered transition. There are also some supported lodgings, where the young person lives with a family. Wandsworth is currently looking for more hosts to provide this option.
“It’s about making a difference to young people’s lives,” adds Harris. “Building resilience and making them competent and confident to live ok lives.”
The Who Cares? Trust,
Kemp House, 152-160 City Road,
London EC1V 2NP, UK,
Telephone: 020 7251 3117
Email: mailbox@thewhocarestrust.org.uk
The Who Cares? Trust is a registered charity (No. 1010518). A Company limited by guarantee. Registered in London (No. 2700693). VAT Reg. No. 577853091
Charity web design by Fat Beehive - Main photo by epidemya
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