Research summary 9, August 2012 Research Centre Supporting care eavers successfu transition to independent iving Rebecca Fauth, Di Hart and Lisa Payne Nationa Chidren s Bureau This research summary highights the evidence of what works in supporting young care eavers successfu transition to independent iving. This summary is the first stage of a five-year research programme with youth charity The Prince s Trust examining the best mode of one-to-one support to hep care eavers into education, training, empoyment or vounteering, and to sustain these positive outcomes. The From Care to Independence project run with The Prince s Trust aims to: increase knowedge about supporting care eavers improve skis for practitioners supporting care eavers infuence poicy to improve support for care eavers raise awareness among the genera pubic of the issues facing some care eavers. In ooking at what works in supporting care eavers, this summary uses existing research to highight some of the gaps in provision. This information can hep us understand where extra support is required. The From Care to Independence project seeks to add vaue to the current provision and to work in partnership with a those invoved.
Overview Reative to their peers, young peope eaving care tend to: have ower eves of educationa attainment be unempoyed ive in unstabe and poor quaity housing or be homeess be young parents have menta heath probems have reativey high eves of drug use be over-represented in prison (Hannon et a., 2010). These poorer outcomes are reated to their precare experiences and intensified by instabiity, pacement movement and disruption whie in care (Stein, 2005). Further, care eavers are expected to become independent and sef-sufficient much earier than their non-care peers, thus acceerating their transition to aduthood. Some care eavers cope we, but many find the path to independence precarious. A successfu transition to independence is inevitaby inked both to the quaity of the care experience in genera and the specific support directed at the transition itsef. What support do young care eavers receive? Annua Ofsted surveys present a mixed picture with many young peope receiving some sort of support, but too many reporting shortfas in panning and preparation for adut ife, and some saying they get no hep at a. Findings from the Chidren s Care Monitor 2011 Young peope soon to eave care 75% getting support to prepare for ife as an independent adut, 56% getting hep to prepare for higher education and 52% getting hep to prepare for getting a job but 13% getting no support. Care eavers 60% had pathway pans, 12% did not the others did not know. 85% had a socia worker or caseworker. 64% were in education, 6% in work, 6% in in-work training and 29% not in education, empoyment or training (NEET). 71% rated their accommodation as very good or good, 18% as okay and 11% as bad or very bad. 59% were getting hep to prepare for ife as an independent adut, 40% to prepare to higher education and 32% hep in getting a job but 23% reported getting no hep at a, up from 17% in 2010. 24% said they were being buied because they had been in care. (Ofsted, 2012)
Simiary, a report from the Chidren s Rights Director for Engand on young peope s views on eaving care reported that neary haf fet that they had been bady prepared for independent ife after eaving care (Chidren s Rights Director for Engand, 2012). Research examining young care eavers perceptions of pubic services reveaed that young peope had some unfavourabe perceptions, incuding beieving that services were not reevant to their situations, not trusting that service providers wi treat them with respect and respond to their needs, perceiving that services were bureaucratic and compex, feeing reuctant and embarrassed to ask for hep and wanting to demonstrate independence and sove probems independenty (Consumer Focus, 2011). Given the importance of support for young care eavers and their perceptions of the support they receive existing research on effective practice in eaving care services is reviewed in the foowing section. Leaving care services Speciaist eaving care services were initiay deveoped to assist care eavers 1 with their core needs incuding accommodation, financia assistance, education and empoyment, ife skis and support networks. Preparing for independence The centra message from research focusing on successfu preparation for independence is that transitions from care shoud be defined by young peope s needs and not their age (Bieha et a., 1995). Panning shoud begin eary, be coaborative, invove young peope and those who hep to support them and aow for contingency panning when arrangements break down (Ofsted, 2009 and Stein, 2004). Assessment, ongoing support, opportunities for participation and the gradua earning of skis - practica, emotiona and interpersona in the context of a stabe pacement are a necessary. Continuity of workers and carers is an important factor in providing stabiity and security whie preparing young peope for independence. Accommodation Moving into suitabe, safe accommodation of their choice is one of the main concerns of young peope preparing for and eaving care. Positive outcomes are assisted by invoving young peope in panning and decision-making, propery assessing their housing needs, heping young peope prepare for moves, avoiding moving young peope who are setted, offering a choice in stye and ocation of accommodation, having contingency pans in pace, setting up a package of support to go with the accommodation and having a cear financia pan (Stein, 2004, Stein and Morris, 2010). Financia support Leaving care grants seemed to vary from area to area and person to person (Morgan and Lindsay, 2006). Ofsted reported that the majority of care eavers they surveyed fet that eaving care grants were inadequate (Ofsted, 2009). The provision of comprehensive and accessibe oca guides to inform young peope of the hep and support they coud expect to receive was crucia, as was more informa support, such as occasiona meas or ensuring that care eavers had drop-in centres or paces to go for company (Stein, 2004). Some eaving care services deveoped partnerships with Jobcentre Pus (JCP) to acceerate benefit caims for care eavers, eading to improved engagement with other JCP services (Cayden and Stein, 2005). Harris and Broad recommended that eaving care services worked towards increasing young peope s autonomy in financia decision-making as they approached independence (Harris and Broad, 2005). Education, training and empoyment (ETE) Severa studies have suggested that the educationa achievement and empoyment opportunities of young care eavers are highy dependent on what happened before they came into care (Stein, 2004), with a number of factors whie in care further infuencing young peope s achievement incuding pacement stabiity, schoo pace stabiity, time out of schoo, hep with schoowork, the carers educationa experiences and support for education at home. Continuing support was a key eement of best practice for care eavers to faciitate entry into and maintain pacements in ETE (Bieha et a, 1995). Specific types of support that seem to be effective incude reiabe financia support, apprenticeships and work experience, mentoring schemes, interview preparation and hep with university forms, specia casses or teachers to provide additiona support to young care eavers, Persona Education Pans, access to computers, incuding specific peope with educationa remit within teams, invoving career advisers in eaving care services, empoyment skis groups and buiding forma inks with coeges, trainers and empoyers (Bieha et a, 1995, Ofsted, 2009, Stein, 2004 and Wade, 2003). 1 Leaving care services assist young peope who have eft care, as we as young peope sti in care, but where pathway panning shoud be taking pace.
Heath and menta heath Looked after chidren experience many of the same heath risks and probems as their peers, but to a greater degree (Mooney et a, 2009), and poor transitions from care coud exacerbate existing probems (Stein and Dumaret, 2011). Ofsted (2009) cited exampes of good practice in mitigating the detrimenta infuence of poor heath and menta heath, such as ooked after chidren s nurses having an informa and fexibe approach to working with care eavers that may incude meeting with them in their homes or in eisure centres, oca authorities working with dentists to expain their responsibiity to oca ooked after chidren and care eavers, and forma arrangements being made between oca authorities and Chid and Adoescent Menta Heath Services (CAMHS) to ensure that ooked after chidren and care eavers had priority access to services. However, as the Chidren Act guidance (Department for Education, 2010) notes, differentia age threshods between heath and socia care remain probematic. Most heath services do not recognise those who have eft care post-18 as a priority group for service provision. Looked after chidren nurses are no onger required to provide a service to young peope once they have eft care and CAMH services stop between 16 and 18. Young peopes needs may fa beow the threshod for intervention from adut menta heath services, so their persona advisors (PAs) or keyworkers must be abe to identify aternative sources of support. Life skis Life skis incude practica skis (e.g. persona care, heathy eating, cooking, ceaning, shopping, budgeting), reationship skis and ifestye skis (e.g. physica exercise, contraception, acoho and drugs) that are key to successfu transitions to independent iving. Some evidence suggests that programmes that incorporate persona deveopment (i.e. communication, decision-making, anger management) and independent iving skis (i.e. job skis, budgeting, househod tasks, finding housing, obtaining ega assistance, using community resources) into eaving care services favouraby infuenced young peope s educationa attainment, empoyment, housing, heath and other ife skis (Montgomery et a, 2006). A recent Ofsted inspection report (2009) provided further practica exampes of good practice incuding driving essons for 17- year-od care eavers; heping care eavers earn about budgeting through the provision of a weeky aowance, from which they were responsibe for buying food, cothes and paying for activities; and staff showing them how to use pubic transport, cook, wash and iron. Support networks Driving the success of the eaving care services described above are the reationships young peope cutivate whie in care and moving out of care. On a very basic eve, young care eavers with successfu transitions from care had deveoped strong attachment reationships to famiy members, partners or foster carers (Stein and Morris, 2010). In addition to these cose, informa ties, more forma reationships with PAs and keyworkers aso have a roe to pay in faciitating positive outcomes for young care eavers. The egisative framework for eaving care services recognises the importance of addressing young peope s need for caring and consistent aduts through PAs and keyworkers incuding oca authority eaving care workers, vountary sector advocates and speciaists from other agencies such as Connexions or the oca heath service. Research suggests that support shoud be panned and negotiated with young peope, proactive (i.e. not there just to respond to a crisis), fexibe, abe to respond to the diversity and variety of young peope s needs and hoistic, so address the practica, financia and emotiona needs of young peope (Stein, 2004). Another study reported that young peope want workers who they get on with and trust, do what they say they are going to do and who treat them with respect (Ofsted, 2009). Care eavers in one study indicated that whie they vaued the support provided by their eaving care workers, they found it easier to go to friends for hep and advice, since their socia workers were often too difficut to contact (Morgan and Lindsay, 2006). Mentors operate somewhere between professiona and informa support. Young peope vaued the advice they received from mentors during their transition to independence. Young peope perceived that mentors heped them with important practica advice, on subjects such as education, finding work, reationship probems and confidence, athough they acknowedged that they woud benefit from better matching, greater fexibiity and fewer time restrictions (Cayden and Stein, 2005 and Stein and Morris, 2010). There was some indication that young peope achieved better outcomes when mentoring reationships were sustained for at east a year (Cayden and Stein, 2005). This same research on mentoring found that most of the direct support given to young peope during the transition from care was provided by their residentia or foster carers (Cayden and Stein, 2005). One review reported that both foster and residentia carers provided support to young peope who had eft their care, athough this received itte forma recognition in terms of pathway panning (Stein and Morris,
2010). The fina evauation of the Staying Put piot programme, which offered young peope making the transition from care to aduthood the opportunity to remain in their foster pacements unti the age of 21, reveaed that staying put aowed young peope to prepare for independence whie receiving ongoing support and gave young peope greater contro of the timing of their transition from care to independence (Munro et a, 2012). Further evidence is needed on the contribution carers have made to care eavers successfu transitions. Finay, the evidence about maintaining or creating inks with young carers birth famiies was mixed. Best practice required a reaistic assessment of the young person s sources of famiy, carer and informa support, and the response woud be based on that assessment. Famiy group conferences coud provide a means to hep the young person s famiy take part in eaving care and pathway panning. Specific groups of care eavers Additiona chaenges are faced by specific groups of Care Leavers who have mutipe needs and may require input from a number of agencies. Section 6 of the Chidren Act 1989 Guidance and Reguations for care eavers (Department for Education, 2010) focuses on three other groups that require additiona speciaist support incuding disabed care eavers, unaccompanied asyum-seeking young peope, and care eavers in the youth justice system. Back and minority ethnic (BME) care eavers and young parents aso face significant disadvantages. Concusion Across a the research reviewed on the effectiveness of eaving care services, certain eements stood out as crucia. First, young peope benefit from stabe pacements whie they are in care, particuary pacements that enabe them to deveop strong reationships. Second, access to and continuity of both professiona and informa support for young peope as they prepare for and during the transition out of care are aso important. Young care eavers, with the assistance of their support systems, need to pan ahead and prepare for their transitions to independence, incuding soid contingency panning. Young care eavers need access to a range of support services as success in one arena of their ives seems to pave the way for success in others. Young peope need to be invoved as key partners and decision makers throughout the panning and transition period, incuding garnering their views on their readiness to eave care. Finay, equipping young peope with key practica and ife skis gives them the underying capacity to ive independenty. Recent deveopments that are ikey to affect current practice incude: increases in the numbers entering care, which is ikey to ead to an increase in the numbers of care eavers in the future increases in the proportion of young peope remaining in care unti their 18th birthday measures in section 104 of the Lega Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 that provide that a chid who is remanded to youth detention accommodation is to be treated as a chid who is ooked after by the designated authority, which coud ead to an increase in the numbers of young peope entited to eaving care services pubic spending cuts affecting staffing and resourcing of eaving care services reform of or a reduction in other services that had been working with or providing speciaist support to oca eaving care services (e.g. Connexions, CAMHS, youth services, careers advice, further education), which may ead to a reduction in particuar areas of expertise or speciaist provision increases in higher education tuition fees may deter some care eavers from going to university. Whie the research provides us with some genera messages about how to effectivey support young care eavers transitions to independent iving, the existing evidence is quite imited. Further research, incuding arge enough sampes of care eavers for robust quantitative anaysis, compemented by detaied quaitative research, is needed to better understand the type and nature of support care eavers receive, and how this support affects their short- and ong-term outcomes.
Legisative and poicy framework The statutory framework for chidren in care and eaving care is set out in the Chidren Act 1989 as amended by the Chidren (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Chidren and Young Persons Act 2008. The 2000 Act was introduced to carify oca authority duties regarding chidren eaving care and care eavers and tacke disparities in the range and quaity of services avaiabe to them. Loca authorities are under a duty to assist young peope eaving care to the age of 21 or onger if they are in education or training, assess and meet the needs of young peope in and eaving care, appoint a PA and prepare a pathway pan, provide financia support and maintenance in suitabe accommodation, and keep in touch with the young person. References Bieha, N, Cayden, J, Stein, M & Wade, J. 1995. Moving on: Young peope and eaving care schemes. HMSO: London. Chidren s Rights Director for Engand. 2012. After care: Young peope s views on eaving care. Ofsted: Manchester. Cayden, J & Stein, J. 2005. Mentoring young peope eaving care: someone for me. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: York. Consumer Focus. 2011. Care eavers perspectives on pubic services: Exporing the drivers and barriers for care eavers using pubic services in Engand. Consumer Focus: London. Department for Education. 2010. The chidren act 1989 Guidance and Reguations Voume 3: Panning transition to aduthood for care eavers. Department for Education: London. Hannon, C, Wood, C & Bazagette, L. 2010. In oco parentis. Demos: London. Harris, J & Broad, B. 2005. In my own time: Achieving positive outcomes for young peope eaving care. De Montfort University, Chidren and Famiies Research Unit Monograph No.6: Leicester. Montgomery, P, Donkoh, C & Underhi, K. 2006. Independent iving programs for young peope eaving the care system: The state of the evidence. Chidren and Youth Services Review 28: 1435-1448. Mooney, A, Statham, J, Monck, E & Chambers, H. 2009. Promoting the heath of ooked after chidren - a study to inform revision of the 2002 guidance. Department for Chidren, Schoos and Famiies (DCSF): London. Morgan, R & Lindsay, M. 2006. Your rights, your say - young peope s views on eaving care. Office of the Chidren s Rights Director, Commission for Socia Care Inspection: Newcaste upon Tyne. Munro, Er, Lushey, C, Nationa Care Advisory Service, Maske-Graham, D & Ward, H. 2012. Evauation of the staying put: 18 pus famiy pacement programme: Fina report. Department for Education: London. Ofsted. 2009. Support for care eavers. Ofsted: London. Ofsted. 2012. Chidren s care monitor 2011. Chidren on the state of socia care in Engand. Ofsted: Manchester. Stein, M. 2004. What works for young peope eaving care?. Barnardo s: Iford. Stein, M. 2005. Resiience and young peope eaving care: Overcoming the odds. Joseph Rowntree Foundation: York. Stein, M & Dumaret, a-c. 2011. The menta heath of young peope aging out of care and entering aduthood: Exporing the evidence from Engand and France. Chidren and Youth Services Review 33: 2504-2511. Stein, M & Morris, M. 2010. Increasing the number of care eavers in setted, safe accommodation : Vunerabe chidren knowedge review. Centre for Exceence and Outcomes in Chidren and Young Peope s Services (C4EO): London. Wade, J. 2003. Leaving care: Quaity protects research briefing no.7. Department of Heath: London. NCB Research Centre 8 Wakey Street London EC1V 7QE te 020 7843 6073 emai research@ncb.org.uk Information Centre: 020 7843 6008 Registered Charity Number 258825