Leaving Care
What are the issues facing young people leaving care? How might these issues be successfully resolved?
Children and young people enter the care system for numerous reasons, some of which include a parent’s inability to cope or because of problems in the family. Most of these children will return to their family after a brief stay, however, many will be expected to leave care and begin living independently between the age of 16 and 18 (Stein and Wade, 2000). Past research (for example Barnardo’s, 1989; First Key, 1991; Porter, 1984; Randall, 1988/89 and Stein and Carey, 1986) has brought to light the extensive problems facing these young people leaving care, including low educational achievement, isolation, poverty, movement and disruption, homelessness and unemployment. In addition there appears to be an over emphasis on these young people’s ability to manage alone in their late teens with limited support from social services (Marsh and Peel, 1999).
The extent of problems facing young people leaving care is acknowledged, however, it would be difficult to construct a comprehensive discussion of them all given the size constraints of this paper. This essay will begin by outlining the amount of children leaving care. It will then consider that young people will experience problems with identity as a consequence of placement instability and poor continuity of relationships with family and personal networks which can result in negative post-care outcomes. How these issues can be successfully resolved will then be addressed by looking at how effective existing support services available to care leavers are.
Each year somewhere between 7000 and 8000 young people leave care between the ages of sixteen and eighteen and move into independent living compared with less than one in ten of their non care leaving counterparts (DoH, 2003 and Stein and Wade, 2000). They “make an accelerated transition” into independence and “have to shoulder adult responsibilities” (Biehal,
Children and young people enter the care system for numerous reasons, some of which include a parent’s inability to cope or because of problems in the family. Most of these children will return to their family after a brief stay, however, many will be expected to leave care and begin living independently between the age of 16 and 18 (Stein and Wade, 2000). Past research (for example Barnardo’s, 1989; First Key, 1991; Porter, 1984; Randall, 1988/89 and Stein and Carey, 1986) has brought to light the extensive problems facing these young people leaving care, including low educational achievement, isolation, poverty, movement and disruption, homelessness and unemployment. In addition there appears to be an over emphasis on these young people’s ability to manage alone in their late teens with limited support from social services (Marsh and Peel, 1999).
The extent of problems facing young people leaving care is acknowledged, however, it would be difficult to construct a comprehensive discussion of them all given the size constraints of this paper. This essay will begin by outlining the amount of children leaving care. It will then consider that young people will experience problems with identity as a consequence of placement instability and poor continuity of relationships with family and personal networks which can result in negative post-care outcomes. How these issues can be successfully resolved will then be addressed by looking at how effective existing support services available to care leavers are.
Each year somewhere between 7000 and 8000 young people leave care between the ages of sixteen and eighteen and move into independent living compared with less than one in ten of their non care leaving counterparts (DoH, 2003 and Stein and Wade, 2000). They “make an accelerated transition” into independence and “have to shoulder adult responsibilities” (Biehal,
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