The Importance Of Leaving Care

For the seventh consecutive year, 2015 saw another increase in the number of children entering the care system, with a figure of 69,540 (Harker & Zayed, 2015). With this increase, thought can be directed to the journeys of these individuals, and their experiences leaving care.
It makes sense to firstly think about what the term, looked after, commonly referred to being in care, essentially means, whilst then considering the reasons why children are removed from their home. The Children Act 1989, introduced the expression, for when children are subject to care orders, and/or are accommodated by local authorities; parental responsibility will either be shared with the parents, or obtained fully by the local authority, depending on the nature
of why the child has been removed (Hai & Williams, 2004). Keeping families together is the primary aim of social work, however, in cases where this cannot happen, children are mainly put into foster care homes; kinship care, and/or children’s homes are also options (Wilson et al., 2011). There are many reasons why someone goes into care, and the children come from a diverse background and upbringing, and have potentially experienced abuse, neglect, and/or poverty; in hindsight, it has been deemed the child’s best interest to be placed in care.
Those in and/or leaving care, are considered vulnerable members of society, who have already faced a number of challenges in their life which consequently, has resulted in them being placed into care initially (Stein & Carey, 1986).
When a young person is leaving care, support is equally important as to when they initially entered. The most relevant legislation guiding social work practice and informing the duties expected of them, is the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, and therefore essential to have an understanding of (Robson & Roberts, 2005). This sets out how care leavers should be supported, and ensuring people are ready before they leave is the central principle, reinforced through this act; requiring high priority consideration, when working with young people in this transition (Brammer, 2007). Other duties include, the right to assessment, and meeting the needs identified, which are embodied within pathway plans; an intensive document aiming to holistically represent a care leaver’s situation, and provide details about their next steps forward after leaving care (Jackson, 2013). Whilst this assists care leavers in referring to information
useful in understanding their options, to make it meaningful, it heavily relies on the inclusion of young people in the planning and delivery of it. With this, not only is a working document formed, but one that encompasses goals of young people, and how they can achieve them; promoting much aspiration and hopefulness (Stein, 2012). Financial, educational, training and employment support, along with personal advisors, and accommodation provision, is also required to support care leavers, up until the age of eighteen, where legally, an individual is now classed as an adult, and the status of being looked after, shifts to a young person eligible for support (Simkiss, 2012). Whilst it can be acknowledged, that support is available up until the age of twenty-one also, if the child stays within education, it neglects those who are leaving care, and not going into education, and thoughts can be provoked, that perhaps they did not have a good experience in care, which resulted in lack of opportunities or motivation to continue education (Chase et al., 2006). The promotion of meaningful service-user involvement, requires partnership working and the inclusion of young people in the care planning of their transition (Robbins & Wall, 2000). Core aims reflected in the Professional Capabilities Framework, such as having the capacity to work holistically, with a person-centred approach and valuing the expertise of service-users, reinforces this acts legal duty of social workers to support those leaving care (Teater, 2014).
Through legislative enforcement, there is evidence proving measures are being put in place to proactively support those leaving care. However, further thinking exists as to whether this mirrors the outcomes of care leavers; with the general consensus being that they are much inferior compared to non-care leavers (Simkiss, 2012). The Every Child Matters Framework sets out five outcomes for children to achieve: be healthy, safe, enjoy and achieve, make positive contributions, and achieve economic wellbeing (Knowles, 2009). This includes children leaving care also, but with poorer outcomes, questions linger as to whether enough is being done. Throughout transitional phases, young people leave their dependency, and embark on a journey of independence, but with care leavers, comes a higher risk of exposure to experiencing difficulties (Barnes, 2011). Important to further highlight, is the idea that care leavers experiences impact their ability to cope later on in life; being four times more likely to have mental health disorders, as expressed through The Centre for Social Justice (2014).
Much research confirms those leaving care to be just as vulnerable as when they entered. The Department for Education (2015), identified care leavers to achieve less, academically, with 12% accomplishing five GCSE’s graded A*-C, compared to 52% of non-care leavers, and being eight times more likely to be excluded from school. They are also twice as likely not to be in education, or employment, with 6% attempting higher education, compared to 30% of non-care leavers nationally (Zayed & Harker, 2015). Furthermore, chances of being homeless and offending is increased, with the Survival of the Fittest report 2014, declaring 20% of young homeless people had once been in care, along with around one-quarter of the prison population (The Centre for Social Justice, 2014). Notably, a domino-effect takes place here, as if care leavers engage in criminal activity when younger, difficulties arise when older, with employment and perhaps further criminal involvement (Fitzpatrick, 2006).
The transition from childhood to adulthood can be challenging in anyone’s life, but for those facing the departure of care, which has become their home and family, it can become a more complex experience, contributing to vulnerability (Thomas & Campling, 2005). To further comprehend this work, consideration of care leaver perspectives about their experience exists; offering invaluable insight. Stein and Munro (2008) state challenges faced by care leavers range from financial worries, low self-esteem, not knowing how to be independent, homelessness, unemployment, and not having a support network. These individuals are leaving their childhood dependency, and embarking a journey into independence, with the world seeming a daunting and isolating place. The statistics above, confirm these factors, in that care leavers face a rollercoaster of a ride, with outcomes crying for attention (Rees, 2006).
Adding fuel to the fire, is the consideration as to why outcomes are deemed negative, and perhaps reasoning lies with the simple fact, young people are just not ready. The Department of Health, released the figure of 37%, in 2012, concerning the number of children leaving care before turning eighteen. This is a high risk factor relating to young people not feeling prepared, especially when the average age of non-care leavers leaving home, is twenty-four (The Who Cares Trust, 2016). With gratitude to the Children and Family Act 2014, all children leaving care will be approved by the directors of children’s services; achieving preventative strategies in its attempts to catch those not quite ready, early on in the process (Davis, 2014). However, further issues lie with care leavers not feeling equipped with the skills needed to live independently, and the lack of understanding about consequences. At such an age, managing rent, bills, and a place to live, proves foreign, and it can be said this occurs through never having such responsibilities whilst in care, and so lacking the experience and knowledge to be empowered to manage efficiently (Wheal, 2005).
The pathway plans, advisors and social workers, are pivotal in providing encouragement towards these factors, such as devising strategies of how one may manage their money, budget, and bills, as well as knowledge of how to function washing machines, gas and electric meters (Robson & Roberts, 2005). However, support becomes meaningless if young people are not involved with the planning of their future. It is easy to say a young person has a pathway plan, and knowledge of what they need to do, but whether they really understand, and more importantly, how they feel about it, is pivotal (Petrie, 2006). Attainment of children’s views is treasured amongst social work legislation and guidance, yet care leavers still feel excluded from the decision making process (Marsh & Peel, 1999).
To be meaningfully involved, demands a working relationship, where social workers action their listening, patience, and effective communication skills, to fully engage care leavers.
Promoting respect and empathy provides reassurance to care leavers that their voice is valued, and lubricates the opportunity to guide thinking about their future with regards to the different possible avenues available after leaving care (Sayer, 2008). Fewster (1990) describes separation from the home, friends and staff, which in reality, has acted as a young person’s family, to be difficult, causing the re-evaluation of relationships and who they can now rely on and trust. Therefore, the existence of support networks is key in transitions, and this is where the relevance of social work is at its peak (Pole et al., 2005). In McLeod’s (2008), qualitative research paper, he confirms that those in care believe a positive continual relationship with social workers is beneficial to their wellbeing, and future.
Despite good intentions within legislation, Krebs and Pitcoff (2006) state not enough is being done to support care leavers, and this provides insight into the original question, that governmental support does not always mirror good outcomes, and experiences of care leavers. This creates the need for social workers to fulfil an assisting role, promoting much empowerment and personalisation, to positively influence the inclusion of young people thinking holistically about their options, and embrace
challenges (Dixon & Stein, 2005).
Much research regarding leaving care has surrounded people’s experiences, challenges, the support available, and outcomes. There is a strong theme supporting the notion of more needing to be done, and encourages the acceptance of recommendations (Berridge, 2007). There is a need for local authorities to start comparing themselves to others, and reflect on how they can better their services for care leavers (Dickens, 2016). What can be identified here is that it may not be fair on individuals in need of support, particularly those that are not eligible, due to the amount of funding given to local authorities. However, for the purposes of this dissertation, this aspect will not be further explored, however acknowledgement that it exists assists thinking about how local authorities provide different services based on funding (Thompson, 2016). There is also a need to extend the age to which care leavers receive support, this is with or without being in education. For someone who is not in care, it is unlikely that once they turn 18, they are told to move out and make a life of their own, and so there should be no difference for people leaving care (Broad, 2005). A more collaborative approach, calls for education, health, and employment services to align and assess the needs of young people, whilst devising informative pathway plans, to ensure young people do not fall in-between gaps of services. This also ensures care leavers are getting choice, and opportunity to explore their options which empowers, creates equality, and offers the rights care leavers have to living a prosperous life (Crawford, 2012).
From a charity working with care leavers, named, Access All Areas, a report on their views of what works well, and what does not, resulted in the, government publication of the Care Leaver Strategy 2013, setting out future plans to further improve support for care leavers. Through reflection, it is clear to see just how contemporary the topic is, and with the report setting out vision that the support sanctioned by the government, implemented through local authority, and reinforced by professionals, such as social workers, should share the same value as a parental relationship (HM Government, 2013). Therefore, care leavers should expect a high level of support, from a sound network, with them being the focus of pathway plans, and empowered to live a life to the same standard as non-care leavers. A one year on progression update, suggesting ‘Staying Put’ strategies, provoked through the need of supporting young people beyond the age of 18, has been pivotal in ensuring care leavers more time to manage their journey after leaving care, as this involves the choice to stay with foster placements until the age of 21 (HM Government, 2014).