As part of the cross-government Care Leaver Strategy, the Department for Education (DfE) will work alongside the National Care Advisory Service to improve training for residential care staff.
In total, the strategy contains 24 action points including pledges that:
• the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will publish a guide to the further education and skills system for care leavers and those that work with them
• the DfE will strengthen statutory guidance about local authority duties to support care leavers aged between 21 and 24 who wish to return to education or training
• the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will introduce a “marker” on forms and databases so members of staff at organisations such as the Jobcentre Plus can identify care leavers and give them the support they are entitled to
• the DWP will also allow care leavers to make a claim to the new Universal Credit welfare system in advance of leaving care and provide personal budgeting support
• the DfE will amend statutory guidance to encourage all local authorities to pay at least £2,000 as part of their Setting Up Home Allowance (leaving care grant)
• the Department for Communities and Local Government will issue new statutory guidance on social housing to prioritise vulnerable people, including care leavers
• the Ministry of Justice will develop ways of identifying care leavers in adult services in custody and the community to ensure they receive the right support
Children’s minister Edward Timpson, who launched the strategy at the annual National Care Leavers’ Week Conference, said it is “simply not acceptable” that care leavers end up with significantly worse exam results, are more likely to have poorer mental and physical health, and are more likely to be unemployed or out of education altogether.
“We want care leavers to enter adult life with the same opportunities and life chances as their friends,” he said.
“If someone needs a helping hand to get into work, to find a college place or to access the right employment services, it shouldn’t matter which part of government provides it.”
“For the first time ever, our Care Leaver Strategy will ensure that all government action across every department – from justice to housing, education to finance - is working with one single, united purpose to improve the lives of these vulnerable young people.”
The launch of the strategy comes as an investigation by CYP Now revealed that the number of care leavers attending university is on the rise, but the amount of financial support provided to them has fallen.
As part of the strategy, the DfE has said it 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 a deposit on a flat or train fares to a job interview.
Janet Rich, a trustee of the Care Leavers’ Foundation, said the strategy is “the clearest statement yet” that government is taking responsibility to address problems facing care leavers.
“Placing care leavers at the heart of decisions about their lives represents a step-change in the government's approach,” she added.
“This is the beginning of a long journey. We look forward to continuing to work with the government to continue to develop the support available to care leavers and remove barriers to success.”
Enver Solomon, director of evidence and impact at the National Children’s Bureau, said: “Care leavers often do not get the kind of family support that many young people rely on.
“If they are to be supported to fulfil their potential it is vital that they are given the opportunity and assistance to access education, training or employment and gain the independence that any young person leaving home needs.”
“Achieving this requires determined partnership working across a number of agencies and the Care Leaver Strategy sets out admirable commitments across government departments to bring about real changes and improvements."
