It took a panel of experts three years of evidence gathering and analysis to produce 80 recommendations on how to improve the care system in Scotland. The Scottish review, published last February, was praised for its comprehensive approach and has set a high bar against which the recently launched Care Review in England will be judged (see analysis).
Children’s social care leaders are expecting the English review to be equally ambitious, and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has promised it will be “bold, wide-ranging and not shy away from exposing problems”. The review provides an opportunity to revisit the question of what care is for. Central to this is understanding what a good interaction with the care system looks like – it is difficult to assess what changes need to be made if you don’t understand what constitutes success.
It is for this reason that some care leaver organisations are calling for the review to place greater emphasis on all aspects of the care journey (see analysis). An expert group is to be established to champion the views of people with care experience, but there is little mention of care leavers in the review terms of reference.
The current set of outcome measures show people with care experience are more likely to struggle academically, be unemployed, become homeless and go to prison. We need the review to unpick whether these outcomes could have been prevented if different decisions were taken and more support available at crucial times – for example, help with managing finances, applying for a college place, or dealing with mental health problems. The pandemic has also highlighted the digital poverty care leavers face and the damaging effect this has on opportunities and wellbeing (see analysis).
There is good practice already going on: most, but not all, local authorities have scrapped council tax charges for care leavers up to 25, the National House Project is giving young people secure homes, and the Care Covenant is creating work and training opportunities. The review needs to pull together this good practice as part of a fresh vision for the care system in England – one that provides a wider range of support including into adulthood if needed. Not only would it meet the ambition of being bold, but it would provide the reassurance that children in care need to succeed.
