Nearly half of local education authorities have no formal strategy to deal with young carers who drop out of the school system, a government-backed survey has suggested.
Pollsters working for the Department for Education and Skills surveyed all local education authorities in England and found that only 57 per cent of respondents had a strategy for the reintegration of pupils with caring responsibilities.
The report concluded that "approaches for pupils with caring responsibilities may represent an area of unmet need".
Jenny Frank, programme manager at the Children's Society, said that all local authorities should have a wide-ranging strategy for the reintegration of young carers.
"When a child is out of school because of caring responsibilities it is not just an issue for the child. Their needs are not in isolation from the family."
- www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR598.pdf.
