Improving support for care leavers
Summary
This briefing provides information in support of amendments to improve support for care leavers.
Young people who have grown up in foster care or children’s homes have, on average, much poorer outcomes than their peers. This Bill offers a unique opportunity to transform their life chances. There are currently over 80,000 children in the care system in England and every year around 13,000 young people leave care.
• 1 in 3 care leavers become homeless in the first 2 years after they leave care.
• 38% of care leavers aged 19-21 are not in education, employment, or training.
• 57% of care leavers say that managing their money was difficult when leaving care.
• Following the cost-of-living crisis - 82% of care-experienced young people said they were struggling to afford food all or some of the time.
The two amendments would:
• Introduce a new minimum standard for what local offers of support for care leavers should include. This should ensure greater consistency in the support care leavers are provided – irrespective of where they live.
• Place a greater responsibility on a range of state institutions and government bodies to recognise the unique challenges these young people face when delivering their services.