Care leavers' transition to adulthood inquiry
Closed
What the inquiry looked at
“The Committee examined Children in Care in January 2015 and were concerned by the Department for Education’s "alarming reluctance to play an active role in securing better services and outcomes for children in care". The Committee reported that "there has been little or no improvement in outcomes for children in foster and residential care and how well they are looked after." It is a similar picture for care leavers where the numbers in employment, education and training have deteriorated since 2007–08. In 2013–14, 41% of 19-year-old care leavers were NEET compared with only 15% of their age peers. In the same year, over 10,000 young people aged over 16 left care, an increase of almost 50% since 2003–04. Moreover, 33% of those aged 16 or over who left care did so before their 18th birthday, while 50% of young people were still living with their parents at the age of 22. Negative impact on transitions The difficult lives many young people in care have had combined with starting to live independently much earlier than their peers, can negatively impact on their transitions to adulthood, with associated costs for the public and care leavers themselves. In 2013 the Government published the Care Leaver Strategy, setting out how it planned to improve support for care leavers. In the same year the Department for Education introduced its Staying Put policy to help care leavers stay with foster carers until the age of 21. This inquiry looks at the initial impacts of this strategy and how the department intends to improve the quality of services for care leavers.”
The committee's words, from the inquiry page on parliament.uk ↗.
What it found
There has been a systemic failing in the provision of support to vulnerable care leavers. The quality and cost of support that local authorities give to care leavers varies unacceptably across the country and outcomes for young people leaving care are poor and worsening.
Ofsted’s inspections have found that two-thirds of local authorities’ care leaver services are inadequate or require improvement and there is no clear relationship between the amount spent and the quality of service. The scale of variability in the quality and cost of support, and a lack of understanding of what causes this, show that this is a systemic issue, rather than a problem in just a few local authorities. We welcome the Government’s intent to improve the lives of care leavers, signalled by the launch of the Care Leaver Strategy in 2013, and the fact that more good practice in supporting care leavers is now emerging. But central and local government must both take more responsibility for improving outcomes and the quality of support.
What the government said
No government response is linked to this report.
How the inquiry ran
Each dot is a dated item listed on this page, from the inquiry's opening on 3 August 2015 to its close on 12 May 2016.
- Oral evidence 7 Sep 2015
- Report 30 Oct 2015
What it recommended
The committee's recommendations are not listed here yet. Read them in 5th Report - Care leavers’ transition to adulthood ↗ on parliament.uk.
Evidence
Oral evidence sessions 1
- 7 Sep 2015No witnesses recordedparliament.uk ↗