One of the most staggering facts I came across during my time as a prison officer was the over representation of care leavers. 29% of the prison population and 50% of the youth estate are care-experienced. This is a damming indictment of the system and change cannot come soon enough.
This is why I was pleased to have the chance to make the case for increased support for care leavers in an adjournment debate on the first sitting day of National Care Leavers Month.
The reality for young people in care is that, when they turn 18, they face a cliff-edge. Many have to move out of their foster placement on their 18th birthday, which is such a formative point in a young person’s life. Young people at 18 should be finding their identities, enjoying the start of young adulthood, studying for exams and exploring career opportunities. For care leavers, it’s a time of navigating complex support systems and trying to find and maintain housing. Many will face homelessness, or living below the poverty line. Many will be unable to afford regular, healthy meals, and will have trouble accessing and affording facilities to wash their clothes.
Good progress is being made under the Labour Government to improve support for young people through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. Measures such as requiring every local authority to publish its local offer for care leavers, extending corporate parenting to government departments and a wider range of public bodies and putting ‘Staying Close’ support on a statutory footing are practical and tangible steps towards improving outcomes for care leavers, and I welcome them wholeheartedly.
I’m also pleased that Education Minister Josh MacAlister also confirmed that the Ministry of Justice is considering a national approach on care leavers in custody, and I very much look forward to drawing on my experience to engage with the Government on this.
However, we could go further. There is something of a postcode lottery when it comes to local authority support for care leavers. While I’m pleased that the requirement for local authorities to publish their full offer will ensure that services are navigable, those services are not necessarily uniform across the country. This is why a full, national offer for care leavers will help to bring about equality for care leavers across the country, especially as children in care often have to move across local authorities for their placements.
Many care leavers face poverty upon moving out of their placement, and I have heard harrowing stories from care leavers in Doncaster of the tough choices they have to make when it comes to paying for basic needs. I know that changes such as free bus travel for care leavers under 25 and an increase in the Setting Up Home allowance – which supports care leavers to buy furniture for their accommodation – would go a long way to alleviate those pressures on these young people’s finances. I also support calls for a reform to Universal Credit to ensure care leavers under 25 can receive the over-25 rate, in recognition of their unique financial circumstances.
These are modest asks in comparison to the national spend, but they will make a profound difference to the lives and the outcomes of care leavers. They have the same hopes and aspirations as everyone else, and they also have incredible drive and determination. They deserve to realise their full potential, and if we as a Parliament and a society cannot support and protect this vulnerable group, then we have failed.
There is work ahead of us, and we must take every opportunity to ensure that the voices of care leavers are heard.
If we as a Parliament and a society cannot come together to support and protect care leavers, then we have failed
