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Doing the mentoring with my young person gave me the push to change jobs. Seeing him change into someone different within a couple of months was the best kind of job satisfaction I could have.
Kerry, mentor, Talented Futures (Portsmouth)
Improving care leavers' accommodation support crucial, experts tell Select Committee
4 June 2008
Two organisations campaigning for better outcomes for care leavers have emphasised the need for better accommodation provision and improved services to disabled young people leaving care at a select committee hearing this week.
Martin Hazlehurst, from the National Leaving Care Advisory Service (NLCAS) and John Hill from the What Makes the Difference Project (WMTD) both gave evidence to the Children, Schools and Families Committee inquiry into looked after children. This was the sixth session focused on support for young people leaving care.
Both experts praised the recent increase in attention on accommodation provision but highlighted a need to review and strengthen the regulation of supported accommodation. NLCAS and WMTD are both lead by youth charity Rainer, which in 2006 released Home Alone, a report criticising the provision of accommodation to young care leavers.
Speaking after the session, Martin Hazlehurst said, "We now have a strong legislative framework but there are still local authorities in parts of the country who are failing young people leaving their care by placing them in unsuitable accommodation when they are not ready to live on their own. So it's important to keep the focus on service delivery in those areas."
John Hill stressed the responsibilities a local authority has when acting as a corporate parent:
"We know that the quality of relationships with key individuals in their lives and whether they feel cared for are the most important factors when it comes to a young person's wellbeing. If we are going to improve things we absolutely must get the corporate parenting right."
The two organisations also highlighted the inadequate service provided to young disabled people leaving care.
"The danger for disabled children is that they get one of the rawest deals among the care-leaving population. They miss out on the vital parenting role that local authorities should provide," said John Hill.
The NLCAS written submission to the Select Committee can be downloaded at:
www.leavingcare.org/data/tmp/4415-8865.doc. Rainer's report Home Alone may be downloaded at http://www.raineronline.org/gen/m7_policy.aspx.
