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Teenagers at risk after having to leave foster care too soon Teenagers at risk after having to leave foster care too soon
(4 months later)
"At 15 and three quarters, looked-after children get their 'leaving care worker', and then they start talking about how you'll get this wonderful flat and £1,000 to furnish it," says foster carer Glynis Wall. "They took Kim to see hostels, but at 16 she was just not streetwise and couldn't have coped.""At 15 and three quarters, looked-after children get their 'leaving care worker', and then they start talking about how you'll get this wonderful flat and £1,000 to furnish it," says foster carer Glynis Wall. "They took Kim to see hostels, but at 16 she was just not streetwise and couldn't have coped."
Wall had fostered Kim Huang, now 21, since she arrived in the UK as an unaccompanied 11-year-old Vietnamese asylum seeker. The girl's parents had both died before she left Vietnam, and she had no family or support structure in the world apart from Hall and her daughter, with whom Kim had grown up. Nevertheless, as she approached her 16th birthday – and was studying for her GCSEs – Huang was told that Manchester social services were no longer willing to fund her foster placement. They wanted her to live independently.Wall had fostered Kim Huang, now 21, since she arrived in the UK as an unaccompanied 11-year-old Vietnamese asylum seeker. The girl's parents had both died before she left Vietnam, and she had no family or support structure in the world apart from Hall and her daughter, with whom Kim had grown up. Nevertheless, as she approached her 16th birthday – and was studying for her GCSEs – Huang was told that Manchester social services were no longer willing to fund her foster placement. They wanted her to live independently.
"I was still so young and I couldn't understand why they couldn't support us," says Huang. "If I was living alone, I'd have been out on the street on my own. I found it stressful and quite scary." Wall had to go to appeal "and quote legislation to them", she remembers. "We got them to agree to fund her until she was 18, but they made it quite clear there would be no foster placement allowances after that, and there weren't.""I was still so young and I couldn't understand why they couldn't support us," says Huang. "If I was living alone, I'd have been out on the street on my own. I found it stressful and quite scary." Wall had to go to appeal "and quote legislation to them", she remembers. "We got them to agree to fund her until she was 18, but they made it quite clear there would be no foster placement allowances after that, and there weren't."
According to the Fostering Network, the average age at which most young people leave home in the UK is 24. But for looked-after children, local authority care usually comes to an abrupt halt on their 18th birthday, with many councils progressively sloughing off responsibility in the two years that precede it. What happens to that young person next is down to the luck of the draw. Some councils do offer funding so that they can stay with foster carers; others rely on their foster carer giving them a home for free, but many more have to move out to live on their own.According to the Fostering Network, the average age at which most young people leave home in the UK is 24. But for looked-after children, local authority care usually comes to an abrupt halt on their 18th birthday, with many councils progressively sloughing off responsibility in the two years that precede it. What happens to that young person next is down to the luck of the draw. Some councils do offer funding so that they can stay with foster carers; others rely on their foster carer giving them a home for free, but many more have to move out to live on their own.
In support of the Fostering Network's Don't Move Me campaign, which aims to give all young care leavers the chance to remain in their foster home, Paul Goggins MP has tabled an amendment to the Children and Families Bill that would require that care be funded – by central government directed through local authorities – until the age of 21.In support of the Fostering Network's Don't Move Me campaign, which aims to give all young care leavers the chance to remain in their foster home, Paul Goggins MP has tabled an amendment to the Children and Families Bill that would require that care be funded – by central government directed through local authorities – until the age of 21.
The amendment will be considered in parliament on Tuesday, but only if it is selected by the Speaker for debate. To date, 38 MPs from all parties have recorded video messages in support of the campaign, highlighting their own experiences of leaving home and addressing the issue of inadequate support for care leavers.The amendment will be considered in parliament on Tuesday, but only if it is selected by the Speaker for debate. To date, 38 MPs from all parties have recorded video messages in support of the campaign, highlighting their own experiences of leaving home and addressing the issue of inadequate support for care leavers.
Goggins said there is a moral imperative to protect young people who, by definition of their care status, will already have undergone profoundly destructive experiences and will be susceptible to developing chaotic lifestyles if left unsupported as they enter adulthood.Goggins said there is a moral imperative to protect young people who, by definition of their care status, will already have undergone profoundly destructive experiences and will be susceptible to developing chaotic lifestyles if left unsupported as they enter adulthood.
"It seems to me so wrong that just one in 20 young people who have found some stability in a foster placement are able to stay there when they reach 18," he said. "A lot of effort goes into looking after these children, but having invested all that time and money and care, they're forced to exit the system too soon, and we all know the difficulties that can result from that.""It seems to me so wrong that just one in 20 young people who have found some stability in a foster placement are able to stay there when they reach 18," he said. "A lot of effort goes into looking after these children, but having invested all that time and money and care, they're forced to exit the system too soon, and we all know the difficulties that can result from that."
Eric Mole, an experienced foster carer based in Cheshire, points out that a typical response to their uncertain future is for teenagers to run away, often repeatedly, in an attempt to exert some control over their lives. The recent Oxford gang grooming trial, and before that the one in Rochdale, demonstrates all too clearly some of the dangers for children in care of repeated running away.Eric Mole, an experienced foster carer based in Cheshire, points out that a typical response to their uncertain future is for teenagers to run away, often repeatedly, in an attempt to exert some control over their lives. The recent Oxford gang grooming trial, and before that the one in Rochdale, demonstrates all too clearly some of the dangers for children in care of repeated running away.
"It's such an easy concept," says Vicki Swain, campaigns manager at the Fostering Network. "Why would you not support a young person in care as you would your own child?""It's such an easy concept," says Vicki Swain, campaigns manager at the Fostering Network. "Why would you not support a young person in care as you would your own child?"
Cost might seem the obvious, if brutal, answer but, perhaps surprisingly, it turns out that such a scheme wouldn't be particularly expensive. A Department for Education pilot called Staying Put, which funded 11 local authorities between 2008 and 2011 to continue paying an allowance to foster carers of young people who chose to stay on after 18, was evaluated by the Centre for Child and Family Research at Loughborough University. The annual national cost worked out at £2,675,000.Cost might seem the obvious, if brutal, answer but, perhaps surprisingly, it turns out that such a scheme wouldn't be particularly expensive. A Department for Education pilot called Staying Put, which funded 11 local authorities between 2008 and 2011 to continue paying an allowance to foster carers of young people who chose to stay on after 18, was evaluated by the Centre for Child and Family Research at Loughborough University. The annual national cost worked out at £2,675,000.
Loughborough's evaluation found the average proportion of young people staying put across the pilot authorities was just under 23%. This is in line with figures for a similar scheme in Northern Ireland, where nearly 25% of young people are in Going the Extra Mile schemes. The modest cost, just £17,500 per local authority per year, is explained by the fact that not every young person stays on long-term after their 18th birthday.Loughborough's evaluation found the average proportion of young people staying put across the pilot authorities was just under 23%. This is in line with figures for a similar scheme in Northern Ireland, where nearly 25% of young people are in Going the Extra Mile schemes. The modest cost, just £17,500 per local authority per year, is explained by the fact that not every young person stays on long-term after their 18th birthday.
Two years ago, faced with her local authority's intransigence, Wall told her foster daughter she would always have a place in her home. But that had serious consequences. "I'd fostered since 1989. It's been my life's work, and I've only got a two-up, two-down terrace, so if Kim was to stay, I had to stop fostering," she said. "I'm a single carer, with no husband's wage to fall back on. Your fostering allowance is your wage. It meant I had to go on jobseeker's allowance and try to find a job. But I knew that, if they could treat young people like this, I didn't want anything to do with it."Two years ago, faced with her local authority's intransigence, Wall told her foster daughter she would always have a place in her home. But that had serious consequences. "I'd fostered since 1989. It's been my life's work, and I've only got a two-up, two-down terrace, so if Kim was to stay, I had to stop fostering," she said. "I'm a single carer, with no husband's wage to fall back on. Your fostering allowance is your wage. It meant I had to go on jobseeker's allowance and try to find a job. But I knew that, if they could treat young people like this, I didn't want anything to do with it."
Huang was fortunate. She was able to spend the year after her 18th birthday living with Wall while she finished her A-levels, then went to university secure in the knowledge that she had a place to call home. She is one of the success stories – just 6% of care leavers go on to higher education.Huang was fortunate. She was able to spend the year after her 18th birthday living with Wall while she finished her A-levels, then went to university secure in the knowledge that she had a place to call home. She is one of the success stories – just 6% of care leavers go on to higher education.
Zoe Witherington, who has been fostered for six years in Colchester, says the situation is distressing and "very destabilising". She was in the middle of her A-levels, in the runup to her 18th birthday last November, when her local authority, Newham in east London, told her it would no longer support her Essex foster place. She was advised that she would have to leave her college, go back to London and live on income support.Zoe Witherington, who has been fostered for six years in Colchester, says the situation is distressing and "very destabilising". She was in the middle of her A-levels, in the runup to her 18th birthday last November, when her local authority, Newham in east London, told her it would no longer support her Essex foster place. She was advised that she would have to leave her college, go back to London and live on income support.
After pleas by Witherington, her foster parents and her tutors, it was agreed that she could remain in her home – though her foster parents are paid at a much reduced rate – until she finishes A-levels. Once she goes to university, there will be no more support.After pleas by Witherington, her foster parents and her tutors, it was agreed that she could remain in her home – though her foster parents are paid at a much reduced rate – until she finishes A-levels. Once she goes to university, there will be no more support.
But unless Goggins's amendment is accepted, a good proportion of the 6,000 young people who leave care annually will never enjoy that sense of a secure base as they face the challenges of early adulthood. Instead they will have to cope with the anxiety, uncertainty and disruption of being forced out of the place they have come to call home.But unless Goggins's amendment is accepted, a good proportion of the 6,000 young people who leave care annually will never enjoy that sense of a secure base as they face the challenges of early adulthood. Instead they will have to cope with the anxiety, uncertainty and disruption of being forced out of the place they have come to call home.
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