Developing Employment Opportunities for Care Leavers

Abstract

This article describes an action research project carried out in North West England that aimed to assist Children’s Services Departments and Care Trusts in developing their strategies for supporting care leavers into employment and training. The study found a range of models and approaches that can be utilised to develop local and regional partnerships offering employment and training opportunities designed to meet the needs of care leavers. Relevant questions about the extent to which such opportunities should be ring‐fenced or targeted on particular fields of employment are identified. © 2010 The Author(s). Children & Society © 2010 National Children’s Bureau.

Keyworking in residential child care: Lessons from research

“…These disappointing trends are not confined to Ireland, and Bullock, Courtney, Parker, Sinclair, and Thoburn (2006) make the observation that in both the United Kingdom and the United States studies reveal a consistent pattern of poor outcomes for care system graduates. While this evidence is drawn from the children in state care more generally and does not refer specifically to children in residential care, selected evidence from England (Bilson, Price, & Stanley, 2010;Dixon, 2008;McAuley & Davis, 2009); Scotland (McClung & Gayle, 2010); France (Dumaret, Donati, & Crost, 2011); Northern Ireland (McCrystal & McAloney, 2010); Australia (Townsend, 2012); USA (Pears, Kim, Fisher, & Yoerger, 2013), nonetheless points consistently to poor educational achievement, poor physical, mental and general well-being, homelessness, criminality, unemployment, teenage parenting and poor social networks. While research to date highlighting the success of care-leavers is relatively scarce (Martin & Jackson, 2002), what is known points consistently to the importance of stability, not solely related to stability of placement setting but also more significantly the importance of positive and stable relationships with professionals involved in their care (Dumaret et al, 2011;Martin & Jackson, 2002;McLeod, 2010).…”

ESSS Outline: Care experience and employment

“…Studies from different countries such as the US, Sweden and Australia show they are less likely to participate in higher and further education, and less likely to be employed, compared to those with no care experience (Mendes, 2006;Dixon, 2007;Bilson, 2011;Cassarino-Perez, 2018).…”

The Experiences of Care Leavers (Post-care Adults) in Social Work Education

“…Jackson, Ajayi, and Quigley (2005) considered the largest single study of care leavers (n=129) accessing further and higher education and noted the inconsistency amongst Local Authorities around personal advisors and insufficient financial support. Bilson, Price and Stanley (2011), The Who Cares Trust (2012) and DCSF (2009) similarly found evidence of variable performance in these areas. Clearly, the barriers faced by care leavers are not only high, but appear to be even tougher in some parts of the country.…”