Twelve top child care charities are today (16 June 2008) urging the Government not to condemn young people leaving care to a life of poverty and underachievement, by calling for a change to the rules which currently see them fending for themselves at 18.
In an open letter sent to children’s secretary Ed Balls, the charities said: “As MPs debate the Children and Young Persons Bill today, hundreds of 17-year-olds in care across England will be packing their bags and getting ready to "go it alone", because local authorities are not required to look after them after their 18th birthdays.
“We urge the Government to take this opportunity to ensure all young people have the option to remain with their foster carers until the age of 21. This means giving a clear commitment to roll out proposed pilots across England as soon as possible, to support the foster carers looking after these young people and to provide the funding required to make the ability to stay until 21 a reality.
“We welcome many aspects of the Bill but failing to enable children to stay with their foster carers beyond the age of 17 will have serious consequences for this Government’s stated intention of transforming outcomes for young people in care.”
The letter was signed by representatives of the Fostering Network, NCH, Barnardo’s, NCB, The Children’s Society, BAAF, Voice, A National Voice, The Who Cares? Trust, TACT, Rainer and The Frank Buttle Trust.
Robert Tapsfield, chief executive of the Fostering Network, added: “Many young people in care are pushed out into independent living before they are ready, due to lack of local authority support. In fact those that get to stay until they are 18 are in some respects the “lucky ones”, as many children in care have to fend for themselves when they are just 16 or 17. Without significant personal sacrifices from foster carers, many others would face the same fate.
“This is just not good enough. We need a commitment from the secretary of state to ensure all children in care have the option to stay with foster carers until they are 21, and we need it now. Research and experience show that the longer young people stay with their foster carers, the better they do later on. This Government cannot condemn another generation of care leavers to a lifetime of poverty and underachievement.”
The Fostering Network is organising a mass lobby of Parliament on Monday 16 June. More than 190 MPs (including about 150 Labour MPs) have currently signed EDM 1413 (Helen Southworth MP), which calls on the Government to take steps to ensure that young people in care have access to effective support, including where appropriate the opportunity to remain with their foster carers until they are 21 years of age.