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England
Until recently young people in public care in England could almost be described as a “lost tribe”: not only were they seriously neglected but they were also lost to public view. Despite a series of scandals connected with incidents in residential homes, these children and young people remained a low priority for many of the local authorities with responsibility for their care.
The Buttle Trust, which has been making grants to individual children in need throughout the UK for more than 50 years, has been particularly concerned about two aspects of children in public care: their education and their move to independent living.
The level of educational attainment of children in public care has been very low with few children succeeding in public exams; and this is all the more shocking as research has shown that the group of children in public care are no more or less capable than any other children. For the few children in care who achieve worthwhile results and manage to enter higher education – a heroic achievement – the Trust has always provided grants to help with their living expenses at university and during the university vacations when they often have problems finding somewhere to live.
Most recently the Trust has commissioned a major piece of research – “By Degrees” – to establish what types and levels of support are necessary if care leavers are to be encouraged to enter higher education and supported throughout their time at university. An interim report was published in May this year and the final results are expected early in 2005.
As to the move into independent living, many local authorities appeared only too anxious to wash their hands of young people in their care and children as young as 16 were not infrequently placed in flats without even the minimum of furniture and equipment. Local authority practice varied from the exemplary to the indescribably mean and the Trust found itself compelled to give grants to children who had the misfortune to have been looked after by neglectful authorities. Fortunately the attention of government has been focused on this area since the end of the 1990s and, following recent legislation, the performance of local authorities has begun to improve.
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