Why are there so few Care Leavers going to university

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Why are there so few Care Leavers going to
university?

• Deirdre Lynskey
• 4th July 2008

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Workshop

• Why am I here?
• The Paper, research.readingtalking.listening
• Networking
• Training

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Get up !!!

• Please go and find someone who you dont know and
  introduce yourselves to them

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Class teacher
Independent visitor
Independent review officer
Nursery teacher
Learning Mentor
Foster Carer
FE lecturer
Youth offending team
Designated teacher
Dentist
Personal adviser for care leavers
Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
Doctor
Designated health worker
Educational Psychologist
Education welfare officer
Social worker
Connexions Personal Adviser
Private tutor
Children and family court advisory and support
service
Child and adolescent mental health service
Birth Parent(s)
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One of the most vulnerable groups within our
society

• 6,000 currently within the care system
• 62 per cent because of abuse/neglect
• 10 of children are taken into care because of
  family dysfunction
• 8 of children are taken into care
• because of absent parents
• 3 of children are taken into care for socially
  unacceptable behaviour
• SOURCE CENTRE FOR YOUNG POLICY STUDIES (CYPS)
  2006
• Handle with Care An investigation into the care
  system, HARRIET SERGEANT

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Mental Health

• 45per cent of 5 17 year olds are assessed as
  having a mental health disorder (4 times higher
  than other children)
• 28 per cent have a statement of special
  educational needs (SEN) (3 per cent of all
  children)

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MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

• 37 had clinically significant conduct disorders
• 12 were assessed as having emotional disorders
  anxiety and depression
• 7 were rated as hyperactive
• A significant proportion of the UK adult
  psychiatric ward population have been in the care
  system

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And we ask the question why are there so few care
leavers at University!
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• 11 get 5 good GCSEs compared to 56 of all
  children.
• 12 5 GCSEs at A C compared to 59 of all
  children

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Every Child Matters wants us to achieve and enjoy
but we have to fight for everything. How
enjoyable is that?(Young Person from Care)
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Key changes Social Exclusion Unit reportA
Better Education for Children in Care2003

• Greater stability so that children in care do
  not have to move home or school so often.
• Less time out of school longer in education
  help with school admissions, better access to
  education with more support to help children in
  care attend school regularly and stay on after
  age 16.
• Help with schoolwork more individual support
  tailored to the child backed by more training for
  teachers and social workers.
• More help from home to support schoolwork by
  giving carers better training in childrens
  education.
• Improved health and wellbeing with teachers,
  social care staff, health workers and carers all
  working together in the interests of the child.

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LIFE OUTCOMES - A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

• This year, approximately 6,000 young people will
  emerge from the care of the state in the UK.
• What is their future?
• 4,500 of them will leave with no educational
  qualifications whatsoever (75).

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Within two years of leaving care

• 3,000 will be unemployed (50)
• 2,100 will be mothers or pregnant (35)
• 1,200 will be homeless (20)
• just 60 will make it to university (1).

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• The failure of the current UK care system means
  a high proportion of its graduates are
  prostitutes drug addicts homeless criminals
  psychiatric ward residents and the parents of
  the next generation of children in care.
• SOURCE CENTRE FOR YOUNG POLICY STUDIES (CYPS)
  2006
• Handle with Care An investigation into the care
  system, HARRIET SERGEANT

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A successful system of care would transform this
country. At a stroke, it would

• empty a third of our prisons
• shift half of all prisoners under the age of 25
  out of the criminal justice system
• halve the number of prostitutes
• reduce by between a third and a half the number
  of homeless
• remove 80 of Big Issue sellers from our street
  corners.

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• The current system dictates that the earlier a
  young person fails, the sooner they cease to be a
  cost to their local authority.
• It is better for the local authoritys budget to
  have a young person go to prison, for example,
  rather than to university.
• Prison is paid for by the Home Office,
  university by the local authority. In the
  topsy-turvy world of care, failure is cheap,
  success a financial burden.

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TEENAGE PREGANCY / MOTHERHOOD

• 25 of care-leavers have had a child by the age
  of 16
• almost half of care-leavers are mothers within
  18-24 months of leaving care.
• A significant proportion of the children born to
  care leavers will themselves be taken into care

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Key inhibitors Social Exclusion Unit reportA
Better Education for Children in Care

• The report identified five key underlying
  factors inhibiting change and progress
• Capacity - extremely high vacancy rates in
  childrens social care workforce and insufficient
  staff training about educational needs
• Management and leadership - lack of commitment
  and time at senior level, staff feeling powerless
  to affect change compounded by lack of
  understanding between frontline staff and
  managers
• Resources - while funding has increased in real
  terms, some areas struggle to deliver an adequate
  service, exacerbated by lack of strategic
  planning and poor use of resources
• System and structures - a widespread lack of
  joint working between local authority officers
  and departments
• Attitudes - many carers and social workers are
  positive about children in care, but negative
  attitudes are commonly found among other
  professionals and wider society.

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• Capacity - extremely high vacancy rates in
  childrens social care workforce and insufficient
  staff training about educational needs

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• Management and leadership - lack of commitment
  and time at senior level, staff feeling powerless
  to affect change compounded by lack of
  understanding between frontline staff and
  managers

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• Resources - while funding has increased in real
  terms, some areas struggle to deliver an adequate
  service, exacerbated by lack of strategic
  planning and poor use of resources

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• System and structures - a widespread lack of
  joint working between local authority officers
  and departments

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• Attitudes - many carers and social workers are
  positive about children in care, but negative
  attitudes are commonly found among other
  professionals and wider society.

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Responsibilities of schools

• Designated Teacher
• Specific brief
• Provide Advice Guidance
• Liaise with appropriate agencies
• Personal Education Plan
• Involve consult
• Appropriate support systems
• Provide induction
• Counselling

• Statutory Care Reviews
• Attend training
• Promote Home School Partnership
• Raise the Profile of LAC
• Improve Education / Attainment
• Promote Safeguard Welfare
• Inform Governors and staff

Education of Young People in Public Care -
DoH/DCSF Guidelines 2000
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It is suggested by DCSF that Schools draw on the
following key indicators of performance as part
of that process

• National curriculum assessments and tests
• Secondary examination results
• Pupil attendance
• Pupil exclusions
• Pupil involvement in extra-curricular activities
• Number of applications for admission
• Destination of school leavers
• Records of home - school support

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Nearly half of all young people leave care at
just 16 or 17 compared to those from a stable
background who tend to leave the family home in
their mid twenties
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The leaving care Act

• Local Authorities have a duty to.
• Ensure pathway plan is in place by 16.
• Make assessment and meet needs of young person.
• Provide financial support
• Provide personal adviser
• Ensure accommodation

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• The final research report, "Going to university
  from care", launched in May 2005, demonstrated
  that those who succeeded did so against
  considerable odds, both in terms of pre-entry
  support and that within the higher education
  institution.

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The Frank Buttle Quality Award

• The Quality Mark is a great step forward. Not
  only does it show care leavers that higher
  education providers are committed to helping them
  overcome the challenges they face, it ensures
  that care leavers have the same educational
  opportunities as other young people.Bill Rammell
  2006

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The Commitment

• The Commitment recognises the challenges faced by
  care leavers entering higher education and seeks
  to
• Facilitate an increase in the number of care
  leavers entering higher education
• Help higher education providers to identify how
  best to support care leavers
• Raise awareness of the needs of this group of
  students
• Enable care leavers to make the most of their
  time in higher education and to complete their
  courses successfully
• Contribute to a national framework to assist
  local authorities to fulfil their obligations to
  care leavers.

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The Launch 2006

• Edge Hill University
• Kingston University
• Sheffield Hallam University
• University of Bradford
• University of Leeds
• University of Southampton

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• De Montfort University
• Staffordshire University
• The University of Winchester
• University of Bedfordshire
• University of Leicester
• University of Huddersfield
• Loughborough University
• University of Abertay
• University of Liverpool
• University of Glasgow
• University of Teesside
• York St John University
• University of Sheffield
• University of Greenwich
• University of Chichester
• Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln
• University of Surrey

• University of Strathclyde
• University of Sunderland
• The Manchester Metropolitan University
• Swansea University
• University of Northumbria at Newcastle
• University of Sussex
• Cardiff University
• North East Wales Institute of Higher Education
  (NEWI)
• Bangor University
• London South Bank University
• Carmarthenshire College
• Brighton University
• Newcastle University
• University of Edinburgh

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After growing up moving from family to family,
school to school and social worker to social
worker the most exciting thing for me was the
thought of getting my own tenancy - having my own
place for the first time. And if it wasnt for
the support from nice people around me and many
second chances I would not have managed with the
money and the forms and the cooking type of
stuff. Its taken me nearly 4 years of living
alone to get things right but I still notice that
my mates family still give him loads of emotional
and financial support even though he is 22 like
me. Young person from A National Voice