The Child Minder

By Amy Taylor

On a recent trip to a council in the West of England I was struck by the difference in the level of services offered to young people in need who become homeless at the ages of 16 or 17 and those leaving care. While both groups often seemed to have similar problems, a need for accommodation, an increased likelihood to have mental health problems and drug and alcohol problems and low educational attainment, the services available to care leavers and what they are entitled to is far superior.

writes Hayley Prew

Working on the service user-led issue of Community Care for September 13 gave me some experience in the journalistic field as well as a chance to engineer change – or at least to direct thought as to what changes need to be made.

Q: Who places huge faith in care leavers and gives them unlimited opportunities to improve their lives? A: Jamie Oliver, as his current C4 series Jamie's Chef is showing yet again.

Four graduates from Oliver's chef training scheme for disadvantaged young people have been competing for the chance to run their own pub.

Dennis Duncanson got down to the last three - although he didn't win in the end. In and out of children's homes as a boy, he has spent time in prison but now looks to have a great future. He has worked in prestigious restaurants, including for Rick Stein in Cornwall, and flew to LA to cook for Brad Pitt's 40th birthday.

Who else is placing such huge faith in care leavers? Why does it take a television programme to do this? Why is the future for Dennis now so much brighter than for the vast majority of care leavers?

Recruitment scheme for Jamie Oliver's Fifteen