Independent living derails study plans

Young people leaving care are forced to shun education and
employment just to cope with living independently, according to a
study carried out for the Home Office.

The research into young care leavers as they make the transition to
independent living found care leavers were “attempting to juggle a
range of responsibilities and challenges at the same time which had
come about overnight”.

Involvement in education, training or employment was the most
common thing to be sidelined in the study of 19 care leavers, aged
between 17 and 22.

Nicola Wyld, legal and policy officer for advocacy and campaign
group Voice for the Child in Care, said: “The care system itself
needs to improve so that by the time young people leave care they
will be in a better position to take on the varied responsibilities
of independence.”

– Tracking Care Leavers as they Move to Independence from
www.info4local.gov.uk  

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