11,000 young people leave foster and residential care every year. Many of them experience a cliff-edge of support. Social Finance is developing a digital tool, which will better support young people and help them to flourish in adulthood.
Background
Care leavers face many challenges when they leave care. At a time when most young people benefit from significant practical and emotional support from their families, care leavers often experience a ‘cliff edge’ of support from the local authority and a sudden transition to independence. This lack of support is a contributing factor to the poor outcomes that many care leavers experience in adulthood.
Why are we doing this?
- 11 000 young people leave care every year
- Young people who have left care tell us that they would like more frequent and accessible support and better control over their transition to independence
- Data on those who leave care is very limited and doesn’t enable insight into what drives outcomes. We want to change this.
What are we doing?
We are developing a digital tool for young people and their personal advisors that will support the transition from care to independence. Young people tell us that they want more control over their transition and better communication with their personal advisors. We want to create dynamic pathway planning that provides more timely support for young people leaving care, that better meets their aspirations.
In addition, the tool will enable us to gather data about how young people move into adulthood and the paths to good outcomes. This data will give local authorities the power to support young people by targeting support more effectively on a needs-basis.