Improving
the Health and Wellbeing of Young People Leaving Care
Stress
has a major impact on the lives of young people leaving care, according
to a new book based on extensive research.
The
cumulative effects of being taken into care and therefore misplaced
from their families frequently takes its toll when young people leave
the care of social services to find their place in the adult world.
This
is one of the many important findings resulting from the extensive
research of Dr Bob Broad and colleagues at De Montfort University,
Leicester. He has published the results of his work in a new book:
Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Young People Leaving Care.
Dr
Broad explains: “Often these young people are more vulnerable
than their peers and the majority of them cited stress as a major
issue in their lives. Sometimes, the impact of events in their earlier
lives has not been dealt with. For example, many of them come from
often violent and abusive family backgrounds or they may have experienced
bullying at school. When they suddenly leave the relative comfort
of care and are living in isolation, their loneliness is exacerbated
and issues that have been hiding under the surface come into play.”
Family
relationships were a major cause of stress for this group, who also
cite lack of money, their relationship with their partner and feeling
unsafe in their new accommodation as reasons for stress.
“It
is tough for many young people leaving care, trying to fend for themselves
in limited circumstances. They may lack self-esteem which can draw
them into unsuitable relationships and make them feel unable to move
on. Many of the people we interviewed were very unhappy with where
they lived – often in unpleasant accommodation in areas where
they felt unsafe.”
Though
Dr Broad accepts that many teenagers take risks with things such as
drugs misuse and unprotected sex, he found that the effect of these
behaviours on youngsters leaving care was more marked.
“It
is not a question of lack of knowledge – some vulnerable care
leavers become involved in risky behaviours such as unprotected sex
and drugs misuse, and this can be harmful to their already difficult
lives.”
Dr
Broad’s book includes the results of two studies. First, the
impact of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 on the health and well-being
of care leavers is reviewed via the lens of research data gathered
from a national overview study of leaving care work by 52 leaving
care teams working with 7000 care leavers in England and Wales.
The
second research study is a unique two-year young people's health and
well-being study highlighting care leavers' own perspectives about
their health and well-being needs and service provision.
“We
interviewed young people in some detail about what leaving care meant
for them, how they coped and how they felt they could have been helped
better. We also carried out a special case study on mothers and mothers-to-be,
plus sections on mental health needs and disabled care.
“Since
2000 there has been a slight change in the education and training
made available to this group – it is an area where there has
been much improvement. It is also clear that colleagues who work with
young people need to be better appreciated by their employers and
better supported with training and opportunities for progression and
development.”
A
major emphasis of the book is to record what services work well to
improve young people's health and well being, as well as to flag up
what more needs to be done.
Based on a social inclusion framework, Professor Broad’s book
• analyses the rationale of current and recent leaving care
legislation, and the linkages between social exclusion, care leavers,
and health and well-being.
• assesses the impact of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000
on the education, employment, training, accommodation and financial
circumstances of care leavers, as well as on anti-discriminatory practices
and service planning developments (including Pathway Planning).
• provides accounts of young people's perspectives on their
health and well-being and the impact of often damaging life histories
on their current well-being; and a case study of young mothers and
mothers-to-be.
• outlines the challenges and a policy framework for meeting
the mental health needs of care leavers.
• examines health and well-being issues for disabled care leavers.
• based on the research findings, including points made by the
young people who participated, makes good practice recommendations
for health and social practitioners, including a new comprehensive
policy, practice and service framework.
“My
research has led to two clear recommendations - for professionals
to respond earlier to young people's accounts, often of damaging abusive
episodes in their lives and, at a national level, for a comprehensive
system of UK health and well-being indicators for all children and
young people, including care leavers, to be introduced as a matter
of urgency,” concludes Dr Broad.
Dr
Bob Broad is Professor of Children and Families Research, and Director
of the Children and Families Research Unit in the Faculty of Health
and Life Sciences, at De Montfort University, Leicester. Previous
books include Young People Leaving Care: Life after the Children Act
1989 (Jessica Kingsley, 1998) and Kinship care: the placement choice
for children and young people in need (Ed. 2001, Russell House).
Dr
Panos Vostanis, Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the
University of Leicester, and Julie Harris, social care researcher,
each contribute an extra chapter.
Improving
the Health and Wellbeing of Young People Leaving Care (Russell House
Publishing), £17.95, ISDN . 1-903855-62-4. www.russellhouse.co.uk
