‘This week we’re clapping for leaving care personal advisers’

By Linda Briheim-Crookall

Community Care

“The trust, support and fun that PAs bring are critical to supporting care leavers’ wellbeing, both during the pandemic and beyond.”

The past month has really brought home the importance of key workers to our wellbeing. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, when care leavers were asked about who gives them emotional support, just under half of them said it was their leaving care worker (second only to friends). As one young person said about their leaving care worker:

The difficulties faced by care leavers during the lockdown have been reported both in the news  and highlighted through calls to Coram Voice’s national advocacy helpline, Always Heard. We know they struggle with isolation and a lack of social networks to help them both practically and emotionally.