15 Apr 20
Responding to Coronavirus is a challenge for us all and no different in our work with children in care and care leavers. As we respond to new circumstances it is important that we plan our services not only to keep our children and young people safe and supported, but to make their lives as positive as possible at this time.
Read full report: Care leavers’ well-being during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Key Messages for Leaving Care Workers
04 Mar 20
Our Bright Spots research shows that being singled out, being stereotyped and treated differently is an on-going issue for both children in care and care leavers.
Our Insight paper: ‘Challenging Stigma in the care system’, shares what children and young people have told us about stigma, what they want to see from services and gives examples of how local authorities have worked with children in care and care leavers to challenge stigma.
04 Dec 19
Read our 2019 report to find out about the barriers to independent advocacy that young people face. Learn how Coram Voice’s unique Always Heard service helps young people to challenge and overcome these barriers.
Always Heard is the national advice and advocacy safety net for children and young people in and on the edges of care. Over the last year we supported 600 children and young people with one to one “safety net” advocacy support. We delivered children’s rights advice and information on 15,000 occasions and referred or signposted to local services on 6,000 occasions.
Through our work we have found that:
Read and download the report here – ALWAYS HEARD 2019
If you are young person seeking an advocate please contact Always Heard now – get an Advocate
23 Oct 19
Every child and young person who comes into care needs to know why and have opportunities to discuss the reasons this happened whenever they feel unclear. Our new Bright Spots Insight Paper ‘Understanding why you are in care’ explains why this is important to children and young people and shares ideas and resources for how to support them with this.
From our Bright Spots work we know that this remains a key issue for children and young people throughout their time in care and beyond – only half of 4-7 year olds in care feel that the reasons why they are in care have been fully explained and a quarter of care leaver have not had an explanation or would like to know more. A lack of knowledge about the reasons for care was associated with feeling unsettled in placement and low subjective well-being for children in care.
Services have started to develop solutions to help children understand why they are in care, from expanding life story work to workshops for social workers on how to speak about difficult issues. Read more about them in the Bright Spots Insight Paper: Understanding why you are in care.
We shared the learning from the insight paper at our peer learning seminar on the 14 October. If you want to find out more about Bright Spots work and be kept up to date with future events sign up to our Bright Spots newsletter.
01 Apr 19
In 2019, Bright Spots produced Our Life Beyond Care: care leavers’ views on their well-being 2018, which summarises the findings from the responses of 474 16-25 year-old care leavers who completed the Your Life Beyond Care survey in six local authorities in England. It gives an insight into how care leavers really feel about their lives.
Our Lives Beyond Care: care leavers’ views on their well-being in 2018
