In the care system, there is increasingly a focus on the relationships that children in care and care leavers have with adults, but not always on what supports them to keep and develop close connections with other young people – like friends, brothers and sisters.
Coram Voice Bright Spots research involving thousands of care experienced children and young people has found that these relationships are really important to making their lives good. They not only provide connection and chances to enjoy time together now, are often the people who will be there and support them when they are older.
Positively, the Government recently announced that they are shortly introducing new laws to ask local authorities to prioritise children in care’s relationship with their brothers and sisters. We hope there will be a similar focus on how the care system support children in care and care leavers to keep and develop their relationships with friends – who our research has shown are the most common source of emotional support for care leavers.
In April 2026, Coram Voice ran a workshop with 53 young people from 8 local authorities in the South East of England to discuss and find out more about their views on these relationships. Young people’s comments from the workshop were summarised in a report which was shared with participation workers to feedback to all young people involved.
Find all of the information related to the workshop below: