The Chance to Stay - Cyfle I Aros campaign calls for the Welsh Government to give young people the right to stay with their foster carers until they are at least 21 years old. Currently, young people must leave care at the age of 18, and some as young as 16, even if they do not feel ready to live alone. This is six years earlier than the average age of 24, when most young people choose to move out of the family home.
Action for Children-Gweithredu dros Blant's report, Chance to Stay - Cyfle I Aros, shows that young people who stay in foster care achieve more qualifications (55%) and are less likely to be involved in alcohol and substance misuse than those who leave by the age of 18.
The report also reveals that those who leave care at 18 could cost the UK and Welsh Governments an estimated £131,000 more per person in benefits and public service support than those who leave care later, demonstrating the wider economic value of the proposed amendment.
Dame Clare Tickell, chief executive at Action for Children-Gweithredu dros Blant, said: “The trauma that many young people experience before being taken into care can mean that they are not ready to live independently at 18 years old. Many care leavers are forced out of the care system and into a lonely, confusing and sometimes dangerous independent life.
“We believe that the Welsh Government must give young people in care the same chance to stay in a loving home that others of the same age get. Most parents wouldn't dream of letting their children leave home before they were ready, and we ask that the Welsh Government do the same for children in the care system.”
Freda Lewis, director of the Fostering Network Wales, said: “While most young people now stay with their families until at least 24, some of the most vulnerable in society – those who have been in care – have to leave by the time they are 18.
“We want Wales to be the best place for a young person to enter independence. If the Welsh Government provides stability for young people by allowing them to stay with their foster carers post-17, it will vastly improve their chances of a successful and prosperous adulthood.”
The Welsh Government is currently trialling a scheme which allows young people in foster care to stay longer, called When I am Ready. Action for Children-Gweithredu dros Blant and The Fostering Network Wales want this scheme to be available to young people across Wales. As such, they are asking the Welsh Government to include an amendment to its Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill to make it clear in law that young people can stay with their foster families until they are at least 21.
For more information, or to write to your AM to help change the law for young people in care in Wales, please visit the Chance to Stay - Cyfle I Aros website here or here.
Notes
About Chance to Stay (Cyfle I Aros)
Chance to Stay (Cyfle I Aros) is a campaign developed with young people in care, foster carers and care leavers in Wales by Action for Children-Gweithredu dros Blant in partnership with the Fostering Network Wales. The aim of the campaign is to gain support for the following amendment to the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Bill:
At Section 93, add new subsection 2(a)
93(2)(a) The support given under subsection 1 shall include the continuation of accommodation with the former local authority foster parent, unless:
(a) the category 3 young person states that he or she does not wish to continue residing in such accommodation, or
(b) the former local authority foster parent does not wish to continue to provide accommodation, or
(c) it is not reasonably practicable to arrange such accommodation.
(2) 'Former local authority foster parent' means a local authority foster parent within the meaning of section 65 (6) (a) or (b) with whom the former relevant child, as a looked after child, was placed under section 65 (6)(a) or (b).
The Chance to Stay - Cyfle I Aros report includes research from Cardiff University, Swansea University, Landman Economics and Virtual Worlds Research, which was commissioned by Action for Children -Gweithredu dros Blant. The research collates available evidence from a range of available statistics and sampling studies, and demonstrates the current outcomes for young people who leave foster care at 18, and how they compare to those that stay in care longer.
The report is available to read in full here