Joe Swash - Teens in Care

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Such lovely teenagers in this programme, so sad about how the care system is failing them and they get thrown out on their own the day they hit 18.

What channel was this on please?

I'm heartbroken and fuming at the same time. Heartbroken for those teenagers who become 'adults' at 18 and are kicked out to fend for themselves.

Fuming because I was dispatched from a residential care home aged 17 with £20 and basically told to have a nice life, and that was 45yrs ago and it seems that nothing has changed.

I think Joe is doing a good job of highlighting these problems and he's so kind and empathetic to the teens.

I haven't seen it but I used to work in safeguarding. Don't children in care get some form of support until they're 25? That certainly used to be the case.

I've just watched it and agree with everything portrayed. These are vulnerable young adults who have suffered abuse, have attachment issues and so many stops and starts in their development.

DH and I adopted siblings at 2.5 and 1.5 years of age and our eldest celebrated their 21st birthday this weekend .

We have had a huge roller coaster ride with them both due to their difficult beginnings but we advocate for them and support them wholeheartedly. Something the young people in the documentary didn't have and it breaks my heart watching them

Yes, a Personal Advisor provided by the local authority as a corporate parent.

I don't have any experience but was very moved by the programme, Joe's warmth and empathy, and his own experiences made him just the right person for it, well done to him.

Care leavers get housing, financial, emotional and practical support from a PA. It's like everything though, higher case loads, less money being allocated, high stress job and not enough of the PA to go around.

They really don’t get much at all when you look into it:
https://www.barnardos.org.uk/what-we-do/supporting-young-people/leaving-care/young-person/finances#:~:text=If%20you're%20a%20care,%2C%20food%2C%20transport%20and%20clothing.

No, they really don’t. They can apply for all of those things. Most of what you apply for you don’t get though

Maybe it's a different service depending on LA. It shouldn't be though.

Legally the LA has a housing duty. This looks like a band A/priority status when their PA and supported housing agree they can manage a tenancy. This is because they only get one shot at a LA tenancy as housing law will say they have no housing duty if they get themselves evicted (for normal ish behaviour that you would see at uni halls etc but they're not in uni and they're thrust into an adult world very quickly).

Financially they will be on UC if they're not working. They should 100% get more. There's a Welsh LA trialling a living wage for care leavers. But the PA manages things such as setting up home allowance. 2.5k in my LA. Winter clothes, laptop for college, new cooker when it breaks, bus pass for college etc.

For uni there is SO much support and grants and money and it's really amazing. The virtual school in a LA will be so supportive to any dc wanting to go to uni, it's not just on their SW/PA.

Ofsted usually inspect first in the door and last out. Usually the first response team and the care leavers team is pretty well run because of this.

Was really heartbreaking as they are all lovely kids but still so young and also vulnerable after their challenging starts in life. They seemed very young still but thoughtful and sensible but scared. I can’t imagine my 15 year old DS being able to fend for himself completely and on his own in 3 years, but these children are expected to. I really pray that it all comes good for them, they deserve the best.

Where was it shown?

It's on iplayer

Thanks @Wittow can't watch then

Not true and PA’s only have to see them once every eight weeks.

Not when I left the children's home at 16 in 1981. It was straight into a bedsit with one set of cutlery, crockery and bed linen and a phone number for social services in case anything went wrong before I got to 18.

Are they allowed to finish school before they get chucked out of the system? What happens in they are mid A-levels on their 18th birthday? Or is it like other benefits where full time education still counts for something?

Bbc. 1

Shocked that it cost 6000 a week to house a teenager in the childrens home.

It's awful the money made from these dc

Yes it's called staying put. If in a foster placement they can stay till 21 as long as they both want too.

They're not allowed in a children's home. They're put in supported accommodation. Childrens homes that cost 6k a week wouldn't be approved for an adult. It's rubbish if they have strong ties to the staff there.

Couldn’t believe the 6k per week either. If they started paying foster carers more and giving them more support it would be much more cost effective.
I know carers with 3 children who get less than 1k per week.
Im a fostercarer, our child has been with us for 12 years, they won’t be moving at 18 unless they want to. Fortunately we are not dependant on our allowance but lots of carers are.
My daughter used to work in one of those hostels that the young girl moved to, they are only permitted to stay there for a couple of years then get moved on again. The support workers in there do as much as they can but the kids are often let down by their social workers.
Its so sad.
Vulnerable young people getting caught up in addiction and crime with no one to depend on.
The young man with the globe and soldiers was one of the fortunate ones, I think he will have care for life.

I worked on a programme for care leavers in the North West. I was delivering maths and English so not involved in their social care (well, not officially but...) but the PA who worked with them was phenomenal. She certainly saw them more than every 8 weeks. She turned up most weeks to my class, saw them in between and was always on the end of the phone. She genuinely cared about these young people.
The programme involved the council employing them on a pre apprenticeship for 12 months where they had work experience within a council department but had a day a week of maths and English and a day a week of employment skills. The other 3 days they were on work placement. If they were successful after 12 months (and everyone involved in the programme did their utmost to ensure they would be successful) they were then offered a full apprenticeship.
I've been involved in various employability schemes but this was far and away the best, and the most successful. We had a very high retention and success rate and many of these young people went on to full employment within the council and maintained homes.
I've no idea if this scheme is available across the country but it works and the many students that I'm still in touch with (quite a few years later) would testify to that. It needs the people involved to care though. The employability tutor and I always went the extra mile, most of their placement mentors were extremely supportive, but the PA was key, she was always there to help and advise and they knew she had their best interests at heart. It can work but these young people have often experienced a life we couldn't even begin to imagine and there will, sadly, always be some who slip through the cracks of the system.
Often, the biggest barrier to success was reunion with birth families who would lead them back into a cycle of abuse/addiction/unemployment. They were, understandably, drawn back to their families once they reached a certain age (and I say understandably as I am an adopted adult). No judgement, often, their parents had experienced similar childhoods, just frustration that the cycle couldn't always be broken 😞

I left care in Aug 89 after completing my A levels ( I was 18 in the previousNov). I'd been applying for accommodation from the council since I was 16. Got given a £300 giro to furnish the flat The day I left care was the last I heard from my social worker or staff that I had grown up with. Confusing at the time but hey ho x

Wonkyspecs
hope you’re doing ok, the support is much the same now I think. The lack of housing doesn’t help. Where are these young people supposed to go?
The care system is very overlooked, these children’s homes costing thousands per week are a drain on tax payers money, the children aren’t supported after 16/18 properly leaving them open to mental health issues, addiction etc costing more money.
Not providing good care as well as being beyond awful for the kids is also bad for our economy. It needs a massive influx of money( I know, from where?) and someone who knows what they are talking about to take charge.

Have any of you seen this Channel 4 documentary showing kids in care/leaving care - just called Kids? It shows the support that is actually put in place:

www.channel4.com/programmes/kids