This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Parliament debate on aftercare provision
05/09/2002
Young people leaving care need support to help them to
become independent adults, Palriament was told today.
Minister for Education and Young People Cathy Jamieson
was speaking during a debate on Throughcare and Aftercare,
called after research and an expert working group report
showed that not all young people leaving care are receiving
the necessary support.
Ms Jamieson said:
"Every young person needs help, advice and support to
make a successful transition to independent adult living.
Supporting our own children when they leave home is one of
the most important responsibilities we have as parents.
Local authorities, as "corporate parents", have that
important responsibility for the young people they look
after.
"However in June, we published research that showed that
current levels of support were patchy across Scotland. Less
than half of the young people asked had received a planned
throughcare programme and less than half had not had a
formal leaving care review. It was clear that many local
authorities had difficulty identifying the young people
eligible for services.
"The Working Group we established took the views of
young people about the services provided - and as always,
young people's own experiences contain the most powerful
messages.
"One young person said "I have started to think about
moving to my own flat - what I am going to buy, and how I
am going to budget my money. No-one talked to me about this
in the unit. I would like someone to start helping me to
think about this".
"Another said, "The worst thing was money and going from
a house full of people to just me with nobody supporting or
helping me". And another simply said, "I had nobody to fall
back on."
"The fact that young care leavers can feel so isolated
and unprepared must be a wake-up call to us all. Sadly,
these messages are all too common. We know that, in the
past, too many care-leavers ended up homeless and
unemployed, too many ended up in prison. Too few were able
to fulfil their potential, in employment or education."
Ms Jamieson said that the report of the Working Group on
the throughcare and aftercare of young people leaving care
- commissioned by the Executive and published for
consultation on August 30 - had produced important
recommendations to address these problems.
She said:
"It is clear that the Group were in no doubt that
improvements to existing services had to be the starting
point. They voiced their concerns that mechanisms for
monitoring and tracking the young people eligible for
services were not in place in many local authorities.
"They have recommended that from next April, local
authorities record the status of the young people concerned
to allow them to see how they are making progress towards
providing a better service - be it their accommodation,
education or employment arrangements.
"They have also recommended that new assessment tools
are used to gauge better the needs of young people - it
will be vital that the young people concerned are part of
this process and I will read with interest their views on
this and all the other proposals including service
delivery."
Ms Jamieson explained that the Group had identified
three main desired outcomes for young people from the
throughcare and aftercare service. These are:
- To ensure that young people make a successful
transition to independent living
- To provide an accurate, accessible, swift service
providing financial assistance that leaves young people
at least no worse off than under the current
system
- To provide young people with a complaints system
they can trust
She added:
"I am sure these recommendations can help close the
opportunity gap for young people. Young people leaving care
should not be left in the margins of society, struggling to
cope without help and support.
"I look forward to hearing views on the recommendations
of the Working Group - we have the opportunity to improve
services for young people to ensure that their hopes and
aspirations can be realised and we must take that
opportunity."
At the invitation of the Minister, young people who had
been through the care system attended the debate.
Ms Jamieson met with these young people to hear their
experiences and their views.
She said:
"It is vital that, in improving services, we speak to
those who have used the services in the past. For young
people that is particularly important because too often
adults assume that they know best.
"I am pleased therefore to have met today with some of
the young people who have been through the care system and
am pleased that they were able to attend today's
debate."
The expert group is made up of representatives from
local authorities, COSLA, ADSW and voluntary and advocacy
groups who work with looked after children.