Youth from care ‘falling through the cracks’

Too many young people in care are “falling through the cracks” when they reach adulthood, new research will warn.

A report due to be published by Labour MSP Kezia Dugdale and careexperienced researcher Ashley Cameron will call for urgent action to improve the support available for young adults who have grown up in care.

The research reveals that only 6% of those eligible for continuing care after their 18th birthday have requested or been offered the option.

Reforms brought in by the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 mean that councils have a duty to care for young people up to the age of 21 in the same accommodation type as before they turned 18.

Of the 20 councils that responded to freedom of information requests, 3,117 young people were eligible for continuing care but only 177 were offered or had requested the option.

The report will warn that provision is underfunded in some council areas, with several local authorities having spent more than the amount allocated and others having spent the cash to relieve pressures elsewhere.

Concerns raised by the research include a lack of awareness of the funding available in some council areas, as well as a failure by others to properly record information on the allocation and spending of funds.

Ms Dugdale said the research findings were “startling and deeply worrying”.

She added: “For too long, careexperienced young people have been abandoned at the age of 18, and are more likely to end up in a prison than a university lecture theatre.

“The introduction of continuing care was designed to address this, but our report reveals a patchwork of provision across Scotland, with only a small number of young people being offered the option to remain in care.

“Care-experienced children are our children; the state is the parent and we’re all responsible for their care. Our taxes pay for it and we also all pay the price of their lives being diminished.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Local authorities have a statutory responsibility to provide continuing care to eligible care leavers and we have provided more than £4.2 million a year since 2015-16 to support its implementation costs rising to £9.3m by 2019-20.

“We will study the findings of this new report with interest and will continue to monitor progress and work with local authorities to ensure continuing care is effectively delivered.”