How councils engage with care-experienced children and young people needs to change if services for them are to improve.
Luke Rodgers BEM, Chief Executive Officer of The Care Leaders, told the LGA’s annual conference that children and young people who have been in care are the “biggest untapped talent pool in our country”, skilled at negotiating adult care systems and frequent placement changes.
He described his own experience of being taken into care at age 10, having 13 placements by the age of 15, and, at 18, living in a caravan with a broken window, with only a sofa to sleep on.
“My corporate parent came in and said ‘can you share your story’… up until that point, my story had zero value,” he said.
As corporate parents, councils should ensure children in care leave care “in a better place than they entered”, he said.
Drawing on his own experiences, including working on projects funded by the Children’s Social Care Innovation programme, he called for a focus on three key areas: providing loving homes for children; supporting young people leaving care, “because it is such a cliff edge”; and giving young people the skills needed to find work.
“Let’s stop asking if they can share their stories and let’s ask them if they can share their ideas,” he told delegates.