Homelessness a symptom of care?

1. Homelessness a symptom of care? Caroline, Duncan, David, Gemma & Stuart

2. Who Cares? Scotland’s Dream A Scotland where all children and young people with experience of care are understood, believed in and given every opportunity to thrive. A place where we hold the same aspirations for care experienced children, as we do for our own. We treat them the same.

3. What we’ll reflect on • That homelessness is a symptom not a cause • Why efforts to eradicate homelessness must focus on young people with experience of care • Whether our services are geared to respond to the needs of young people with care experience • The solution lies in the continuity of stable, nurturing and caring relationships

4. Corporate Parents: Scottish Ministers Local Authorities Children’s Hearings ScotlandPrincipal Reporter Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration Health boards Healthcare Improvement Scotland Scottish Qualifications Authority Skills Development Scotland Social Care and Social Work Improvement Scotland Scottish Social Services Council Scottish Sports Council Chief Constable of the Police Service of Scotland Scottish Police Authority Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Scottish Court Service Scottish Legal Aid Board Commissioner for Children and Young People in Scotland Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland Scottish Housing Regulator BòrdnaGàidhligCreative Scotland Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council A body which is a “post-16 education body” or a “regional strategic body” for the purposes of the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005

5. What type of parents are we? • Health & well-being: 1/2 of all looked after children will experience mental health issues, compared to 1 in 10 of all 5 to 16 year olds. • Education: 1% of care leavers go onto university, compared to 37% of all young people. • 0.5% of children looked after at home leave school with 5 or more standard grades, compared to 56% of the general children population. • Offending: Approximately 28% of the adult prison population have come from a care background. • Employability: No more than 30% will sustain a positive destination after care and are likely to face long-term unemployment and permanent exclusion from the labour market. • Premature Death: Care leavers are up to 20X more likely to die prematurely.

6. The role of housing • At least 1/3 of all care leavers will experience homelessness • An estimated third of homeless people were formerly in care (The Centre for Social Justice 2008)

9. Young people with care experience & youth participation

10. What Care Leavers can achieve…

11. In their words They want care done with them instead of to them. • Important to understand how their care journey affects their outcomes upon leaving care.

12. Getting it right – access & sustainment Care Leavers stories Caroline, Gemma, Stuart & David

13. The role of housing Key needs: Financial Resources Support Connections Return to care when needed

14. Upcoming challenges & opportunities Positive developments: • Homelessness (Abolition of Priority Need Test) (Scotland) Order 2012, will give an estimated 3,000 more people a year the right to settled accommodation. • The Housing Support Services (Homelessness) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. • Children & Young People Bill proposals. However: How much will this prevent care leavers from becoming homeless if we don’t change how we view and work with them?

15. The challenges for us Need: C&YP Bill to legislate for care leavers Right to access support up to 25-years-old Need: Care leavers only leave their care setting care when they feel prepared Need: To increase the types & locations of accommodationavailable for care leavers to access Need: Care leavers to be supported to sustain their accommodation by people of their choosing Need: To make services attractive enough to prevent care leavers from going off the radar – leads to sofa surfing / sleeping on the street / not accessing help The most important need of all: To ensure that young people who leave care don’t feel they are alone; have no options to fall back on; have no alternatives; that those who cared for them whilst they were being ‘looked after’ haven’t turned their back on them for good.

16. How do we do this? Start by taking the pledge to listen: http://www.whocaresscotland.org/pledge/ Our pledge to you: If you believe young people with care experience can help you look at your work differently then please get in touch. We are committed to improving their lives. Let’s not assume what we are doing is right, but that anything is possible Let’s work within our sector, and across other sectors: Health, Education, Employability etc Let’s listen to young people with care experience and create solutions with them Let’s start from what is working for young people in care and build on those relationships which give stability, nurture and care for young people over the long-term

17. Thank-you - Please take the pledge ddunlop@whocaresscotland.org 0141 226 4441 www.whocaresscotland.org