Care leavers’ transitions to independence

But I think as a care leaver, especially for me who has no... I have literally no ties to any family, no like family support, it’s kind of like if something goes wrong, it’s not a case of like: ‘oh, OK, it’s fine, let’s just try again,’ it’s like if something fucks up, I am screwed basically. And again, and I think one thing that’s really important is our experiences make us who... who we are, and that doesn’t have to be a negative thing, which is like my... my motto in life. You know, so I think like through these shitty things that happen, it makes me quite resilient, but it is tough and, you know, it... you have to thick skin for it, and I think more support around that maybe would have been nice, yeah.

I have got financial worries. I’ve got... If anything messes up in my life now, I’ve got nowhere to fall back to. Like if I lose a house, I can’t run back home to Mum and Dad. If I get into debt, or do anything stupid, or make a stupid finance… or something breaks, my car breaks and I need to buy a new one, I don’t have the money for that. I don’t have the support for that. If I wanna have a cry or a cuddle, the only things I’ve got are like girlfriends, or... you know, and they’re not even constant, and they can’t be your therapist ’cause that’s not fair on them and that’s not the relationships you wanna bring, and that’s not what you wanna bring to the table. So, it’s quite an isolating thing because no one gets what you’re going through. The only people that do, are the other care leavers.

There’s a food pantry in my local authority and care leavers in [local authority] get it for free, because the local authority funds it. It’s like £4.50, and you get like £30 worth of your shopping weekly, so I got that later on, but I think that needs to be accessible for all care leavers everywhere. I think they are expanding, but I think it does need to be accessible for all care leavers.

Oh, why were you able to access it, or did you have...?

Anybody can access it. Although the... you do have to sign up and there is a waiting list. Anyone can access it, whether you’re working, or not, although care leavers, their... their £4.50 weekly is funded by the leaving care team, so they do get it for free.

But again, like my PA has been very useful. Like when I first moved, they helped me set up Universal Credit, and understanding what would need to be done around that and budgeting. So yeah, like that help is actively there. And also, I was doing a lot of drugs in that time of my life, and there was support around that, so like there was support, yeah.

The council are not supporting me with anything. They gave me a property, but it was empty. It didn’t have anything. So, [a charity] was helping me with furnishing the property. But the refugee council has closed here now. They moved somewhere else, so I’m not getting any support from them. But [a charity] has helped me a lot with furniture and things like that. They find things and they have been helping me with that.

I mean there is the care experience and estranged student bursary, which gives £3,000 for the entire year, which is really nice. Like I said, it’s the most generous fund out of any university. There is also, [scholarship name] which because my income goes on mine alone because I’m a care leaver and I’m estranged. I get full student loan and I get full [scholarship]. So, [scholarship] has got £6,000. And ideally you can look at that and think it’s enough, but when you consider you also have to pay for vacation residence. You have to pay for food. You have to pay for your living costs outside of vacation. You are not left with very much money and you’re literally, like, in this vacation I’m gonna work as a scout, so a cleaner for my college. And it’s like great, I’m scrubbing toilets to afford my rent next semester whilst my other friends to get sort of go abroad on a trip funded by their parents. It’s that disparity you are really aware of. 

So, the transition to university was from when I finished my A Levels in July to October, when you arrive to [university]. So, the support that you kind of gave was, have you applied for student loans? Do you know you, have you set up your accommodation? Do you know where you are going? There was also a grant you could apply for, for the things you needed and all like pots and pans, the bedding and that sort of thing which they help you apply for. Get some clothes for interviews and that sort of thing. And then, apart from that, once I got to university and once I actually got to [City], because I arrived in September to do [university programme] which is like a residential outreach programme for disadvantaged students. I came here in September and that was it. There was no more support and you were cut off.

So, I just submitted my application yesterday with my PA. So, I don’t know how it works or how much it will be, but she said it would be different. So, the council stops sending me the money that they’re sending me after five more payments now, and then, yeah, I’ll be transferred onto benefits.

Oh, OK.

Yeah, until I get a job, I believe.

Yeah, they supported me very well. They took me to do the like essential shops, bedding, pots and pans, utensils, and they helped me sort out travel and took me to and from different universities to look at which ones would be the most beneficial to myself. So yeah, in terms of support, they were very supportive.

And right now I’m probably at the best point in my life where I’m... I’ve got my freedom, I’m financially supported, I’m just out of... of college education, so I’m... and I’m working two jobs, one of which I really enjoy, so I’m at the moment in a rather fortunate position. And even once I turned 18, I was... and once all my finance was sorted out, mostly just after I bought my car, maybe actually not just after that, cause I’d lost a lot of money, but after a while, after losing like... after buying my car and I really started to have that freedom and financial support that I needed in order to continue my education and focus on my life. So, I think I’ve done quite well, and I’m doing a lot to try and keep that in place at the moment.

I’m in the Leaving and After Care team, which is one massive support group.

OK. And how are you finding that one?

Absolute win: I get free food every time I show up. [laughs]

Oh, nice. OK.

Yeah.

Do you feel like you’re able to like talk with other people there and, like, you know...?

Yes, if I need... if I need to talk to someone, they will be there, a hundred percent.

Oh, OK. So how often do they meet?

OK, so due to funding technicalities, we meet every, once a month; however, it used to be every other week.

Oh, OK. So it’s unfortunately become once a month?

Yes.

OK. And are you... is that in person or is that like an online thing?

In person.

In person, OK. OK. And it sounds like you get free stuff, which sounds nice.

Yeah. I like free food, you see. Plus you never... I will... you’ll never catch me in a million years saying no to food.

I don't receive any payment from the social services, like they promised. So, whilst I was sleeping rough, I didn't have any money to live on. So, I was living, feeding with my friends, I was eating with my friends, they were offering food and stuff. The only support I got was from a charity, so I didn't have any money to live on. I tried to text my social worker asking if there is any support for me, like she promised, but she didn't respond, she wasn't talking to me. But when my lawyer sent them a complaint letter and the charity did the same, so my social worker start texting me and start calling me, that is after three weeks, by then I have applied to the Job Centre and the Job Centre has started to give me benefit. Then I didn't wanna answer the call because I've already spoken to the lawyer about it and they're already dealing with the case.

I’ve got financial support through Universal Credit at the moment, because I’m a care leaver still in education, but I will lose that when I go to uni. I’ll also lose my job, well, both jobs. So, the first couple of months could be hard, but then it’s hard on everyone.

So, like I said, the ones who are showing that they need the most support, they have to prioritise them, so they do. And I’ve noticed that a lot of... some young people get lost, like they just get forgotten about, or when you hit 21, in our local authority, you can leave the system, but I’ve noticed some of us leave without wanting to. Like I’ve got someone today who said, oh, no, he’s been cut off from the leaving care team even though he didn’t want to. We have a choice, thankfully: up until we’re 25 we can still receive that support, but they... I think it’s a case of if they choose that we don’t need that support, they can cut us off, so it’s not really fair. I feel like the support needs to be till the age 30 to, being honest, because at 25, we all develop at different stages. Some of us are still needing that support at 25 and it’s just not there.

Yeah

Financial support as well.

But then when I was outside at... like when I left the home and turned 18, things got even worse because I wasn’t necessarily prepared for turning 18 and the kind of house I would go into because it was a full‑blown empty property with literally nothing, it was. ’cause usually when you’re in care, when you do obviously qualify for the full package, people get basically what... you get a £2,000 grant for everyone that leaves care and is fully entitled to stuff. So usually your social worker would go shopping with you for things like sofas, beds and all this sort of stuff, which of course where I didn’t qualify for anything in regards to care, for that, I didn’t qualify for the grant. So it meant that everything that I had to buy, I had to basically save up for it and get things second hand and stuff through charities and goodwill of people, which was quite embarrassing, I found, because like I’m a 18‑year‑old person, I’m in care, and I’m having to rely on the goodwill of a housing charity staff who I don’t know, they don’t even know me properly, and I’m having to literally be like a homeless person just because there’s a system out there that I’m a part of, but they don’t wanna care for my needs just because of a few days, so it was hard; it was really hard.