Care leavers’ transitions to independence

So, from 17 I had a leaving care team worker as I transitioned from care, child in care to care leaver, and I started to get to know her. She supported me whilst I was out of area, and then she supported me into my house, worked alongside my social worker. She helped me decorate, and she helped me spend my grant on things for the property. She would check in on a weekly basis. I’ve actually got a really good relationship with her. So, I speak to her now even though she’s not a leaving care team worker. I received quite a bit of support from the local leaving care team. To the point where I currently still work with them in a care leaver support forum. 

I am meeting my PA every, once a week. So, every... yeah.

OK. So how is that relationship?

That’s pretty good, to be fair. I mean we... we laugh, we have... we have a chat. I mean, she does her job and I do mine, huh.

I mean, are you asking for any support from her, or anything else?

I... well, I’m, not at the moment, but when I say she is there, she is a hundred percent on board with what I need help with, all the time.

But she... it sounds like she checks up on you quite a lot, so, you know, you can ask—?

Yeah, I’ll probably receive a... I’ll almost most likely receive a message almost every single morning from my PA just checking up on me.

Oh, OK, OK. And does that feel supportive to you, or are... or does it feel like, you know, I don’t know, annoy... irritating or something, or whatever?

I just... I’m not overly fussed because for me, [erm] obviously, as I said earlier, I live on my own, so the people that live in the house with me, aren’t really... I’m not very well acquainted with them.

So obviously communication with people I know is brilliant because I... as you’ll soon realise, I love to chat. [laughs]

So yeah, I love it.

I feel like there should be... they should definitely be told by their PA, and the PA should have a better knowledge of the care offer in that area, and any changes that is made to it. But because it’s such a big... the care offer is such a big document, it should be, like, provided to care leavers, but maybe in a more, like, young person-friendly language – still with it being, like, legally correct –but maybe more like young person-friendly so they’re more likely to read it and understand it.

And how do you feel about them? Like, what do you trust about them? Why are... why are they a good person and that you feel like you can go to?

Like my PA. All people around them, I can trust them.

So, what does your PA do? You know, like how do they help you?

If I’m struggling with everything, she gave me like advice and things.

How often... how much do you see her?

If I want to, I can meet her like every three weeks, monthly.

If I need help, any time.

OK. But you can contact her if you need it.—

Yeah, I can contact her, I can go to her office as well.

OK, OK. So, it sounds like she’s a very good person to... to ask about, you know, anything that worries you or if you have a question.

Yeah.

I actually, I met my PA when I was younger because my PA actually was a worker in the residential that I lived at, when I was younger. So, she agreed to take me on because she said she knew me and that it wouldn’t... like, it wouldn’t be another professional that I have to talk to.

They didn’t know they were going to be my PA, if I... meant like they’d moved jobs, so they were working in the residential, and then she became a PA, so it wasn’t like a case of: ‘oh, she’s going to be my PA,’ it was just by chance.

OK. But you happened to know this person already?

At that... yeah, and she said because she knew me as a person from obviously being a child, I lacked trust in professionals, so she knew, like knowing me that I wouldn’t want to have to open up to another new professional who didn’t know me, to get to know me, whereas she knew me. So where like she had that relationship with me, so it was just able to carry on.

Yeah, I mean, I wish they would have kind of... [sighs] like, the period between face-to-face visits, I wish there had been more contact, like, better communication, better support. It doesn’t even have to be much, but, like... I don’t know, like, an update or a message once a week saying, “How are you? Is there anything I can do?” Like, literally a text message. It doesn’t have to be much. I just wish I had something, you know?

And, like, as well, my PA is my emergency contact, because I don’t have anyone else, so she’s my next of kin, but if she never answers the phone, what am I supposed to do? You know, so it’s just all these kind of things that are a huge struggle when it comes to that. But, like, I just wish she was easier to get ahold of, like, the one person that is supposed to be dealing with my entire life, and yet she’s so difficult to get ahold of on any day that isn’t, like, the one day every two months that she comes to see me. Because chances are, on that day, everything will be fine. And it’s like, what am I supposed to do if something goes wrong? And I just wish I’d been given a bit more, like, detailed support of: “If I don’t answer the phone, you can call this person. Or if I don’t answer the phone, we have a duty line for care leavers, or something,” you know? So just things like that.

Or, like, when you’re on leave, tell me you’re going on leave. Or if you’re off sick, I don’t know, have someone else fill in for you in meetings and things like that, and just don’t... don’t not show up at all. Like, things like that, I just wish there was communication, even if it was a bare minimum – I don’t mind – I just wish there was something, basically.

I do the interviews: we do... In our local authority we have like three care leavers that interview the PAs before they get the job, so we have an input on that. And unfortunately, because they are reaching out for staff so much, but some of the workers that have come are absolutely dreadful. We’ve had them compare themselves to us, and money, and we’ve even had to put them on the spot and be like: “Well, you’re different to us. Have you got your parents?” “Yeah.” “Well, don’t sit there and compare yourself to, your situation to ours then.” It’s... it’s quite upsetting actually. Some of them... yeah, they’re really... they don’t stay in contact with the care leavers – they don’t.

Like, there were a lot of meetings in the runup to it, but there was never any specific time where I was explicitly told: “OK, from now on you contact your leaving care worker.” Because I was still under 18 when they did that transition, so I had a leaving care worker and a social worker from that leaving care team, but there was no point where they said, “OK, from now on you go to them and not like your Looked After Children’s worker.” So, for a while I didn’t know who I was supposed to go to, and it was very confusing, and they never really made that very clear.

So, on that visit they’d come and just say, “Ah, so I’ve just got a few things that I need to go through. So, how’s your health?” Then they’d ask about  education. They’d just cover a few brief topics and make a few notes and off they went.  Like anything that they said they’d look into, you’d never hear back.  Then when you would ring a few weeks and so you couldn’t get through to them, and you asked duty and say, “Oh, ’cause they was supposed to look into this, and look into this, and look into this.” Well, there’s no actions on that visit, it doesn’t say that they were gonna need to do anything: ‘ah, so they just came to tick a box again.’

I remember when... I said... mentioned before, I barricaded myself in and the social worker needed to do a visit, and she rang me and said, “Just come to the window and just... you don’t have to let us in, just show me yourself at the window and once I’ve seen you, I’ll drive off, I just need to see you so I can just  tick that I’ve done my statutory visit.”