Care leavers’ transitions to independence

Wren

It was like after... after I left care I didn’t want anything to do with care, and that included the pathway plan, so anything, absolutely anything at all, even if it was something small I just didn’t want anything to do with it, but yeah, I just decided in the end it might actually be helpful, so I brought it back, huh.  

Chereece

Yeah, a lot of... a lot of people in care want to run away from the system and fight it, and they don’t realise that they can get the most from it. And if you’re willing to work with it, kind of thing, like you can call on your PAs and so you... so care leavers and you might think, ‘oh, they’re just someone else I don’t want to get involved with, but in... in our loc... we like to call them ‘personal assistants’, we like to utilise them to do what we need them to do – and more – and we like to be... because that’s what they’re paid for. So, let’s get them doing what we need them to do, and let’s make the most of a crappy situation, because at the end of the day, you can get a hell of a lot more out the situation.

Chloe

I struggled with mental health during that time. I think my support worker wasn’t really helpful. The support was kind of just either, “keep your spirits up you’ll be fine”, mostly. I appreciate the support that was there. It just, there was no real understanding. Support workers have no lived experience of what it was like, and so it made it quite difficult.

Robyn

But there’s been positives about leaving care: I have the ability to be free and go to college and do stuff without having, like, staff from a care home on my back, if you get what I mean?  

Ninna

So I feel like I’m really liking being 18... well 19 now, and I’m really liking like being treated like an adult, and also, ’cause when I was looked after, I feel like there was so many... like everything was impossible, like there was so many things you had to go through to do just like one activity, so many people had to agree.

Lawrence

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.  

Leilani

For the future care leavers; I think take advantage of literally everything you can. I was... so... like, it was so mentally detrimental to go into care, especially being at uni and everyone was there like: “Oh, my mum’s coming to pick me up,” or they would talk about their parents. Or at school, like, and there’d be parents’ evenings and I’d have to bring my carer and it was a bit... for me, it felt a bit... it wasn’t embarrassing as such, but it was very much, I felt in the spotlight, and I really didn’t like the label of being in care, but there were certain... like, even though it’s... it’s not... it doesn’t put you at disadvantage, but obviously it’s gonna be a big thing, but there is so much you can take from it; you just have to find out what you can take.