how you help a care experinced person

You can make a difference

Even if you can’t yourself become a foster carer, you can still make a huge difference to the lives of people who have previously been fostered.

The life outcomes for care experienced people are far from where they need to be, did you know:

Only 6% of care leavers (that’s young people who have been in fostering or similar care setting) go to university. This is compared to about 50% of all young people.
Young people who are in care are more likely to experience homelessness as adults
25% of the prison population has spent some time in case
41%of care leavers aged 19-21 years are not in education, employment, or training (NEET)

So how can you make a difference?

Become a foster carer – hoenstly, giving a child a safe, caring and nuturing home is the number 1 thing you can do, but we do understand that not everyone can foster.
Talk to your friends about fostering – we need more foster carers, so the more people talk about it, the more people think about it.
Never stigmatise someone who has been in care – you might have been lucky enough to have a loving and caring family, but not all children were – but this isn’t their fault.
Donate to a charity that works with care leavers, or campaigns on their behalf – like https://www.becomecharity.org.uk/
Positively discriminate for carer leavers in your workplace – for instance, have a policy that if someone is care experiences they automatically get a job interview for a post if they meet the minimum criteria.
Be a supporter in everything you do 🙂