Who Cares for those Leaving Care - Care leavers experiences during Covid-19 and lockdown.

This event has ended.

This event will present findings from a recent COVID-19 study that has explored the experiences of young people who were in the process of leaving care in England and Wales during lockdown. This event will include contributions by care experienced young people from Voices From Care Cymru.

The study involved qualitative interviews with 21 young people and included some creative outputs of art and poems. In addition, we undertook a survey of local authority departments about their support mechanisms.

Findings indicate varied experiences for young people; some felt isolated and uncared about during lockdown, with opportunities for support diminished and inadequate. Yet for others, the challenges of the pandemic had been eased by relationships with key individuals and a variety of local initiatives.  Young people’s resilience is noteworthy within the findings and recommendations are proposed to enhance support responses in the event of a subsequent lockdown, as well as when restrictions are fully lifted.

This workshop will present the findings of this study, discuss the recommendations raised from the research and will include time for Q&A at the end.