Care leavers need a home not just a house
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The document discusses the relationship between homelessness and poor care experiences, emphasizing that efforts to combat homelessness should focus on young people with a history of care. It highlights the importance of building care systems based on love, relationships, and trust to improve outcomes for vulnerable youth. Additionally, it calls for structural and cultural changes to better support these individuals, ensuring they are recognized and protected within society.
Care leavers need a home not just a house
- 1. Homelessness a Symptom of Care? Duncan Dunlop Who Cares? Scotland
- 2. WC?S Structure Advocacy Participation Influencing Organisational Development
- 3. Motion proposed… This conference believes that Homelessness is a symptom of a poor care experience 1.Efforts to end homelessness must focus on young people with experience of care 2.All care systems need to be based on love.
- 4. These are our Children 16,248 children 1.48% of Scottish children
- 5. Outcomes over time Area 2001 2011 % of LAC in Higher education 1% 2.6% % of LAC with Mental Health problems 45% 50% % of LAC / YCLs presenting as homeless Homelessness 30% 30% % of LAC sustaining a Positive destination n/a 55% sustained % of LAC Represented in the adult prison population 27% 28%-50% % of LAC who are Young offenders n/a Up to 80% Premature death YCLs 20 times more likely to die prematurely
- 6. Prevention Makes Financial Sense… 1.48% of Scotland’s total population 50% of Polmont 30% of homeless population
- 9. Young people with care experience & youth participation
- 10. What Care Leavers can achieve…
- 11. Young people said Listen Do care with us, not to us Loved
- 12. Tony
- 13. Mercy
- 14. The Love Children in Care need
- 15. What is love Based on relationships Based on trust and respect Given the time and space to get to know you Stands by you for the long-term Listens to you, hears what you say and acts on it Has aspirations for you Gives respectful challenge Love that binds and the love that isn’t blind We don’t love the flaws, we love them because of their strengths. You feel good by doing good
- 16. Relationship role The rights of the child are protected and stronger where the relationship around them is strong and held in place If the relationship weakens or goes, this impacts on the rights of the child – and some of them get lost or not realised RIGHTS
- 17. Relationship Young person on a downward spiral within birth family Relationships in care which help them go upwards Young person’s situation redressed in care
- 18. Skills of the workforce
- 19. Stamping out stigma Personal Structural Cultural
- 20. What can it achieve? 1% 2% 5% 0% 0% 75% 55% 78% 80s 90s 00s Awareness levels Decade LGBT Fairtrade LAC
- 21. Creating the way for change Structural change: In 2001 Nora O’Neil reviewed Public Service Provision in the UK. She concluded that we need to stop getting the individual to fit the service, but rather meet the individual’s needs via responsive services. C&YP Bill potential Personalisation SDS Prevention Early Intervention Early Years GIRFEC
- 22. Creating the way for change Cultural change
- 23. Creating the way for change Personal / individual change Rev. Grant Barkley of St. Kerrigan’s ‘My perception of YP in care was based on views I had of it way in the past, that it was for boys & girls who perhaps had been bad & were housed in fairly large numbers in institutions & my other view of it was coloured by Tracey Beaker. I suspect that people I the community also thought the same, that YP looked after by the LA were likely to be trouble, as it has turned out that perception couldn’t be further from the truth.’
- 25. Is it acceptable to place your young people in homeless hostels alongside adults who have a range of complex needs such as drug, alcohol and mental health issues? How can you support your young people in care to remain with the people they have formed a stable and trusting relationship with till their mid-20’s Are your young people prioritised on the housing lists and offered accommodation in Safe, thriving communities, close to where they were cared for? Do your public servants and communities recognise young people in care as their own children too? Will all young people who have care experience be recognised as a distinct socio-economic group who suffer discrimination and need greater protection? What we can change
- 26. Thank-you Duncan Dunlop ddunlop@whocaresscotland.org