1st Edition

Transitions From Care to Independence: Supporting Young People Leaving State Care to Fulfil Their Potential

By Jennifer Driscoll Copyright 2018
    250 Pages
    by Routledge

    250 Pages
    by Routledge

    This important book focuses on the critical role of educational achievement for the wellbeing and success of vulnerable youth in adulthood. It is concerned with three interconnected issues: the support which is or should be afforded to youth ageing out of state care to enable them to fulfil their academic potential; the interdependence of social aspects of ‘care’ and educational attainment for children growing up in state care; and the conditions which are pre-requisite for transition to fully autonomous adulthood, together with the implications of these for the state’s responsibilities to care leavers.

    These issues are addressed through a review of international literature based on the educational outcomes and life-chances of youth graduating from state care, analysis of the findings of a three-year qualitative study following the educational transitions of young people, and the use of theoretical frameworks to explore the complexities of children’s experiences of the state care system. In doing so the book balances predominantly needs-based discourses with a children’s right perspective, focusing on competence rather than vulnerability and promoting the development of the skills needed for autonomous adulthood.

    Reconceptualising Transitions from Care to Independence should be considered essential reading for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the fields of education, childhood studies and adoption and fostering services. Additionally, the issues addressed are of wider relevance to youth transitions to adulthood. Youth ageing out of care provide a particularly insightful case study into the broader cohort of young people entering the workforce in an era of a globalised economy and austerity.

    List of Tables

    Acknowledgements

    Tables of Legislation/Statutory Instruments/International Instruments

    Table of Cases

    Table of Abbreviations

    Chapter 1: Introduction

    The Care Leavers’ Educational Transitions Study

    Theoretical Perspectives

    The Structure of the Book

    Chapter 2: Alternative Care: The Systems

    The Politics of Care: Social Context, Social Policy and Social Care

    Alternative Care Regimes: The International Picture

    Transitions to Adulthood

    A Children’s Rights Approach to Leaving Care

    Conclusion

    Chapter 3: The Characteristics & Experiences of Children in State Care

    Diversity in Vulnerability

    Using Insights from Attachment Theory to Understand the Experiences and Needs of Children in Care

    The Personal Histories of the Young Participants to the Empirical Study

    Placement Stability

    In the Care of Strangers: Young People’s Experiences of Care

    The Interdependence of Care and Education

    Conclusion

    Chapter 4: Children of the State: Corporate Parenting in Principle and Practice

    Introduction

    Being in Care

    Self-reliance, Risk and Resilience

    Combining Insights from the Theoretical Perspectives

    Chapter 5: Education, Care and Life Chances

    The Importance of Education: from the Personal to the Global

    The Educational Attainment of Children in State Care

    Outcomes for Care Leavers

    Conclusion

    Chapter 6: Closing the Gap: Improving the Educational Outcomes of Care Leavers

    Introduction

    Initiatives to Support the Education of Children In and Leaving Care

    Supporting Children in School: Findings from the CLET Study

    Supporting Young People’s Post-16 Pathways

    Conclusion

    Chapter 7: From Care to Independence: Negotiating Multiple Transitions

    Introduction

    The Polarized Trajectories of Young People

    Transitions in Multiple Domains of Young People’s Lives

    Assessing Young People’s Resilient Adaptation

    Leaving Care

    Conclusion

    Chapter 8: Reconceptualising the State’s Duties Towards the Children in its Care

    Introduction

    Using Insights from Foundational Rights to Evaluate Young People’s Care Outcomes

    Corporate Parenting and the "Deserving"-"Undeserving" Schism

    Corporate Parenting and Individual Children

    Corporate Parenting and Education

    A Holistic Approach: the Social Pedagogy Model

    Conclusion

    Chapter 9: Conclusion

    Introduction

    The Key Findings of the CLET Study

    Theorising Care Leavers’ Transitions

    Conclusion

    Appendix 1

    References

    Index

    Biography

    Jennifer Driscoll practised as a Family Law barrister for over a decade, specialising in child protection, before moving to King’s in 2005, where she is Programme Director for the MA Child Studies and MA International Child Studies. Her academic interests cover the protection and rights of vulnerable children, in particular child protection systems; the education of children and young people in and leaving state care; ethical issues arising from research with vulnerable children and young people; and the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.​ Jenny is a member of the Board of Trustees of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (BASPCAN).

    'This book makes and important and original contribution to our knowledge of young people's transitions from care to adulthood. Drawing on a new qualitative study of educational pathways, the author interrogates international literature, research and theoretical perspectives, proposing 'a rights perspective' for understanding the conditions required for care leavers to exercise full autonomy.' - Professor Mike Stein, University of York