Fear and ordeals of young people leaving care highlighted in Barnardo’s report

Too many young people without family safety net placed in mouldy and unsafe housing, charity warns

Some young people are jettisoned from the care system into unsuitable independent housing as young as 17 (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Young people leaving the care system are regularly placed in homes riddled with mould, anti-social behaviour and drug abuse, according to a new report by Barnardo’s.

The research underlines the stark disparities between the support given to people when they leave their family home compared to what care leavers face.

The vast majority of care leavers interviewed by Barnardo’s for their report No Place Like Home said they had no choice where they lived when they were moved out of the care system and were unprepared for the realities of independent living.

The accommodation given to young care leavers is also often of very poor quality, with many reporting problems with damp and mould so bad it led to hospital visits.

Others have spoken of being dumped in shared housing with much older people who were abusing drugs and alcohol.

By contrast, a survey commissioned by Barnardo’s found more than seven in ten people were given support by their parents when they left the family home, with nearly half (47%) admitting they would not have survived on their own without parental backing.

Some 42% of those aged 25 to 34 who have left home reported being allowed to move back into their family home at least once.

One in five (20%) got financial help to buy furniture or white goods like washing machines, fridges and microwaves and more than one in ten had help to pay a deposit (13%) and help to pay rent (11%).

But care leavers are not offered the same support when they begin living independently, the Barnardo’s report argues.

One young female care leaver specifically requested not to be in shared accommodation with men, but found herself placed in a property with four older men who hung around the corridors at night.

“It really scared me,” she said. “I locked myself in my room and found it really intimidating going to the bathroom at night.”

Another, Tasha Clegg, left the care system aged 17 to move into her own place without realising it was riddled with damp.

“I started feeling unwell all the time – headaches, colds and chest infections. I went to the doctors six times with what was thought to be chest infections.”

After being rushed to hospital with a suspected blood clot in her lungs, Ms Clegg was discovered to have developed lung disease because of the mould in her home.

“They did tests of the mould which showed extremely high levels of spores in my blood and further tests showed I had had a reaction the spores. I was in hospital for a week and my lungs have been left permanently scarred. I was on steroids for two years.”

Other care leavers spoke of the difficulty in affording to live independently without any parental support, especially when placed in unfurnished flats.

After their living costs there was often no money left for public transport to see friends or family.

Barnardo’s has called on the government to make it easier for those in the care system to remain with their foster carers until the age of 21, rather than being forced into independent accommodation as soon as they approach 18.

The charity is also recommending the creation of more robust quality standards for semi-independent accommodation, and increasing the grant given to care leavers for setting up home from £2,000 to £4,000.

“Many people grow up taking for granted that their parents and wider family will be there to support them well into adulthood,” said Barnardo’s chief executive Javed Khan.

“But after a childhood spent moving between different schools, foster families and social workers, many young people leaving the care system enter adulthood without a strong support network, leaving them particularly vulnerable.

“Having a safe and stable home is one of the most important factors in helping care leavers to recover from past trauma, gain qualifications and secure stable employment. Yet our research has demonstrated that care leavers are too often expected to live in conditions that are unsuitable and at worst unsafe.

““We wouldn’t accept this for our own children – so we should not accept it for the most vulnerable young people either.”