Access to and uptake of continuing care and aftercare: How well do transitions from residential care align with young people’s developmental readiness, rather than age-based thresholds?
Background
The Promise recognises transitions from care into adulthood as a critical period, where young people can face abrupt changes in support, increased expectations of independence, and heightened risks around housing, finances, health, and wellbeing. It recognises that young people leaving care should not experience a ‘cliff edge’ of support, instead allowing for gradual, flexible transitions that reflect individual readiness, similar to the support available to many of their peers. Secure, trusting relationships and continuity of support are identified as central to positive transitions.
The ideal evidence base would help illuminate how different models of aftercare and continuing care operate in practice, and how they affect outcomes over time. This includes: evidence on the timing, intensity, and duration of support; the role of relationships with carers and professionals; and how support intersects with education, employment, housing, and health systems. Analytical insight is also needed into differential experiences and outcomes across groups.
Next steps
Get in touch with [email protected]
Related UKRI funded projects
-
Care leavers' transitions to adulthood in the context of Covid-19: Understanding pathways, experiences and outcomes to improve policy and practice
Care leavers typically leave their foster homes or residential placements at 16-18 years and cannot necessarily rely on receiving as much practical, emotional or family support, once they have moved, as their peers in th...
Funded by: COVID
Lead research organisation: University of Bedfordshire
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on care leavers transitioning to adulthood, but does not specifically address developmental readiness.
-
Caring Lives: What do young people with caring responsibilities for family members need to thrive?
My PhD studied why the impacts of caring vary for different children and young people depending on their individual lives. Young carers research has focused on those who access young carer projects due to having substant...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on young carers and their support needs, which can provide insights into support systems for care leavers.
-
Care pathways and outcomes: The teenage years
Across the UK, when children enter care, they live in a range of different placements, such as foster care, kinship care (with relatives or friends), adoption or with their birth parents. However, adoptive placements are...
Funded by: ESRC
Lead research organisation: University of Ulster
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on children in care during their teenage years, providing insights into different placement types and outcomes.