Leaving Care

The Action on Aftercare Consortium (AOAC) ceased its work in 2008. This page contains historical information about the forum's work.

The aims of the consortium were:

identify and highlight the key issues of concern for young people leaving care
promote the development of needs-driven services in support of young people
improve provision, policy and practice for young people preparing to leave care and afterwards, and
promote the concept of throughcare.

Its three primary aims in working towards these objectives were:

1. To bring about positive change for care leavers

Based on the direct experience of our members we will undertake, and support, activities and initiatives to improve leaving and aftercare services.

2. To involve young people

We aim to incorporate the views of young people in our discussions and development of proposals for improvements in leaving and aftercare services – either directly or indirectly. We will pay particular regard to the expressed wishes and aspirations of young people.

3. To work together to achieve shared objectives

We bring together agencies, including statutory and voluntary service providers and associated specialist agencies, who are committed to working together to support the development of improved leaving and aftercare services for young people. We provide a forum for the sharing of research and good practice with the objective of developing proposals for positive changes in policy, training, practice and resource allocation as they relate to leaving and aftercare services.

What the Consortium did:

The Consortium met bi-monthly. Working groups were formed as needed, and it communicated primarily through email. We responded to relevant Government consultations, commission research, and publish such documents as Setting the agenda: what’s left to do in leaving care.

Past membership

The Action on Aftercare Consortium has a wide and varied membership, all of whom wish to improve the services and outcomes for looked-after children and care leavers. Membership Includes the following organisations:Barnardo’s; Centrepoint; East Leaving Care Forum; East Midlands Leaving Care Forum; East Sussex County Council; Fostering Network; John Short; London Boroughs: Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea, Richmond, Tower Hamlets; London Leaving Care Managers Network; London & South East Aftercare Forum; National Children’s Bureau; National Leaving Care Advisory Service; NCH; NCY Trust; North East Leaving Care Forum; North West After Care Forum; Prince’s Trust; Rainer; Save the Children; Shaftesbury Young People; South East Leaving Care Forum; Southwest Leaving Care Forum; Spurgeon’s Child Care; St. Basil’s Centre; Voice; West Midlands Leaving Care Forum; What Makes the Difference? Project; Who Cares? Trust; Yorkshire/Humber Leaving Care Forum

Work Completed or Sponsored by AoAC

Responding to the Home Office: Planning Better Outcomes and Support for Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (February 2007)

We would all agree that there is a need for improvement in the support and services for unaccompanied asylum seekers. However, the Home Office proposals showed a distinct lack of consistency with broader developments for all children in care and care leavers. Our response highlighted the issues specific to the leaving-care sector. The Home Office suggested that the next steps to this consultation paper will be published some time in August, but October or November is more likely. AoAC, NLCAS and the What Makes The Difference? Project submitted a collective response to the consultation document. It can be downloaded here.

Transitions Report (January 2007)

The aim of this piece of work was to provide evidence to form and support AoAC’s response to the Government’s Green Paper on Care. One of the issues being considered by the DfES Strategy/Green Paper Team was young people’s transition from foster care or residential care to independent or semi-independent living. The age at which young people make this move is not captured by the DfES statistics on the age that young people legally leave care. The purpose of this survey was to capture the information about the ages that young people leave their foster or residential-care placement (irrespective of whether that involves leaving care), about the planning for this move, and about the next-stage accommodation.The report can be viewed here.

Response to the Treasury: Supporting young people to achieve (2004)

Overall, AoAC supported the Government’s radical vision of a single, coherent system of financial support for 16-19 year olds, and older (as does the Australian Youth Allowance scheme), as well as many of the individual measures in Supporting young people to achieve: towards a new deal for skills. Such a system removes discrimination and creates an equal playing field. However, as set out in the attached document, we believe that the interim financial arrangements for supporting care leavers past the age of 18 proposed in the document will actually increase the social exclusion of care leavers. The document can be downloaded here.

Setting the agenda: what’s left to do in leaving care (2004)

This report from the Action on Aftercare Consortium draws together key findings from research about the implementation of the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000. It highlights improvements in services for care leavers as well as identifying areas for further action. The recommendations for further action contribute to the work plans of the Consortium. The report is available at:www.nch.org.uk/uploads/documents/leaving_care_report.pdf