Action on Aftercare Consortium meetings (members only)
AoAC meets on the third Wednesday of every other month, beginning in January. Dates for 2008 are: 16.1; 19.3; 21.5; 16.7; 17.9.; 19.11. The venue in 2008 is Coram Family Services, London. The AGM is held at the March meeting. Minutes of Meetings: Agreed actions
Minutes, 19th September 2007
Minutes, 18th July 2007
Minutes, 16th May 2007
Minutes, 21st March 2007
Chair's Report 2006/2007 (presented at the AGM) Updates from Voice 
September 2007
July 2007
May 2007
March 2007
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
