Get involved in the Care Leaver Covenant

Baroness Barran served as the Minister for Civil Society for the UK Government from 2019 to 2021. In this role she was responsible for policy related to the UK’s Civil Society, including volunteering, youth and social action, and loneliness. In this blog post, she explains what the Care Leaver Covenant is and how you can get involved.

What is the Care Leaver Covenant?

The Care Leaver Covenant is a government funded project that partners with private, public and voluntary organisations to support care leavers aged 16-25 in their transition from care to independence. Young people who leave local authority care at the point they become young adults are among the most disadvantaged in society. Around 40% of care leavers aged 19-21 are not in education, employment or training compared to 12% of their peers. Care leavers are also more likely to experience poor physical or mental health, with 74% of care leavers reporting that they felt isolated when they left care and 19% of care leavers feeling that they don’t have anyone to turn to for help. As part of the work the government is doing to improve care leavers’ outcomes, the Care Leaver Covenant was launched in 2018 to support young people who are leaving local authority care and making the difficult transition to adulthood.

How does the Covenant work?

The idea behind the initiative, similar to the Armed Forces Covenant, is to give organisations from all sectors a way to pledge their support to care leavers and back that up with practical offers of help. That could be providing extra support to care leavers at university, or providing an apprenticeship or mentoring opportunity. All young people who leave care at 16, 17 or 18 are provided with statutory support in the form of a local offer. This includes help in the transition to living independently, support with finding accommodation and with any costs of participating in education, and training and employment. However, in order to provide a greater level of support at this crucial stage during the transition of care leavers to adulthood, wider society also needs to play a part. This is where the Care Leaver Covenant comes in. Each organisation that commits to the Covenant offers a support package to care leavers that is tailored to its specific expertise. Depending on the nature of the organisation, examples of activities of that offer could be:

• Providing care leavers with opportunities to enter the world of work, such as offering work experience placements, work shadowing placements, internships, traineeships and apprenticeships;
• Providing care leavers with additional support through one-to-one mentoring or pastoral support and guidance on various aspects of their lives, financial guidance, career/employment guidance, educational prospects and opportunities;
• Providing care leavers with opportunities to broaden their horizons, such as concessionary access to sport, leisure and cultural activities along with discounted retail offers.

Get involved in the Covenant

The success of the Covenant relies on the incredible signatory network, which includes organisations of all shapes and sizes based across England. By becoming a signatory, you are reinforcing a framework of support for care leavers in England. Your involvement can contribute to your company’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion or Corporate Social Responsibility activity. And, if you utilise your offer to employ care leavers, you will be tapping into a young talent pool that has the potential to grow with your business.