By Louise Hughes

I am someone who has lived experience of the care system. Not only that, but I am someone that took the opportunity to study a module on children’s rights at university and then worked with the charity Coram. The Coram story began more than 275 years ago when they were established by Thomas Coram as the Foundling Hospital, London’s first home for babies whose mothers were unable to care for them. You could say that I have become incredibly interested and passionate about exploring the inequalities of the UK foster care system because I was (and am still) subjected to negative stereotypes and stigmas associated with growing up in care.

Academics Diane Dansey, Danielle Shbero and M. John say that children looked after want to be seen as ‘normal’, yet young people in care are often rejected by their society, family, school and community because of their care status. Stereotypes that contribute to this rejection include the belief that these young people are destined to become young parents, fail in school and turn to crime. Many believe that children and young people are in care for reasons of their own doing, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Those in the care of the local authority very rarely have done anything to put themselves there.

In January 2003, I was still in primary school. I was in class, excited because I was about to sit a science test – once a teacher’s pet, always a teacher’s pet. Before I’d read the first question, I was called to my headteacher’s office, where I was met with two adults and sisters that I did not recognise. They proceeded to bundle me into a car, and I was then driven five and a half hours south. That was my entry into foster care.

Funnily enough, I did not fail, despite my care experience. I am not a criminal. And, I did not become a young parent (or a parent at all, at the moment). I am curious as to why this is.

The Department for Education reported the highest rate of children in the care of the local authority in March 2021: over 80,000 children and young people. But how many of these are expected to fail their education? The percentage of children looked after getting grades 5 or above (a C grade) has dropped from 7.7% to 7.2%; this is a massive fall from the 14% of children looked after getting five GCSEs in 2015. Research has also shown that children who grow up in local authority care are three to four times more likely to have an additional educational need. There is clearly a flaw in the educational and social care system that needs fixing. Do children in care not deserve the same educational opportunities?

One of the jobs I had the privilege to do was the ‘children looked after key worker’ at a mainstream secondary school. My boss, the SENCo, asked me if I would consider doing the role as I had lived experience. I was already unofficially supporting our students in the care system; she wanted to make it more formal. During the eighteen months that I held the role, I helped change my students’ negative image of themselves. Growing up in care wasn’t a bad thing, necessarily. And they definitely did not have to be a negative statistic! They had a support network who actually understood how their home life was different to that of their peers. To put it simply, if I’d had me at school, I would have succeeded so much more.

When I applied to university, the statistics for care leavers (those aged sixteen and over) entering further education, employment and training were extremely low. A mere 6% of care leavers at eighteen were entering higher education. But was the number graduating the same? Despite struggling with my mental health, being no longer considered in care, and having no family to help me, I somehow graduated with a BA (Hons). To anyone reading this that was in a similar position to me, I want to encourage you and assure you that you can do it. You can achieve anything you set your mind to.

The social care and education system is letting down looked after children (as well as other vulnerable groups), and whilst I don’t have the solution, one thing I know for certain is that we should not be giving up on these young people. They have so much to offer. Legislation is changing across the UK to support care leavers and those in local authority care. Is it enough? Wales is introducing the universal basic income for care leavers, but is the net cast wide enough? England has the ‘Staying Put’ policy and Leaving Care PAs until care leavers are twenty-five, but what happens when you reach that cut-off age?

I write this having just turned twenty-seven. I have lived the last two years ‘out of care’, and I am still stigmatised and subject to discrimination – both positive and negative. I am one of the ‘lucky ones’. I got GCSEs, I did A-Levels, and I went to university. I’ve had six jobs since graduating, and I’ve had the privilege of advocating for the people who don’t have a voice themselves. The hard truth, though, is that there are so many people in the care system who can’t speak up for themselves. Who feel scared to. Who feel that if they do, their whole life is going to get turned upside down again.

I’d like to ask you a question. Or rather, I’d like you to ask yourself a question: what can you do to challenge these stigmas and stereotypes attached to the care system?