Leaving Care in Partnership (1998)

Greater family involvement is likely to be possible, and would be generally welcomed, by young people leaving care, according to research carried out at the University of Sheffield, and funded by the Department of Health.The study involved 116 young people leaving care or accommodation, who were not going home, but who had some contact with their family. They could often describe wide family membership, but there was not a great deal of active involvement.

There was confusion regarding the role and the future work of the social services. Leaving care was seen as a ‘new start’ for both family members and young people. There was a prospect for some greater involvement in the future, especially via ‘key kin’, if active steps were taken to encourage and support this.

There is a report available for this project.

Children & Families Welfare Research Programme, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield.

The research on which this publication is based was funded by the Department of Health : the views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily the Department of Health.