By Ben Kerrigan-
Businesses including Amazon, Rolls-Royce and Barclays LifeSkills have pledged to support care leavers through a landmark government scheme launched to raise their career aspirations and improve their life skills.
Scores of businesses, charities and every government department in England have signed up to the Care Leaver Covenant which commits to provide work based opportunities to young people leaving the care system.
Children’s and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi has today set out an ambition for the scheme to create 10,000 work opportunities over the next ten years helping these young people gain vital skills and experiences as they enter the jobs market. Due to be launched today in Birmingham, the Care Leaver Covenant is part of an unprecedented package of support for young people leaving care to smooth their transition into adulthood.
Many care leavers start life at a disadvantage to their peers and do not achieve the same outcomes as their peers. Statistics indicate that 40 per cent of care leavers between the ages of 19 to 21 not in education, employment or training (NEET), compared to 13 per cent for this age group overall.
The Covenant will help care leavers navigate the work opportunities available and support them in fulfilling their ambitions. From today, they will have access to work placements and internships with big businesses, government departments, museums, theatres, or Premier League football clubs, as well as training workshops or life-skills coaching. Under the scheme, care leavers will be afforded 12 months internship from every government department in Whitehall. They will also receive support from Universities such as bursaries and accommodation, with Cambridge Leeds and Manchester Universities committing to supporting care leavers.
Data shows that only 6% of care leavers between the ages of 19 and 21 go on to higher education. Resources and tools from Barclays Life Skills to help care leavers to manage their money better, as they often lack the safety net of financial support from their families.
Ahead of the launch event in Birmingham, Children and Families Minister Nadhim Zahawi, said: ”Becoming an adult is a daunting and challenging time for all of us, but I know from speaking to many young people leaving care, this transition can feel like facing a cliff edge.This is a landmark moment on how businesses can support care leavers, who through no fault of their own have been dealt a difficult hand in life.
Young people leaving care have often overcome huge challenges but struggle to achieve the same positive outcomes in life as their peers, which is simply not fair. When we talk about burning injustices, this is what we mean – so we need to be more ambitious for these young people.
Working with businesses, charities and every government department, our new Covenant will improve the offer we make to these young people, through work placements, skills training or access to university so that they can fulfil their potential and flourish as adults.
The Covenant, run by Spectra First, is part of the government’s ambition to improve care leavers’ outcomes so they go on to lead happy and successful lives. The pledges on offer include work placements with organisations such as Liverpool FC Foundation, the Science Museum Group and Rolls-Royce to help them get their first step into a career.