This service supports young care leavers, up to the age of 21, in their transition to independent living. The type of support offered includes:
financial support to 16 - 18 year olds who are not in full employment;
support for care leavers in further education;
setting up home grants;
advice, support and guidance in relation to accommodation, finance, training and employment.
This team also gives advice and support to young homeless people who are from Bolton.
Contact us:
The Leaving Care Team
BASE Building
Marsden Road
Bolton
BL1 2PF
Telephone (01204) 337376
Care leavers face further obstacles to university education
By Joe Lepper
Children & Young People Now
23 November 2010
Care leavers' battle to attend university in England is set to intensify, according to a European study.
Academics at the University of London's Institute of Education fear that the increase in tuition fees, coupled with local government cuts, are set to reduce the already small number of care leavers that go on to university.
The study compared the experience of care leavers in education across Europe and found that close, ongoing support from adults with schooling and reliable financial support with education are crucial to helping children in care with aspirations of taking a degree.
But they say such support in England is under threat by the forthcoming hike in tuition fees and cuts to council services. They praise the development of leaving care teams in England but fear they will be among services affected by spending cuts.
Professor Sonia Jackson, director of the YIPPEE project (Young People in Public Care & Pathways to Education in Europe), said: "The key messages we take from our findings are that if young people who have been in state care are to have equal chances with others they must be allowed sustained educational support from their everyday carers, time to recover from painful experiences, opportunities to return to education after intermissions, and above all continuing financial support."
The Yippee project is funded by the European Union and is coordinated by the Thomas Coram Research Unit, which is part of the Institute of Education.
