The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care 2022 Published

Young people transitioning from residential care to independent adulthood face two significant challenges; their transition period is generally shorter, and occurs at a younger age, than their non-care experienced peers; and they often face significant challenges because of their life experiences before they entered, and during their, care.

They often face a ‘cliff edge’ as they leave care, and have poorer outcomes compared to other young people. PERU and the Department of Social Care and Social work at MMU evaluated five of the eight Staying Close pilots, an intervention originally proposed by Professor Sir Martin Nayey and intended to prevent homelessness and provide ongoing support to young people when they leave children’s homes.

The evaluation team very much welcomes the recommendation in the MacAlister Review to ensure that there are a range of housing options available, including Staying Close services. As we set out in our evaluation reports and as cited in the MacAlister Review (O’Leary et al, 2020; Heyes et al, 2020), these proposals could save money in the long term as well as significantly improve outcomes for young people when the leave residential care.

Read the report in full.