Care-experienced young people experience disproportionately worse outcomes than their non-care-experienced peers. Nearly half of the children in care have a mental health disorder and it is estimated nearly 25% of homeless people have been in care at some point in their lives. It’s a stark reality: care-experienced individuals have significantly lower life expectancies than their peers, and this status quo is unacceptable. We must ask ourselves: 

• Are we effectively meeting the needs of children in care?
• Are we adequately preparing them for successful futures during their transition to adulthood?

As care-experienced individuals, we understand firsthand the challenges of transitioning from care to adulthood. We propose solutions that would have positively impacted our lives then and could continue to do so now. Far too often, young people in care feel abandoned when they turn 18, with essential services coming to an abrupt end when they are needed the most.

Following the recent UK general election, we are calling on the newly elected Government, public officials, and policymakers to consider the policy recommendations featured in this manifesto. These recommendations, developed in collaboration with care-experienced policy forum members, offer practical solutions to longstanding issues. 

Together, they seek to replicate the role of a supportive family network and lay the foundations for care-experienced adults to flourish as they transition into adulthood. We pose a simple question to policymakers and society at large:

Would you accept this for your own child?