Nearly a quarter of girls in care become teenage mothers

Nearly a quarter of girls leaving care become teenage mothers – around three times the national average, according to a new report by a leading think-tank.

The 22 per cent figure means that around 1,000 females from care are becoming teenage mothers every year.

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is concerned about an inter-generational cycle of disadvantage it says is running through England’s struggling care system. It has found that at least one in 10 care leavers aged 16 – 21 who are parents have had a child taken into care in the last year.

“When you take children into care you have a unique opportunity to break the cycle of disadvantage – too often this isn’t happening,” said Alex Burghart, CSJ Policy Director.

“Many parts of the care system are in tatters and we desperately need to rescue it to protect our most vulnerable children.”

The think tank says many local authorities are failing in their duty to support young people and build a network of positive relationships around them. It says pregnant teenagers need help to become good parents themselves and this is often lacking.

The figures on teen age parenting represent just one example of a system struggling to look after those in care.

Those leaving the care system are now twice as likely not to be in education, employment or training (NEET) at the age of 19 than the rest of the population.

Symptoms of a system at breaking point are demonstrated in other aspects. Exclusive new figures uncovered by the CSJ reveal thousands of vulnerable children go missing from England’s care system on a regular basis.

Local authorities in England reported 252 cases where children have gone missing from care for more than 28 days in the last year. There were 4,452 cases of children missing for more than a day and 707 for more than a week.

But only around two thirds of local authorities responded to the freedom of information request so the real number will be much higher.

“If this many children were going missing from their families it would spark national outrage,” Mr Burghart added.

“Children in the care system need proper support and protection. We need to learn the lessons of what can happen to children who are not cared for – as we saw in Rotherham.”

Teams supporting young people leaving care are often overstretched and unable to build relationships, the report Finding Their Feet adds. The average caseload of a personal adviser in some areas is 49 young people.

The CSJ recommends introducing scorecards to highlight which local authorities are failing children and young people from care.

It says there is often a lack of continuity between care workers and young people and recommends overhauling the system and introducing new support networks, based on a similar scheme in the USA.

Researchers also call on the Government to end a financial imbalance between care leavers who go to university and those who take on apprenticeships.

Currently bursaries of £2,000 are given to those who go to university, but there is no central Government equivalent for apprentices. The report says this is an injustice and urges that apprentices also be given a £2,000 bursary.

To download the report, visit: http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/Finding.pdf