Calls for business to better support care leavers
CIVIC leaders in Sunderland are calling on the business community to tear down barriers to work and training for young people leaving care.
In an open letter written to Sunderland's business community, Sunderland City Council's portfolio holder for Children's Services, Child Poverty and Skills, Councillor Michael Butler with support from Together for Children's (TfC) CEO, Simon Marshall are championing change that will ensure that care experienced young people in Sunderland are supported to realise their potential.
TfC has put in place a programme that aims to make it easier for young people who have been cared-for to access apprenticeships, addressing the unique challenges and often significant barriers to education and employment they encounter.
In the open letter, published online, Councillor Butler highlights steps TfC has identified and recommends other businesses take, to make it easier for people leaving care to access apprenticeships. Leaders hope that, by advocating for more thoughtful policies that support care-leavers' transition into work, employers in the city will be able to make a positive difference to the life chances of people taking their first step towards employment.
Councillor Butler said: "We know that young people leaving care can face all kinds of additional challenges when they come to enter the world of work, and - as an organisation with a strong enough voice to be able to influence change - we want to urge organisations in the city to consider the ways in which they can remove these barriers and give care-leavers a fair chance to realise their potential.
"The numbers don't lie, and we can see very clearly that care-leavers are disadvantaged when it comes to accessing education or employment. We have a duty to address this, and give every young person the chance to succeed."
In Sunderland, only 40% of care experienced young people aged 19-21 are in education or employment, compared to 54% in England, highlighting the urgent need for targeted support to help these young people thrive.
In its letter, TfC shares details of its own programme - which recognises care-experience people as a 'protected characteristic' in Sunderland - providing additional legal protections for care-leavers. The government provide care leavers with a bursary and Sunderland collage also provides a welfare bursary. In addition, TfC provide funding to support with the costs of items such as tools and clothing, whilst travel is also free for care leavers in parts of the region.
TfC also suggests companies adopt processes including a simplified application process, guaranteeing care experienced people an interview; providing mentoring opportunities for care experienced apprentices; access to an apprenticeship forum, where the apprentices can lean on one another for support and create a strong supportive peer group and progression planning where care leavers are supported to identify future employment opportunities, ensuring stability and long-term success.
The measures are already making a difference, with TfC having already appointed four care experienced young people to posts within the organisation. And other large employers in the city are coming on board.
North East-based housing association, Gentoo, has made a range of commitments to support young people leaving care to access opportunities to join its team.
Susan Fulton, executive director of customer, people and engagement at Gentoo, said: "It's really important to us that we are a diverse and accessible employer and a great place to work for all colleagues. We're delighted to have made the recommended commitments already and we know that removing these barriers for care leavers will bring us some brilliant new colleagues. For example, we currently have a vacancy for an HR Apprentice and we will prioritise applications from our customers and people with care experience with a guaranteed interview. In addition we will ringfence a minimum of four more roles from our apprentice intake this year people with care experience."
Together for Children is also working with organisations including Sunderland City Council and Education Partnership North East to explore measures they can put in place to support care leavers into employment.
Simon Marshall, chief executive of TfC, said: "It's wonderful that other organisations are exploring how they can improve access to employment opportunities for people leaving care, and we're proud to have started this important conversation, and to advocate for care-experienced young people in Sunderland to ensure we level the playing field for them and for generations to come."
