ARU Final Report

22 Care leavers’ experiences of support during the Covid-19 pandemic The Essex Involvement Service (2020), who carried out research during the first lockdown, reported that for some care leavers, moving in with someone during lockdown was helpful. The Scottish Care Leavers Covenant (SCLC) Alliance (2020) found that a significant number of young people have stayed in placements for longer by default in order to avoid moving. This has been welcomed by SCLC, though they caution that it will cause increased demand and pressure on placements further down the line. On the other hand, some young people transitioned earlier to independent living due to carer or agency concerns, as well as the young person’s preference in certain cases. However, SCLC claim that decisions about transitions should be made based on the young person’s need rather than their behaviour. In a context where access to effective support has been restricted due to the pandemic, these young peoplemay find themselves in a precarious situation and at risk of financial hardship, as reflected in our findings. 4.1.3 Practical support In our findings, practical support was available for some care leavers. In the questionnaire, 45.7% of respondents had received some support with their finances; 26.9% had received some support with their accommodation; and 30.1% had received some supportwith travel . Travel was more pertinent in rural local authorities and for those who had health appointments to attend or small children to look after. Practical support provided included: food parcels/vouchers and use of food banks, free bus passes/tickets, being put on the furlough scheme, receiving a bursary to help with costs, having some or all of their rent paid, getting help with rent arrears, changing council tax, being able to stay with foster carers, and support from their personal advisor/ social worker on budgeting and making claims and with lifts to go to meetings or get food. These kinds of supportswere also discussed in the focus groups, particularly the food parcels/vouchers which were often facilitated by local charities or Leaving Care Services and were hugely appreciated: “I wasn’t going anywhere during lockdown but I got really good support with college bus passes when I needed it.” (FG: Female, 17) “The furlough and food voucher schemes helped me try to relax about things that happen. I was very worried about how it would affect my home life. The schemes gave me stability.” (Q: Female, 17) “My social worker helped me complete the universal credit forms and made sure I was confident and able to take the calls.” (Q: Female, 18) “Before the pandemic I had high rent arrears and the council helped in bringing the amount down and I no longer have arrears.” (Q: Male, 22) “Council tax gave a reduction which covered the rest of the financial year. Was a massive relief to not have to worry about that bill through the pandemic.” (Q: Female, 23) Certainly, examples of good practical support made available to care leavers is also reflected in the literature. For care leavers involved in the Essex Involvement Service (2020) research, most felt support was easy to come by, including financial support and access to vouchers or food parcels. In the current study, some care leavers described managing on their own, despite the difficult circumstances they faced, by budgeting and help from their family or partner: “I live with my partner full time so I’m really reliant on his wage. He is an agency worker, he was on furlough but the agency weren’t giving him 80%. I’m quite good at budgeting so I managed to sort it out and we’re living quite comfortably now.” (FG: Female, 20)