The Kenora Charitable Foundation has helped to ensure over 600 children and young people were able to access the specialised advocacy support they need to thrive.
Far too many children and young people are falling through the gaps in our care system. As noted by the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care (2022). As the number of children in care, care leavers and children on the edges of the care system continue to rise we are seeing a distinctive growth in the number of young people becoming homeless due to being wrongly advised.
Mina’s story*
Mina was aged 17 when she contacted Coram Voice for support. She had been forced to leave her family home due to physical and emotional abuse, with nowhere to go. Mina had tried to seek support from her local authority, but they turned her down, failing in their duty to take her into care under Section 20 of the Children Act. Mina had to sofa surf at school friends’ homes.
“I had no money and no clothes and had to borrow things to wear from my friends whose parents fed me.”
As Mina started running out of places to stay, her school raised concerns about her deteriorating mental health and another meeting with social services was arranged. Again, they failed to take her into care.
The breakthrough came when a social worker referred her to Coram Voice. Mina was given an advocate who helped her to understand her rights, and working with a solicitor, they were able to make sure her local authority took her into care under Section 20. This means she was then able to access safe accommodation and other support including support with her education. Her advocate also helped to make sure she had access to financial entitlements and key documents.
Scarlett Cowling, an advocate for Coram Voice, took on Mina’s case. She said:
“Young people do not know the law or their rights…… some local authorities do all they can to avoid taking a child into care at age 17 because if they are ‘looked after’ for at least 13 weeks before they turn 18, it imposes a financial burden on them under Section 20 to support the child even after they leave care at 18, until the age of 25. So, they try to delay until as close to their 18th birthday as possible because that means they take on a much lower burden of care under Section 17 of the Act and only look after the child until they turn 18. So, time is of the essence. I am glad to say we were successful in getting Mina looked after with full support under Section 20. Because Mina was in care for more than 13 weeks, she is entitled to accommodation, financial support, support with her education and other entitlements, up to the age of 25, which will help her with transitioning into independent adulthood”.
Dr Carol Homden Coram Chief Executive Officer says:
“We put the voices of care experienced children in the driving seat to improve the care system by influencing national decisions about their lives. Children in care have no say in where they live, who they live with, what friends they can see and when they can see them”
Thank you to The Kenora Charitable Foundation for supporting our Advocacy work. It is great news to hear that they collaborate across multiple generations of the family to choose the charities they support.
*not her real name
