Care-experienced young people co-author academic article on what ‘success’ means for care leavers

A new academic article from the Rees Centre, co-authored with care-experienced members of the Future of Care project design group and partners at Coram PACEY, focuses on what ’success’ means for young adults, and how this can be applied to care leavers.

Measuring Success for Care Leavers in England: Whose Definition Counts? reviews international research and uses a co-production approach to compare definitions of success in young adulthood with the limited metrics local authorities currently collect about care leavers for national statistics.

Researcher Nikki Luke said: “We’re really proud to have continued co-production approach we adopted throughout the Future of Care project with this article.

“Five care-experienced members of the Future of Care project design group which include Amirali Arian, Jaymie Armstrong, Elouisa Maddock, Lucinda Marvilha and Cleo Walker-Hylton worked with myself and Aine Kelly from the Rees Centre, and Helen Donohoe from Coram PACEY, to produce the article.”

Together, the team looked at what existing research tells us about how ’success’ for all young adults has been defined, and compared these definitions with the information currently collected for national care leaver outcome measures in England.

The article benefits greatly from having those with lived experience of care analysing the findings, creating a stronger argument for why the views of care-experienced young adults should be centred when considering what ’success’ means for care leavers.

Produced as one discrete strand of a wider project, the review was designed to offer context on broader definitions of success in young adulthood, and to centre care-experienced voices in defining what outcomes matter.

A full report on the project will be published in November to coincide with National Care Leavers Month, to celebrate the achievements of care-experienced individuals, raising awareness of the challenges they face, and advocating for positive changes in the care system.

Read the academic article.