The Children and Young People in Care and Care Leavers are identified as:

• Age 8 - 25

• Having behavioural, emotional and social difficulties affecting their holistic wellbeing hindering them from achieving in education and in life

• In Mainstream Education and at ‘Risk of Exclusion’

• Placed at a Pupil Referral Unit

• Placed at an Alternative Provision

• Not in Employment, Education or Training

Why The Transformed You?

The Department of Education state that the number of looked after children continue to rise, increasing steadily with the DfE reporting that there are 82,170 children in care in England as at the 31st March 2022; an increase of 2% from last year’s 80,080.

They are also sometimes regarded as low achievers with low life chances on route to being a financial burden to the state, being a part of their own dysfunctional family, being homeless, having a lower take up of education, employment and training, poor mental and physical health outcomes in adulthood, have higher reoffending rates and placed at Her Majesty’s Pleasure.

It is said that these children are likely to have complex and challenging needs and must overcome extra challenges to achieve their potential. The extra challenges to overcome are in the areas identified as follows:

Education and Attainment

With a new Secondary School accountability system implemented in 2016 the average Attainment 8 score for looked after children in 2021/2022, is 23.2% compared to 50.9% for non-looked after children.

In the percentage of looked after children achieving the threshold in English and Maths at Grade 5 or above increased to 12.9% in comparison to 10.8% in 2019/2020.

Looked after children progress less well at KS4 than non-looked after children but slightly better than children in need.

For 19- to 21- year-olds, 29% were in education (6% higher education, 22% education other than higher education); 38% were not in education, employment or training (NEET), compared to around 11% of all young people aged 19 to 21 years old.

School Exclusions

Research states, across England, as each pupil finishes their school day, a group the size of a classroom of 35 pupils has been told to permanently leave mainstream education. This rate of exclusion is 60% higher than it was five years ago and represents 7,900 pupils removed from mainstream education in 2017/18. Pupils who are excluded from school are much more likely than their peers, to have poorer outcomes later in life. For example:

• Children excluded from school are much less likely to go on to receive level 5-9 at GCSE

• More than one fifth of pupils with a permanent exclusion later go on to become NEET

• Exclusion is ‘a predictor of grooming but also a barrier to support’ concerning children’s exploitation along county lines

• Children excluded from school are twice as likely to carry a knife

• 58% of young adults in prison were permanently excluded at school

With that in mind, Pupils with experience of the Care System are far more at risk of all types of exclusion than their peers, and although Looked After Children are protected from a PEx [Permanent Exclusion] by statutory regulation, they are at higher risk of all other exclusions and are most likely to receive a FTEx [Fixed Term Exclusion].

The Timpson Review also found that whatever the background or ethnicity of the Pupil, exclusions are issued overwhelmingly to certain groups of children who already face significant challenges in their lives outside of school.

Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing

Research goes on to display that the most common type of special education need for looked after children relates to their behaviour, emotional and social difficulties, with research also finding that looked after children and young people have consistently been found to have much higher rates of mental health difficulties than the general population, with almost half of them (three quarters of those in residential homes) meeting the criteria for a psychiatric disorder.

There are many reasons for this, including the experiences they have had in their birth families before coming into the care system.

Children’s experiences, once they enter care, are also linked to their well-being and can further contribute to both the causes and the nature of any difficulties.

Unprepared for life after Being in Care

In England and Wales, the leaving care age is 18. At that age, children legally become an adult and any care order ends (although some children leave care at 16 or 17). Care leavers are legally entitled to ongoing support after they leave care, up to the age of 25.

Now most young people who do not grow up in care are able to remain at home until they are ready for the next step (such as college, employment or moving in with friends or partners), but many care leavers have to move on before they would like and before they are ready 

Highlighted in Ofsted’s Ready or Not research, containing care leavers views of preparing to leave Care, the research found that more than a third of care leavers felt that they left care too early, and had not acquired the right skills to live independently, going on to state that they were not taught essential skills such as how to shop, cook or manage money. The research went on to find that some Care Leavers were not aware of what bills they needed to pay, or how to budget. In some cases, this led to them getting into debt, losing tenancies becoming homeless, or not being able to afford food or travel.

When they were asked what made them feel unsafe when they first left care, being worried about money was the most common reason reported, with a few care leavers reporting that they’d get into crime when they left care in order to get money, or because they were not able to manage their finances.

Many care leavers felt ‘alone’ or ‘isolated’ when they left care and did not know where to get help with their mental health or emotional well-being.

A third of Care Leavers stated they did not know where to get help or support with many stating that they had no one they could talk to about how they were feeling or who would look out for them.

Care leavers went on to state that they were not involved enough in plans about their future, with around a quarter of care leavers reporting that they were not at all involved in developing these plans. Some felt that, even when they expressed their wishes, they were not listened to, or that they did not fully understand the options. Some felt that plans did not match their aspirations. For many, this had a long-term impact on their education or career path, as well as their emotional well-being.

Research Information provided by | Department of Education/National Statistics: ‘Children looked after in England including adoptions 2021 – 2022’ | Department of Education/National Statistics: ‘Outcomes for Looked After Children by Local Authorities in England 2021 – 2022’ | Department of Education/National Audit Office: ‘Care leavers’ transition to adulthood’ – Session 2015 – 2016 (July 2015) | Rees Centre: Research in Fostering and Education, University of Oxford Department of Education: ‘What works in preventing and treating poor mental health in Looked After Children?’ – August 2014 | Social Finance: ‘Maximising Access to Education: Who’s at risk of exclusion?’ – July 2020 | Timpson Review of School Exclusion – May 2019 | Ofsted: ‘Ready or Not’: Care Leavers’ views of preparing to leave Care – January 2022

Change Is Possible!

As Care Experienced Specialists, we have designed transformative programmes to improve the trajectory and Change the Stories of Children and Young People in Care and Care Leavers who face social, emotional, behavioural barriers.

Our programmes are specifically designed to guide our Mentees through a transformative process to Change the way they think about themselves, and empower them with all the essential Skills they need, for them to Believe and See that they have the ability to achieve and have the life and future they hope for.

We also work in a joined-up way with Children’s Social Care Professionals, to amplify and bring an understanding of the True Voice of our Mentee as they journey through the Care System.

With this formula we are able to see that Change Is Possible.

Meet Our Leadership Team

Judith AM Denton | Our Founder & CEO

Judith AM Denton, founded and established The Transformed You in 2013, based on her firsthand lived experience of being placed in the Care System at age 9.

Reflecting on her story, Judith openly shares that being placed in care affected her emotional wellbeing which would often be displayed through her then challenging behaviour; however with the intervention and support of Pastoral Care through a Mentor, Judith received guidance on how to identify the root causes to her emotional, behaviour and social difficulties, overcome her internal and external challenges to see and believe that she has the ability to achieve, and have the life and future she hopes for.

With that in mind, Judith is therefore able to speak with empathy and authority when engaging with Children and Young People in Care, Care Leavers and Professionals within this sector.

Further insight into Judith’s personal journey, can be found here in her 6-part documentary called ‘From Foster Care to Role Model’ and her Autobiography ‘Foster Care and Me’.

Not only is Judith the CEO of this Social Enterprise, she is a powerful Speaker, and welcomes opportunities to share her story about her journey in and through the Foster Care System, to inspire and bring hope to Care Experienced Children and Young People, along with empowering those who Foster and Support them.

Her Keynote Topics include:

• Foster Care and Me

• The Foster Carers Super Powers

• Hear My Voice! Can I Please Have a Say?!

• The Black Care Experience

Information about these Keynote Topics can be found here.

Judith is also an empowering Trainer, an expert by lived experience Consultant, an authentic Author, the Founder of The Black Care Experience and was a member of the Expert By Experience Board for England’s Independent Review of our Children’s Social Care System.

Further detailed information about Judith and how to book Judith as your Keynote Speaker, Trainer or Consultant, can be found here.