RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF YOUNG-PEOPLE LEAVING STATE CARE - LAW, PRACTICE AND POLICY IN ENGLAND AND NORTHERN-IRELAND

In the United Kingdom each year around sixteen thousand young people between the ages of sixteen and eighteen leave state care. In leaving care these young people face the challenge of how to make the transition from the role of young person in care to that of adult out of care. This is a difficult transition, not just for young people leaving care, but increasingly for all young people. The challenge posed to state child welfare services when young people leave care is to equip them adequately to cope with the pressures around this difficult transition, This paper reviews existing research to explore what this challenge looks like in practice in England and Northern Ireland and considers whether recent legislative reform in the two jurisdictions will help develop policy and practice in this important area of child care.