analysis presented in this paper. The study care leavers were also more likely
than children entering care overall in England for 2003/4 to have entered care
between the ages of 5 and 15 (DfES 2005).
TABLE 1 ABOUT HERE
Early housing transitions
Care leavers move into independent living at approximately 17 years (Biehal et
al. 1995; Ford et al. 2002). In this study, the other young people in difficulty left
home at 18 years on average. Care leavers and other young people in difficulty
therefore leave care or home at a much younger age than the general
population, which is around the mid-twenties (Heath, 1999).
Biehal et al. (1995) found two main paths for care leavers moving into
independence: crisis moves and planned moves. Planned paths involve the
young person, the social worker, the leaving care team, and the foster parents or
residential care work staff, working with the young person before they leave care
on their options for accommodation upon discharge from care. This process
usually involves (as part of their pathway plan for those leaving care following the
CLCA 2000) practical skills workshops, such as how to budget, as well as
strategies for coping with loneliness. Crisis paths on the other hand, occur when
the young person leaves care suddenly, for example on the break-down of a
long-term foster placement.
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