Helping care leavers to flourish and 'bloom'

Imagine a car sitting at a busy intersection: a scramble of roads looping in from all directions, multiple vehicle lanes overlapping one another, accompanied by the roar of the traffic.

That car is symbolic of a care leaver as they reach the crossroads transitioning to adulthood. They have arrived at that road junction from a difficult past, feeling unprepared and somewhat bewildered. Now they must decide as to which pathway and opportunities they follow.

I am that care leaver: encompassing an ethnic identity, neurodiversity and having experiences of long-term health conditions, both physical and psychological.

At the intersection, I used to be uncertain of which opportunity and path to pursue that accommodates my interplaying identities. Luckily for me, though, I overcame barriers I faced as a result of my ‘intersectionality’ through the support of the EXploring Innovation in Transition (EXIT) study.

I joined a few years ago while I was pursuing my Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree at the University of Warwick, and quickly became involved in the research, led by Warwick Business School, which looks at ways local authorities, organisations and charities can pilot new initiatives to increase the life chances and opportunities of care leavers.

My involvement in the study included conducting literature reviews and leveraged the critical analytical skills gained from my Law degree to decipher and interpret information quickly and effectively. I found the focus groups, and refining questions for the associated interviewing panels pivotal to enhancing my research abilities.

My proudest achievement was working with my peers on a webinar recording to demonstrate the EXIT study. In particular, we were able to present our co-designed ‘Ability, Motivation and Opportunity’ framework for better engagement between care leavers and the business world. The entirety of my involvement in EXIT, especially co-designing the A-M-O framework, ultimately increased my self-awareness, motivation in life and sense of ability. It has also led me into some work supporting young vulnerable persons to help them reach their potential.

 In terms of my career, having the ability to co-design the framework has also opened my eyes to opportunities. I am now studying for my Masters (LLM) in International Commercial Law at Warwick, and weighing up all the career options in commercial and corporate law, whether that be in the realm of politics, or the business world, or being able to contribute to pro bono initiatives, aiding people who cannot afford legal fees gain access to justice.

Assistance provided by the EXIT study

Having said all that about ambition, I am still a care leaver, with all the vulnerabilities that entails, and I have been very keen to give the EXIT research some emotive and psychological power.

Hence, I have written a poem reflecting on my position in society as a care leaver, which will probably form part of the EXIT research canon when all the academic papers are published.      

In the poem, I wrote a line, ‘Like fragile sunflowers, the care leavers bloom’, by which I mean that care leavers can emerge from the shadows despite all the hurdles they have faced to date. Like many of my peers, I have encountered societal differences in dire circumstances and realised that, although circumstances stemming from intersectional identities pose difficulty, it is not impossible to pursue personal and professional aspirations.

You often ‘grow through what you go through’, and I am now feeling more empowered to follow my dreams.

This is due in no small part to intervention and active assistance provided through the EXIT programme. Another line in my poem reads, ‘Like the stars guiding the souls in the darkness’. The reference to the ‘guiding stars’ relates to the empowering nature of EXIT, and how it has instilled hope into me, so I may perceive situations clearly and optimistically.  

The ‘darkness’, meanwhile, can be the perceived pressures that care leavers may often encounter. With institutional support, and the support of my religious faith, I have managed to avoid the twin traps of drugs and alcohol, but I have not been immunised to experiencing blips in my mental well-being and health.

The darkness can also stem from the confusion in identity that teenagers leaving care often feel. They are part of society and yet their life experience is vastly different to that experienced by most people. They are expected to take advantage of the opportunities that society presents, and yet so often they do not feel they fully belong to that society. For me, EXIT has been instrumental in breaking the shackles of oppressive thoughts characteristic of an imposter syndrome, motivating me to pursue opportunities available through further education and social mobility initiatives.

It is self-evident that educational qualifications will help me pursue a career in Law but the social mobility element is important too. I am part of a social mobility foundation which partners with various commercial and corporate law firms to ensure they provide better access to the profession for underprivileged and disadvantaged individuals.

Supporting young people

In the end, any initiative to improve opportunity and wellbeing for individuals standing ‘at the crossroads’ should take both socio-economic and psychological factors into account.

In the case of care leavers, the most effective way to do this would be to involve them in any new project from the get-go. Involving more people in a scheme such as EXIT can slow things down in the short term, but we should be mindful that any initiative that pays attention to the breadth of psychological and emotional issues care leavers face will be the initiative that is more sustainable in the long term.

All in all, the objective is to help teenagers leaving the care system realise their dreams and achieve their full potential. Ultimately, the goal for any new policy departures, whether in the public or the private sector, must be to improve opportunities and motivate care leavers to flourish and ‘bloom’.

Further reading: 

Why we should look beyond the figures on care leavers

Toolkit launched to help innovations and help improve care leavers life chances

Five key ingredients to prepare care leavers for adult life

How do we improve outcomes for care leavers?

Mariam Sultana has been a key member of the recently completed EXploring Innovation in Transition (EXIT) Study led by Warwick Business School.

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