The Care Leavers, COVID-19 and Transitions from Care (CCTC) study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation’s rapid response to COVID-19 (ES/V016245/1). The research explored care leavers’ experiences of the pandemic. Analysis of local authority management information system data on over 1300 young people from 10 local authorities and over 60 interviews with young people and professionals informed the study. As part of the study care experienced adults, leaving care workers and operational managers came together to form a Networked Learning Community (NLC). Over a series of sessions the NLC supported the research team to interpret the findings, develop recommendations and tools for practice.Care leavers typically leave their foster homes or residential placements at 16-18 years and cannot necessarily rely on receiving as much practical, emotional or family support, once they have moved, as their peers in the general population. Research shows that young people leaving care can feel isolated and abandoned at this time and that they are vulnerable to poor outcomes including poverty, homelessness, mental ill-health and unemployment. The health, social and economic impacts of Covid-19 heighten the challenges they are likely to face at a stage of life that can be difficult in the best of circumstances. The study will involve analysis of quantitative data on around 900 care leavers and in-depth interviews with senior and operational managers from children's services and health on around 50 care leavers and their key workers, (at two time points), to inform understanding of the impact that the Covid-19 has had on the timing of young people's transitions from care, where young people go ('transition pathways'), what services and support they receive, and how they fare. In particular we will focus on understanding the impact that the pandemic has had on the health and wellbeing of care leavers and the strengths and limitations of the mainstream and specialist health services they receive. We will then work together with care leavers and professionals to develop recommendations for policy makers and tools to support best practice.

Understanding the impact of Covid-19 on young people’s transitions from care and how children’s services are responding Seventeen local authorities from across England were recruited to take part in the CCTC study. A purposive sampling frame was adopted to facilitate inclusion of a spread of authorities by 1) type (London Boroughs, metropolitan districts, unitary authorities, county councils and district councils) and 2) geographical location. The research team also sought to include authorities with different models of health and social care delivery to support young people making the transitions from care to adulthood. The 17 local authorities that participated in the first phase of the research were: Bedford Borough, Blackburn with Darwen, Brighton and Hove, Bury, Central Bedfordshire, Durham, Hertfordshire, London Borough of Islington, Leeds, Nottinghamshire, Salford, Slough Children First, London Borough of Southwark, Suffolk, Surrey, Telford and Wrekin, and the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Twenty-two telephone interviews and one virtual focus group were conducted with leaving care managers between March 2021 and June 2021 to obtain their perspectives on the impact of Covid-19 on care leavers’ transition pathways and explore what measures have been put in place to protect and promote the welfare of care leavers during the Covid-19 pandemic, including what has worked well and what could be better (see Munro et al, 2021). A total of 33 individuals participated. In four areas more than one representative per local authority took part. The interviews facilitated exploration of similarities and differences in practice between local authorities, as well as enabling us to gather insights from individuals with specialist roles or responsibilities. Understanding care leavers’ transition pathways Each of the 17 Local Authorities who took part in the first phase of the study were also asked to provide pseudonymised quantitative management information system data (SSDA903 and OC3 data, plus small amount of supplementary information) on their care leavers aged 16 and 17 who left an Ofsted regulated care placement (e.g. foster or residential care) and moved to an unregulated placement, and those who turned 18 between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021. Ten local authorities supplied these data which yielded a sample of 1338 young people. The management information systems data included gender, ethnicity, primary need code (i.e. reason for entry to care), age at first entry, age at last entry to care, placements and episodes of care and (where applicable) and leaving care outcomes data (in touch, education and accommodation status). Transitions pathway data In addition to providing routinely collected data, each of the ten local authorities were asked to provide supplementary data on the initial transition pathway that each young person followed when they left care (n=1338); as well their transition pathway status six months later (n=680; data supplied by six local authorities). Local authorities were provided with the definitions of each transition pathway to facilitate this task and they were all invited to systematically allocate young people based on their transition pathways. Six local authorities completed this exercise. Four local authorities were unable to do so due to resource constraints. In these four local authorities the initial transition pathway was extrapolated based on the SSDA903 and OC3 data. Experiences of different transitions pathways, services, support and outcomes in the context of Covid-19 Six geographically diverse local authorities, from the 17 above, participated in-depth more qualitative data collection. Interviews were conducted with 32 young people who moved into unregulated placements at age 16-17, or ceased to be looked after between the dates specified above. Subject to young people’s consent, interviews were also undertaken with young people’s leaving care Personal Advisers. Ten Personal Advisers participated and these professionals worked with 14 young people who were interviewed. Seven interviews were also undertaken with strategic leads from health. Further details on the purpose of these interviews and the analytical approach employed are provided below. In-depth interviews with young people Young people in each of the local authorities who negotiated the transition from regulated to unregulated settings aged 16-17, or who ceased to be looked after during the pandemic, were invited to participate in a research interview. The research team shared an accessible information sheet and short film about the study, which was distributed to young people via their leaving care Personal Adviser or Social Worker. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 young people (M=19, F=12, other=1). Interviews were conducted online (using MS Teams or Zoom) or face to face between October 2021 and March 2022. Participants were given the choice of either option, provided that this was in line with government guidelines at the time of the interview. The interviews explored young people’s journeys from care to early adulthood, including exploration of continuity and change in a number of life domains including education, employment, finance, health, housing and social networks. The interviews particularly focused on young people’s perspectives on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their transition and progress, as well as their views on access to, and the strengths and limitations of, formal and informal services and support. Interviews with Personal Advisers Leaving care Personal Advisers or Social Workers were invited to participate in a research interview, shortly after each young person was interviewed. These interviews (n=10) took place on MS Teams or by telephone and explored: operational issues surrounding the delivery of services and support for care leavers in the context of COVID-19; the needs and experiences of the young people who participated in the CCTC study. The case specific part of the interview focused upon professionals’ perspective on young people’s transitions and how their journeys and outcomes had been affected by Covid-19 and the role that birth family, former foster or residential carers and other services and support had played. Interviews with health and social care professionals Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Health and Social Care professionals (n=7) via MS Teams. These explored health trajectories for young people leaving care, access to and engagement with mainstream and specialist health services and the strengths and limitations of these arrangements in more detail. Interviews with strategic leads aimed to enhance understanding of how different transitional arrangements and models of health and social care delivery support or inhibit improved health and wellbeing.