Addressing the needs of disabled care leavers: a social justice perspective

This presentation is based on the qualitative phase of a three year study which examined the characteristics and experiences of care leavers with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities in Northern Ireland. This phase... [ view full abstract ]

This presentation is based on the qualitative phase of a three year study which examined the characteristics and experiences of care leavers with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities in Northern Ireland. This phase of the study involved case studies of 31 care leavers with mental health and/or intellectual disabilities which included reading their case files, interviewing care leavers up to three times over the course of a year and, where appropriate, interviewing their birth parents and/or carers and social workers. A peer research methodology was also employed for interviews with care leavers, whereby trained peer researchers led the interview.

The care leavers involved in the case studies (14 males and 17 females) were aged between 17 and 24 years old during the course of the study, and presented with a range of mental health and intellectual disabilities including some who had been given a clinical diagnosis and others who were considered to have a mild to moderate level of need. These young people had a range of leaving care experiences based on the care settings they left, the accommodation they moved to and the level of support they could avail of.

This paper will draw on Fraser’s (2000) social justice framework with a dual focus on distributive justice and recognition to present the findings from these case studies. Structural issues had a significant impact on the care leaving experience, including inadequate housing, limited health and social care services, strict criteria for access to services and rigid service boundaries which prevented disabled care leavers from accessing necessary support. In addition, unemployment, low income and poverty feature strongly. These findings indicate a need to address the distribution of resources for disabled care leavers and deeper issues of inequality and discrimination.

Connected with these structural and economic barriers to successful transitions from care, some young people were feeling devalued on a personal level and patronised by procedural or ‘child-friendly’ approaches to transition planning. Many were also feeling vulnerable in their local communities and personal or familial relationships with experiences of manipulation, bullying or abuse having a lasting impact well into young adult life. These findings highlight care leavers’ experiences of misrecognition and status subordination. It is within the context of these relational experiences that young people were also negotiating their own post-care identities, reframing past experiences, navigating their way through difficult family dynamics and making sense of their impairment related experiences.

Based on the findings of these case studies, the relevance of social justice to the experiences of disabled care leavers is clear. Addressing the redistribution of material supports and structural barriers to transition for these care leavers should be combined with efforts to promote recognition at both personal and cultural levels of society, with attention to relational aspects of the post-care lives of disabled care leavers. Adopting such a dual approach to care leaver policy and practice will help to address broader issues of stigma, inequality and exclusion through integrated, rights-based policy whilst also improving person-centred supports for disabled care leavers and their families at a more informal and relational level.