OC3 - Care Leavers on their 19th Birthday
This statistical bulletin presents information from the OC3 survey of former care leavers at their 19th birthday. The OC3 survey collects data on the economic activity, contact with social services and living accommodation of young people who have left care. It also includes information on their age and gender, religion, ethnicity, disability, length of last placement in care, legal status and last placement in care.
The survey was first introduced in Northern Ireland in 2004, and this bulletin presents the results of the third collection for the year ending 31st March 2008. The main findings from the 2007/08 survey indicate some improvement in the circumstances of the young people compared to those in 2005/06. In particular, the proportion of former care leavers with whom Trusts had maintained contact increased from 89% in 2005/06 to 94% in 2007/08. However, 43% of all former care leavers were known to be in education, training or employment, compared with 53% in 2005/06.
The survey was first introduced in Northern Ireland in 2004, and this bulletin presents the results of the third collection for the year ending 31st March 2008. The main findings from the 2007/08 survey indicate some improvement in the circumstances of the young people compared to those in 2005/06. In particular, the proportion of former care leavers with whom Trusts had maintained contact increased from 89% in 2005/06 to 94% in 2007/08. However, 43% of all former care leavers were known to be in education, training or employment, compared with 53% in 2005/06.
Download
- Former Care Leavers in Northern Ireland 2007/08 (PDF 556KB)
- Pre-release access list for Former Care Leavers in Northern Ireland 2007/08 (PDF 12KB)
ERRATUM: Please note that the information previously published for 2005/06 has been revised due to a corrected coding error noted during the production of the 2007/08 statistical bulletin.
- Former Care Leavers in Northern Ireland 2005/2006 (PDF 245 KB)
- Former Care Leavers in Northern Ireland 2003/2004 (PDF 451 KB)
Key Findings from the 2007/08 survey indicate:
- 162 former care leavers who had been looked after on 1st April 2005 had reached their 19th birthday during 2007/08; of these, 89 (55%) were girls and 73 (45%) were boys.
- Almost a fifth (18%) of these former care leavers were coping with disability; of whom just under half (55%) had a learning disability.
- Almost two in five (39%) female former care leavers had become mothers on or before their 19th birthday.
- The average length of time spent in the latest period of care was slightly longer for young men (6 years 11 months) than young women (6 years 7 months).
- Trusts were in contact with 153 (94%) of the 162 former care leavers in Northern Ireland, 5 percentage points higher than in 2005/06 (89%).
- Between 2005/06 and 2007/08, the proportion of all former care leavers in education, training or employment decreased by 10 percentage points, from 53% in 2005/06 to 43% in 2007/08.
- Of those with whom Trusts had contact and for whom economic activity was known, 46% were in education, training or employment, 14 percentage points less than 2005/06 (60%.).
- Young men and young women differed in the types of accommodation in which they were most likely to be living; a higher proportion (32%) of young women were in supported accommodation compared with 20% of young men. In contrast, 28% of young men were living with parents, relatives or friends, compared with 20% of young women.his bulletin presents findings on the circumstances of former care leavers in Northern Ireland on their 19th birthday, including information on age, religion, ethnicity, disability, accommodation and contact with social services.
