A day in my shoes: From care to where?

21 September 2011

26th October-1st November

National Care Leavers' Week 2001 challenges policy makers to consider the real impact of their decisions on children leaving care and spend 'A Day in My Shoes'

National Care Leavers' Week today announced a full line up for the programme this year. Taking place in its now familiar slot at the end of Party Conference Season, National Care Leavers' Week 2011 – A Day in My Shoes – focuses on the day to day experiences of young care leavers and the impact of Government Policy and public spending cuts on those experiences.

For the first time NCLW goes fully multi-media with more opportunities for care leavers, policy makers and professionals to follow the activities and contribute to the week. This year's London based conference will be streamed live through a hosted networking event in Wigan and individuals and organisations can also request licences to view' the conference either in real time or at a later date. We have also tentatively stepped into social networking, capturing the experiences of care leavers through twitter and text messaging.

The main focus of National Care Leavers' Week 2011 – A Day in My Shoes – is those day to day lived experiences of care leavers, and the purpose of the campaign is both to raise public awareness of care leavers as a specific and uniquely vulnerable group within society as well as getting our point across to policy makers that many of the systemic problems which still hold care leavers back from inclusion, achievement and full participation in society arise from a lack of joined up policy thinking. Many problems can be solved by eliminating the unintended consequences of disparate policy objectives; not every solution requires new resources!

The week opens with a special meeting of the The Associate Parliamentary Group for Looked After Children and Care Leavers in Westminster on October 26th hosted by chair Edward Timpson MP and activities run throughout the UK and throughout the week returning to London for the closing event which is our annual Leaving Care Conference chaired this year by Children's Rights Director Roger Morgan.

The week also sees the publication of a new book by Mike Stein on the history of the children's rights movement as well as the launch of a new film 'Made in Care' from the Care Leavers' Association. Numerous local events are being run by leaving care teams across the country to celebrate the achievements of their care leavers and draw attention to their ongoing needs and a new list of 100 top achieving care leavers will be released.

Full details of National Care Leavers' Week can be found at www.nationalcareleaversweek.org

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