Independent visitors: part of the solution to the 'cliff-edge' of care

Published by Professional Social Work magazine, 8 August, 2022

All young people in care in England and Wales have a statutory entitlement to be offered an Independent Visitor (IV).

While the IV role may be statutory in one sense, it is still completely optional, both for the young people joining the scheme and for their IVs, who give their time freely.

Young people in care have little choice over the many different professionals involved in their lives. However, the decision as to whether or not to have an IV is completely within their control, including choices about the sort of person they would like to be matched with what they want to do when they meet up together.

IVs offer young people a chance to build a relationship with an adult who is outside of the care system; a person just for them, who is interested in them, will listen to them, get to know them, spend fun time with them, care about them… and perhaps most importantly of all, stick with them over time, through thick and thin.

In a care system where many children experience changes of social workers or placement, a child’s IV can be a constant person in their lives.

Many young people tell us they can’t wait to leave care and strike out on their own, but having someone to turn to for practical and emotional support as an adult still matters a great deal to them.

While new legislation in 2018 saw entitlement to after care support extended up to the age of 25, there was no equivalent requirement for local authorities to provide IV involvement after the age of 18.

In an effort to avoid adding to the ‘cliff-edge’ of care, some IV services offer support up to the age of 25 as best practice. But most schemes are not sufficiently resourced to do so. The reality is that many IVs just keep in touch with young people informally after IV scheme involvement ceases.

Wiltshire Council’s IV scheme wanted to find out more about what actually happens to the connection between IVs and care leavers once a match formally closes.

A longitudinal study undertaken this year looked at 29 young adults (now aged between 18 and 32) who had been matched from August 2006 for two years or more and who had left the scheme as care leavers prior to August 2021 (a 15-year period).

The study found that over half of the sample group remained proactively in contact with their IVs, with some of the older matches having lasted very many years.

The care experienced adults in the survey spoke overwhelmingly of how they had valued the ongoing support and friendship of their former IVs. They described the role of their IVs now as being like a friend, brother or sister, aunt or uncle or grandparent or, in a few cases, even like a parent.

One care experienced adult, still in touch with her former IV and in her mid-20s, put in writing to her IV what the relationship had meant to her: “You are one of the most special people in my life. Since I was 13 years old you have been my rock through every obstacle I’ve faced.

“I can honestly say that there have been many moments I’m not sure I’d have gotten through without you. You’ve been like a second mum and a best friend to me.”

For young people growing up in care and leaving care, IVs are uniquely placed to become part of a natural support network. They can help preserve the link between a young person’s past and their future.

The younger a child is matched with an IV, the longer they will have to build their relationship before reaching the ‘care cliff’. However, many young people in care still find themselves unable to access provision, despite it being a legal entitlement.

New research from the National Independent Visitor Network shows there are 1,327 children on a waiting list for an IV in England and more than four fifths of local authorities have a waiting list. In Wales, around 43 children are waiting to be matched with an IV with just over half of authorities placing children on a waiting list.

The National Independent Visitor Network’s Right Friend campaign is championing the rights of all children in care, irrespective of postcode, to be able to access an IV. It is also seeking to extend statutory IV entitlement up to the age of 25.

Sheila Lupton was manager of Wiltshire Council’s IV Scheme for 16 years. She is a member of the National Independent Visitor Network and holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of East Anglia