Welcome to our new ‘Sharing Insights’ blog series, offering a unique opportunity to demonstrate the skills and expertise of some of our academics at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU)- opening new avenues for communication with businesses and a broad range of stakeholders.

Professor Janet Melville-Wiseman, Care Experienced Professor of Social Work at CCCU, outlines ideas relevant to any industry or employer aiming to support individuals who have been in the care system in joining a workforce.

At CCCU, the School of Allied and Public Health Professions currently have several strategies to help care-experienced young people transition into higher education, recognising that moving from care to independent life is often challenging, described as “falling off the care cliff” at age 18. These same strategies can be applied to, and are designed to support students’ transition into paid employment, acknowledging that they may lack the family support or connections other graduates benefit from. This can apply to any profession or type of employment and benefits both care-experienced young people and an organisation’s goal of being an ethical workplace.

“Widening participation” is a catch-all phrase showing organisational commitment to addressing social and other inequalities that individuals may experience in society. This imperative resonates across multiple sectors and industries but is perhaps most noticeable within higher education. The benefits of an effective widening participation strategy include ensuring a more diverse student body and fulfilling the imperatives of the Equality Act 2010 by removing barriers to higher education based on protected characteristics. Initiatives to improve access for traditionally underrepresented groups in higher education have included people from low socio-economic backgrounds, people with disabilities, individuals from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller ethnic groups, and Global Majority students. A key reason for this is to ensure future employment opportunities and success for our graduates. Supporting their transition to employment is a crucial aspect of our collaboration with industry.

There is growing awareness of the challenges faced by care-experienced young people, who are currently underrepresented in higher education and some professions. A recent government review into children’s social care recommended recognising care experience as the tenth protected characteristic, acknowledging the barriers faced by children in and beyond the care system. While the government has not adopted this recommendation, effective campaigns are encouraging organisations to voluntarily treat care experience as a protected characteristic, with nearly a hundred local authorities signing up to this.

CCCU supports care-experienced and estranged students in claiming their places, but what does this mean for them as they transition into employment and for their future employers?

There are important steps we can take to help organisations support care-experienced young people effectively. 

First, make care experience a visible part of a recruitment campaign, explicitly stating that applications from care-experienced young people are welcomed. Declare that care experience will be treated as a protected characteristic pending a change in the law. By collecting data and feedback on how care-experienced individuals feel they are treated in a business will bode for a more inclusive and well-rounded work environment.

One key challenge is combating the harmful assumptions that children end up in care because they are “bad” or have done something “bad.” Employers should invest in training to dispel these myths and understand the realities of the challenges faced by care-experienced individuals. Care-experienced campaigning groups and academic ‘Experts by Experience‘ can assist with this.

• Here is one example of an organisation who has taken steps to support care-experienced people entering the legal profession: Lawyers who Care (https://www.lawyerswhocare.org/). They offer opportunities for paid work experience and mentoring for care-experienced individuals navigating barriers in that profession.

• Another way to support care-experienced people is celebrating ‘World Care Day‘: https://blogs.canterbury.ac.uk/expertcomment/hands-up-for-world-care-day-2024-celebrating-children-and-young-people-with-care-experience/.

As a University, we acknowledge the enormous potential that students and employees with lived experiences bring to enhancing diverse workforces. Many care-experienced individuals have overcome multiple challenges and, if a business seeks a courageous and creative workforce, they can benefit from many unique qualities.

If being an ethical organisation is an important part of your business plan, make a commitment to openly and proudly support those with care experience. For collaborative opportunities, or further advice, please email b2b@canterbury.ac.uk.

Biography:

Professor Janet Melville-Wiseman has worked in social work as a practitioner, manager and for the last twenty years as a social work academic. She spent the latter part of her childhood in care and left school with no traditional qualifications.  Based on her own personal journey, she is passionate about supporting care experienced people to be able to benefit from the transformative power of education. Her current research has focused on the experiences of care experienced people coming into social work as a profession and believes there is a lot to develop to support care leavers into whatever their chosen career may be.  She is also a supporter of the aim to make care experience the tenth protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.  

Professor Janet Melville-Wiseman

Care Experienced Professor of Social Work

Member of the Association of Care Experienced Social Care Workers

@MelvilleDr #CEP

Starr, M., Rodgers-Grey, T., and Melville-Wiseman, J., (2024) Care-experienced social workers as relational activists in United Kingdom.  In  Baikady, R., (Ed) The Oxford Handbook of Power, Politics and Social Work – Oxford University Press, New York

Melville-Wiseman, J., and Rodgers-Grey, T., (2022) The Association of Care Experienced Social Care Workers (ACESCW) – A manifesto for change.  In Carter, M. and Maclean, S., (Eds) The Voices of Care Experienced Social Care Workers.  Kirwin Maclean Publishers, Lichfield

Melville-Wiseman, J., (2021) Listening to the voices of care experienced individuals and communities – the disconcerting values of the Government Children’s Social Care Review. Social work 2020-21 under Covid 19 Special Edition