NCAS supports call to fund internships for care leavers

The National Care Advisory Service believe the Government-funded model for transforming the current internship system to include ‘non-graduate talent’, proposed in a recent Demos report, will help level the playing field for care leavers in accessing real workplace experience and opportunities.

The National Care Advisory Service is the national advice, support and development service for children in and from care (age 13 to 25) and those who work with them supported by Catch22.

Traditionally only open to graduates and undergraduates, quality internships can make a significant contribution to future career opportunities and development. With around 93 per cent of care leavers not in higher education at the age of 19, they are excluded from opportunities taken for granted by their peers that have not been in care.

Over the past year the National Care Advisory Service, has been running From Care2Work, a national programme to support local authorities and employers to increase employability opportunities and raise aspirations for care leavers.

The programme aims to provide work experience, apprenticeships and jobs, and to find local solutions to narrow the gap between care leavers and their peers. A key element in this approach has been reaching out to employers in order to raise the employability of young care leavers. There are now 30 national companies offering support and opportunities.

By the end of May this year almost a thousand employability opportunities had been created and a further thousand are in the pipeline.

Jane White, Senior Employability Manager for NCAS says:

'The initiative proposed by Demos, if taken up by employers, would end the concept of internships being the sole-preserve of those who have already had the advantage of a higher education. It would also increase the range of work-experience and employment opportunities available to care leavers and further enhance programmes like From Care2Work.'