Extra support network funding for children in care

Bayley (left) said she met her "aunties" through the support programme

Several West Midlands councils will get a share of £30m to help children in care to build their own "family networks".

Coventry, Warwickshire and Stoke-on-Trent councils and Birmingham Children's Trust are among 23 authorities across England to be awarded the money by the Department for Education.

Children in care can often be separated from siblings and relationships can break down, but the Lifelong Links programme aims to help them rebuild connections they have lost.

Bayley, 19 and from Coventry, went into care when she was 13 and said the scheme gave her a positive support network.

"We call them my aunties... some of them worked in the care home I was in, some of them were my past teachers," she said.

"They always pop round, even just to see how I'm doing."

"They're not my blood, they're the people that pass as my family and you get to choose your family."

The programme is delivered by trained independent co-ordinators who work with a child in care to find out who is important to them and who they would like to meet or be back in touch with.

With the young person’s agreement and direction, they safely bring together a network of support and make a plan to ensure these relationships continue to grow.

According to the Children's Commissioner for England, 37% of children in care who have siblings are separated from them, and charity Become found that on average they are placed more than 18 miles way from home.

Matt Clayton, strategic lead for Looked After Children at Coventry City Council, said: "Far too often the care system damages or breaks relationships instead of repairing or maintaining them.

"Lifelong Links allows for something really different where children and young people in care are supported to build a loving network of support which will remain with them throughout adulthood."

The programme was developed by the charity Family Rights Group and chief executive, Cathy Ashley, said the funding was "an important step in the right direction" but hoped it could help more children.

"Our Build Not Break campaign is calling on the new government to ensure Lifelong Links is available to all children and young people in the care system and care leavers."