The role of co-production in care leaver transitions: a new evidence summary!
Our new evidence summary explores how co-production can support a good transition experience for young people leaving care.
Transitioning to adulthood is rarely straightforward, but for young people accessing care and support, it comes with added complexity. As they work out what they want from adult life, they also face important changes to the support systems around them.
The research underlines that co-production can reduce the chances of poor outcomes for care leavers by giving them control over decision making, helping them to build a support network, and providing opportunities to develop adult skills.
What do we mean by co-production?
Co-production can be difficult to describe as it can mean different things to different people.
In our summary, we focus on co-production as a principle in the The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, where:
- staff and citizens work together to design and run services
- equality exists between people working in and accessing social care
- it’s a requirement for social care services in Wales.
What the evidence tells us
Co-production has been found to support a better experience for young people leaving care.
In this summary we look specifically at what research tells us about co-production, and how it can:
- improve relationships between social care professionals and young people
- improve outcomes for young people transitioning to adulthood
- provide an opportunity for care leavers to develop adult skills.
Co-production can help build strong relationships and improve outcomes for young care leavers. It can also help young people develop skills and confidence
What does good co-production look like?
Co-producing services with young people can be challenging. For example, adults may feel the need to take the lead, or place less value on young people’s knowledge or capability to make decisions. Young people in turn may have a lack of trust in services or professionals and feel their views are not properly listened to.
For co-production to be successful it should address these power differences and:
- treat everyone’s input equally
- be proactive about inclusion and accessibility
- make sure that everyone benefits from taking part.
What's next?
This is the second in a series of evidence summaries that look at different aspects of transitions from children’s to adults’ social care services.
We’re producing this series in response to our recent research priority setting exercise. We wanted to find out what barriers, problems and uncertainties young people face as part of transitions from children’s to adults’ social care.
You can find the first summary here: Transitions: perspectives of young people and their families. Keep an eye on our website and social media channels to learn about new summaries.