Today was a good day for care leavers in West Sussex as a Conservative motion at a full meeting of the county council to make Care Leavers a protected characteristic was voted through.
The motion was proposed by care-experienced Cllr Paul Linehan, and seconded by East Grinstead's Cllr John Dabell (pictured in the council chamber).
It was the brainchild of the lead member for children's services, East Grinstead fellow councillor Jacquie Russell. wrote the motion but needed a backbencher to propose it. Cllr Linehan is also care experienced.
The Care Leavers service in West Sussex supports young people to grow and develop into young adults successfully as they move towards independence and operates under a clear legislative framework provided by the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and the Children and Social Work Act 2017.
As corporate parents to the children and young people in its care, and care leavers, West Sussex Conservatives running the authority take those responsibilities extremely seriously, as any good parents should.
But they gained support, as West Sussex county councillors, to go further and support the aspirations of Care Leavers, making sure that no Care Leaver is discriminated against, and that they have every opportunity to live fulfilling and successful lives without barriers.
Consequently, they agreed to: ensure the Council treats care experience as if it were a protected characteristic, to provide greater authority to employers, businesses, public services, and policy makers to put in place policies and programmes which promote better outcomes for care experienced young people.
The council also agreed to write to Government to ask them to formally adopt the recommendation in the MacAlister report into legislation.
View the meeting HERE
