Universal Family/Care Leavers Programme

The NHS Universal Family Programme (the Programme) aims to provide a range of employment opportunities for care leavers across the NHS in England. The Programme embodies the NHS's commitment to meet the aims of the National Care Leaver Covenant to help care leavers live independently. Care leavers are young people aged over 16 leaving local authority care.

According to the Department for Education, in 2022/23, there were 48,050 care leavers in England now aged 17 to 21, of which 64% were male. Supporting young care leavers aligns with the NHS's broader strategic objectives by contributing to a more equitable and socially responsible organisation. These efforts help mitigate the social and economic disadvantages that care leavers often face, leading to improved health and wellbeing outcomes for this vulnerable group.

NCL ICB and ICS want all care leavers to live happy and healthy lives that enable them to grow and thrive. As a good corporate parent, we want to raise the aspirations of our care leavers, by supporting them to fulfil their own ambitions and dreams by helping them to overcome the difficulties they may face. By investing in the potential of care leavers, the NCL partners can tap into a valuable talent pool, addressing workforce shortages and enhancing service delivery.

A workforce that includes care leavers is likely to be more culturally competent and capable of delivering high-quality care to diverse populations. The strategic support for young care leavers reinforces the NHS's commitment to social responsibility, diversity, and excellence in healthcare provision and will be necessary to meet the growth needed in the future. NCL partner organisations will be doing more to recruit care leavers from the North Central London labour market, particularly into entry level health and care roles.

NHSE funding is offered to support Care Leavers via the Universal Family Programme in collaboration with NCL ICB, the national delivery partner of the Dept. for Education-funded 'Care Leaver Covenant' programme and one of the design and delivery partners for the NHS Universal Family programme. This pilot project aims to:

• work with a specialist social media marketing partner to enhance targeting
• focus on specialist recruitment of vulnerable youth groups who face barriers to meaningful employment
• nurture hidden talent and foster enduring success, helping our candidates not just to find jobs, but to thrive in them
• Source and support 25 Young Care Leavers into employment
• Provide wrap around support to employers of care leavers that are a part of the programme
• Provide wrap around support to care leavers to who are in pre-employment stages and up to a minimum 12 weeks after taking up employment
• Adapt and improve service delivery as the pilot progresses
• Provide a project evaluation at the end of the pilot.

NCL ICB is recognised as a Care Leavers Pathfinder. Therefore, we will contribute to the national Universal Family programme to share learning and support improvement and sustainable of care leavers support offers.