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Submitted by the Rees Foundation
A charity in Droitwich Spa, in Worcestershire, has launched a scheme for ‘care leavers’ to give those in need access to 24-hour support and counselling.
‘Ask Jan’ has been created by the Rees Foundation to help one in four care leavers who experience a mental health crisis after leaving care.
The new scheme will give care leavers access to services, including same-day support from qualified counsellors via a 24-hour telephone counselling service and the opportunity to use a network of UK wide counsellors for face-to-face counselling within five days of requesting an appointment.
Many care leavers are missing out on mental health support, with Barnardo’s reporting 125 young people out of 274 care leaver service cases had mental health needs.
However, 65 per cent were not receiving specialist support from a mental health service. The study also found that one in four care leavers had experienced a mental health crisis since leaving care.
The Ask Jan membership package provides a much-needed lifeline for care leavers seeking support for their mental health while avoiding long waiting times that can lead to a further deterioration of mental wellbeing.
Chief Executive of Rees Foundation, Melody Douglas, said: “We are acutely aware of the lasting effects of childhood trauma on care-experienced people and wanted to do something tangible to help them access professional help quickly without the delays of being put on waiting lists.
“The membership package is co-produced and integrative ensuring that the welfare of our care leavers and stakeholders is at its heart.”
The charity consulted the author of The Cornflake Kid, Mark Riddell MBE, who grew up in local authority care. He achieved the first ‘outstanding’ local authority in the UK for care leavers when in post at Trafford Council, and is now National Adviser for Care Leavers in Government. Commenting on the launch of Ask Jan, he said: “The Ask Jan is a first of its kind. Care leavers have always faced huge challenges with their health, finance, relationships and housing to mention just a few.
“The pandemic has shone a sharper light on these issues and highlighted the need for greater and quicker support.
“The Ask Jan membership gives care leavers amongst other things access to services including same-day support from qualified counsellors. I would therefore like to urge all local authorities and other organisations supporting care leavers to consider the Ask Jan membership for all their care leavers.”
Alongside counselling, Ask Jan includes online CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), specialist helplines including housing, debt management, legal and citizens advice, a wellbeing app, personal finance advice and discounted prices for days out and activities.
Local authorities are being invited to examine the Ask Jan membership and commission it on behalf of their care leavers enabling them to access specialist support as and when they need it.
The Rees Foundation is one of two charities based in Droitwich, Worcestershire to be founded by Jan Rees OBE. Concluding, Jan said: “This is a unique package, and we want to do all we can to make sure care leavers have ongoing help and support as and when they need it.”
Find more information on Ask Jan here, or contact 0330 094 5645.
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