In this piece for the Guardian, Lauren Parker, a finalist in Coram Voice’s creative writing competition for young people in care, writes about her experience of becoming a parent while in foster care. Parker describes how she was told shortly after giving birth as an adolescent in care that social workers would need to keep an eye on her and her baby. “You’re young and you’re in care. So was your mother. And that puts your daughter at risk," she was told.
To avoid her child being taken from her care, Parker followed the social worker's instructions - she attended parenting classes, went back to school when her daughter was three months old, and moved out of her care home at the age of 17 (when her baby was six months old) to live independently. "I was given a leaving care grant which did not cover my expenses, but I was frightened to ask for help. If the social worker knew I was struggling, she’d come back," writes Parker. "After getting into debt, the panic attacks began. I stopped leaving the house and attending college. I dressed and fed my daughter but neglected myself."
Parker notes how girls in care are "three times more likely than their non-looked after peers to become mothers by the age of 18" and describes the higher likelihood of mental health issues among teenage mothers, as well as the higher likelihood of living in poverty for children of teenage parents.
"Girls in care and care leavers need appropriate sex education and specialist, non-judgmental support to bring up their own children. When their babies are taken away before all other options have been exhausted, they lose another important person in their lives and the dreadful cycle continues."