Doctoral College
Summary
Young people in care face many challenges in terms of their physical and mental health (McSherry et al., 2015; 2016). They are disproportionately children of single mothers who themselves are likely to have been in care due to experiencing child maltreatment, suggesting a pattern of intergenerational transmission of maltreatment and trauma (McSherry et al., 2010; Stratford, Julian & Shelley, 2019).
Data from the Department of Education (2015) indicates that 25% of girls in care fall pregnant before the age of 18, and are three times more likely to get pregnant that non-care peers. They are also at increased risk of having their child removed (Broadhurst et al., 2015). The authors are unaware of any interventions to date that have attempted to break this intergenerational cycle.