This initiative by Cumberland Council champions care-experienced children and young people, tackling inequalities and empowering their voices across employment, education, and community opportunities.
PIONEERING PROTECTION AND PARTICIPATION
Care-experienced children and young people face significant barriers to accessing employment, education, and training. When Cumberland Council was formed in 2023, it inherited 529 children in care—well above the national average—highlighting the disproportionate challenges these young people face in reaching their full potential. Recognising this, Cumberland Council became the first in England to adopt care experience as a protected characteristic, formally acknowledging the discrimination care-experienced young people can face.
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ENGAGEMENT
This pioneering recognition acted as a catalyst for engagement and empowerment across the Council. It enabled authentic voice, power sharing, and opportunity through numerous initiatives including a Family Help and Prevention hub with a mobility bus for hard-to-reach families, corporate parenting commitments involving care-experienced youth in service design, an enrichment fund to support activities like school trips and driving lessons, and co-production of the ‘Language that Cares’ policy to reflect young people’s priorities. The Council also launched a comprehensive apprenticeship offer across its footprint, encouraging real pathways to employment.
A NATIONAL MODEL FOR INCLUSION AND IMPACT
Cumberland’s approach now inspires over 90 councils across the UK to adopt similar protections. Within Cumberland, this innovation has led to 16 care-experienced young people attending university and 28 securing permanent jobs through a traineeship programme. Young people are actively involved with cross-sector partners shaping services, including career events with the Cumberland Tourist Board, developing social-value models with the local supply chain to support career goals, and influencing housing decisions to secure appropriate accommodations. This collaborative, inclusive approach affirms the value of care-experienced youth as vital contributors to civil society.
