ABSTRACT
Young people’s care outcomes are evaluated in this chapter using insights from Hollingsworth’s concept of foundational rights, which incorporates consideration not only of concrete capabilities such as educational attainment but also of relational aspects of autonomy. The concept is used to elucidate the duties corporate parents should owe to the children in their care, facilitated through an analysis of what young people need in order to be prepared to exercise genuine or ‘full’ autonomy in adulthood. The tendency for recent policy and practice to privilege more academically successful young people is considered through Goldson’s notion of the ‘“deserving”-“underserving” schism’, together with the challenges inherent in the corporate parenting model in meeting the individual needs of children in care. This chapter evaluates the role of designated teachers and virtual school heads in improving the educational and life outcomes for care leavers and discusses the extent to which the principles of social pedagogy have potential to promote a more holistic and relationship-based approach to work with children in care and care leavers.
