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Adults who have spent time in care as children are an underrepresented group in our society. At present, there are over 60,000 children in care in England. In the past, it has been even higher (often over 100,000). About 0.5 to 1% of all children in the UK are in care. Each year, about 6-7,000 young people leave care, mostly aged between 16 and 18, in order to begin adult life. There are over 350,000 adults in the UK who spent some or all of their childhood in care.
 The time that each of these individuals spent in the care system varies, from less than one year to the full 18 years of childhood. The effects of these years in care can be long-lasting. Also, many care leavers experience discrimination towards those who have been in care, who see them as having been difficult, criminal or inadequate children. This is far from the truth. Even now, government figures show that over 60% of children are in care because they have been abused by others (usually their parents), while less then 5% are in care due to their own behaviour.
Many young care find major barriers to successful independent adult life. They are a disadvantaged group. However, we don't just focus on younger care leavers. We also care about issues affecting older care leavers. These issues include the effects of historic abuse and access to child care records.
It was for such reasons that, in 2000, the Care Leavers’ Association was formed. The CLA was based on members of the previous National Care Leavers Association and aimed to provide a group adult care leavers of all ages and to fight for support and justice for care leavers. Since then, we have tackled lots of issues, such as the abuse of children in care, the social stigma that care leavers face, the problems that many have in accessing their care files and the long-term effects of growing up in care.
From humble beginnings, we have become more organised and active and are both a registered company and a registered charity. We also have an in office in Manchester, two members of staff and a group of committed volunteers. We have members from all over the UK and some from other countries. However, there is still a lot do do.
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