Funding from the Learning and Skills Council is helping young parents to turn their lives around. The Care to Learn scheme, which provides support and childcare costs so young parents can study, has, according to independent research, made a significant difference to thousands of lives.
Care to Learn is an integral part of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy, which aims to double the number of young parents in learning by 2010. It is crucial they do not miss out on education or training because of financial barriers such as the cost of childcare.
Care to Learn pays the cost of childcare direct to providers up to a maximum of 155 per child per week (170 in London) for any young parent under 20, who must use Ofsted-registered childcare and can be participating in any form of publicly-funded learning.
In 2005/06 we supported more than 4,900 young parents with childcare costs and they studied a diverse range of courses including IT programming, nursing, airport skills and business studies. Our evaluation shows that 90 per cent of young parents would not have gone back into learning without the support of Care to Learn.
Childcare providers are crucial to the success of our scheme. Young parents are sometimes apprehensive about leaving their babies with strangers, and look for support and trust. Knowing there is a guaranteed source of funding for childcare and knowing their babies are being well looked after, to nationally approved standards, gives them confidence to take that first step back into learning.
There is a Care to Learn booklet for parents and providers as well as a Code of Practice specifically for childcare providers. This gives tips and advice on working with young parents, highlighting key issues which may arise. Details are available on our website www.dfes.gov.uk/caretolearn or by our helpline, 0161 234 7269.
