Exploring looked after young people's views on their foster carers and their influences on their futures, in relation to Continuing Care.

Previous research has highlighted the benefits that interactional relationships between looked after young people and their foster carers can have in terms of their behavioural and emotional well-being, subsequently impacting the stability of placement. This small-scale qualitative study aims to progress previous research by exploring young person's perspectives on their foster carers, and whether they believe their relationships to be of value in terms of their futures. Four looked after young people aged between 16 and 18 years old were interviewed. Through the realms of an interpretivist standpoint this study has explored the views of looked after young people in regards to their foster carers. The key findings of this research have highlighted that these young people value their carers and the relationships they have developed. The young people further expressed their thoughts on how they believed the time they have spent within the placements of their current carers has provided them with a support network. From this, the young people were able to convey the confidence they felt that their foster carers would be able to support them in terms of their futures.ba_psysocunpub2929_ethesesunpu