Until ten years ago anyone coming out of local authority care at the age of 16 was left to fend for themselves.

Now, it is a completely different story as Graeme Hetherington discovered when he spoke to one teenager who has successfully turned her life around.

WHEN she was 12, Katie-Lee Armstrong was taken into care. Her mother, after years of struggling with inner demons, was finally forced to admit that she was losing her fight against alcohol and drugs.

Katie-Lee clung to the hope that things would get better, that one day she would be able to return home to a parent free of the substance abuse that had driven them apart.

But her dreams of a “happy-ever-after” ending were not to be. Katie-Lee’s mother died a year after her children were taken into care and she became a permanent fixture in the care system.

For her, there was to be no happy ending.

Despite lofty aims and a deluge of wellintentioned legislation, outcomes for older children in care remain depressingly bleak.

More than half of all youngsters in care leave school with no formal qualifications. In 2006, only 12 per cent got 5 A*- C grade GCSEs, compared with 59 per cent of all children. Only six per cent entered higher education.

Critics say the state’s inability to bridge the gap between a stable family and the care system is a social injustice that shames our country.

Worse, the figures appeared to back up the argument that a broken care system is turning out an underclass of angry, disaffected young people with no prospects – blighted from the moment they entered the system.

Twenty per cent of women who leave care between the ages of 16 and 19 become mothers within a year, compared with only five per cent of the total population. Parents who have been through the system are twice as likely to have their own children taken into care.

No wonder social workers see taking a child into care in this country as something to be avoided at all costs.

However, in Europe, state care is not seen as some kind of choice of last resort but a promising alternative for families going through a tough time.

Could the UK follow their example?

WHEN the Children Leaving Care Act came into force in 2000 it meant that vulnerable young people were no longer left to their own devices when they turned 16 – they now receive support and assistance from social services up to the age of 24.

Katie-Lee was one of the first to benefit and today she is an shining example of what can happen when the care system works.

After leaving care at 16, she came under the remit of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council’s Target Leaving Care Team.

“It’s like a big family,” says Katie-Lee. “They are there when you need support and they are there to offer you advice. I haven’t always been the best person while I have been in care, but everyone has always supported me. Whenever I asked for something, I don’t always get it but I do always get an explanation for the decision – they really are like a parent in that way.”

One of the most important aspects of the regulation ensures that young people such as Katie-Lee have their own personal advisor, who they can turn to in times of need.

“There is always someone there to talk to and get advice from,” she says. “They have helped me with loads of different things. If I get stuck somewhere, they organise a way of getting home, or if I need to get to an interview, they are always available to help out.”

Personal advisors work on a flexible basis, covering group and project work, meetings and one to one home visits, outside of these hours.

For several years Katie-Lee has worked closely with advisor Vicky Thompson to help build her confidence.

Katie-Lee says: “With help from Target I enrolled on a health and social care course at Redcar College, but after 18 months I realised that it wasn’t really for me.

“Instead of going to college, I decided I wanted to get a job and I got loads of help and support from Vicky. She helped me with my interview technique and managed to keep me calm before the actual interview.

“When I came out I wasn’t confident that I would get the job, but Vicky had no doubts at all.”

Now, 18, Katie-Lee is a youth worker at the Doorways centre, in Saltburn, and believes her life experiences were vital to help her secure the job at a facility which offers young people, aged between 13 and 25, the chance to develop their emotional and physical capabilities.

“It’s a good thing to have got the experiences that I have because they helped me get the job.

I will be working with young people who are or have been in a similar position to me and I can easily relate to them,” she says.

KATIE-LEE took the brave decision to talk about her life as part of National Care Leavers Week.

The fact remains that long-term outcomes remain bleak for many young people. A third of care-leavers aged 19 are not in education, employment or training, but, thanks to innovations like the Target Leaving Care Team, the situation is improving.

Katie-Lee has some simple advice. “If you keep going, you are going to get somewhere.

Don’t let anything stop you – you have to keep going,” she says.

Now living with her grandmother in Dormanstown, Katie-Lee is looking to the future with renewed hope: “I don’t know what I’ll do in the future because I like a challenge – I like to see what I am capable of achieving.”

■ Anyone wanting to access the facilities at Target can call at a drop-in centre in Milbank Road, Redcar, Monday to Thursday, from 8.30am to 5pm (staying open until 7pm on alternate Wednesdays) Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm and Saturday 9am to noon.

Young people in the Saltburn area can call into the Doorways centre, in the train station buildings, Monday to Fridays between 10am and 5pm.