I work as a children's safeguarding social worker. I am a care experienced member of the LGBTQ+ community, having been in foster care for close to 10 years in my childhood and now being classed as a care leaver. My main research focus is centred around how social workers and those acting as 'corporate parents' can best support young people who identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community while in foster care.

As a young person I explored my own identity while in the care of my local authority and found there to be a lack of understanding from the professionals on what to do, what they are allowed to do, and what best practice was to support me. Now I am working as a children's social worker and facing the same challenges my social workers faced in knowing how to help young people going through a similar experience.

The overall aim of my research is to explore what currently exists in the UK in terms of guidance: how effective is this and how well is it understood by those working with these young people? Alongside this, what can we learn from those in other countries that are already supporting this growing number of young people?