I was placed in an adult hostel at 17 – and I can tell you, the British state is an appalling parent | Rebekah Pierre

If you failed your child so miserably, there would be criminal proceedings – but not for this shameless government

Have you ever been so hungry you became delusional? I have, when as a child in care I was placed in a hostel a few months after finishing my GCSEs. I remember rummaging through old birthday cards in the futile hope of finding a tenner.

Despite my benefits and the job I did alongside school, I could not afford food and electricity – let alone books, school trips, or clothes. I once wrote an essay with a candle in one hand and a pen in the other. But the lack of human connection hurt most. In my first year of sixth form, I was in hospital for four days before “support” staff realised I was gone. I was 17, hooked to a drip, alone and terrified.

Rebekah Pierre is a care-experienced author and freelance writer

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