Everyone agrees that outcomes for children in care must improve, but what changes should the green paper on looked-after children bring? Jon Scott finds out what young people and professionals are looking for.

The new parliamentary under secretary of state for children andfamilies, Parmjit Dhanda, appointed in last week's wide-rangingministerial reshuffle, does not have long to get to grips with hisministerial brief, especially with regards to looked-after children.This is because, come the summer, he is widely expected to draw up agreen paper that sets out the Government's vision of what's needed totransform the lives of the 60,000-plus children in care in the UK(Children Now, 1-7 February).

Exactly how the minister decides to spread the ink will matter. Not justbecause he (and, by extension, the Government) is the ultimate corporateparent to these thousands of looked-after children, but also becausethere is so much to fix. For instance, six out of 10 young offendershave been in care and, in 2005, only 10.8 per cent of looked-afterchildren achieved the equivalent of five GCSEs at A* to C.

- John Kemmis, chief executive of Voice, is strident in his summary ofthe situation. "The state as a parent is still doing a much worse job incaring for young people than natural parents would do, and theresponsibility for this failure lies with the whole system, from theminister down," he states.

Yet the consensus of many children's professionals is that much of thelegislation that's needed to change this sorry state of affairs isalready in place. Many point to the 2004 Children Act, for example,which requires local authorities to improve looked-after children'seducation. The task for Dhanda now, they say, is to ensure consistency,and a multi-faceted approach to the challenges facing thesechildren.

According to Susanna Cheal, chief executive of The Who Cares? Trust:"The legislation is already there, but there needs to be strategicdirection from the top down. Only then do you have a good chance ofreconciling stable placements with educational achievement and are ableto concentrate not just on quantifiable measures like exams, but also onissues outside the classroom such as whether there are any mental healthneeds that need to be addressed.

"So we need a consistent stance from lead people in local authorities.And to get consistency, we need a robust approach from Government tocomplement the legislation and in some cases bring about a culturechange."

The next step forward

However, Kath Tunstall, Bradford Council's director of social services,is upbeat about the minister's chances. "Hopefully, the Government willbuild on the good work of the Quality Protects initiative, whichestablished the notion of the corporate parent," she says. "It's allabout taking that next step forward with statutory responsibility on awhole range of agencies to improve the outcomes and life chances forlooked-after children, whether through training, employment oraffordable housing."

In fact, it's widely expected that when the green paper on looked-afterchildren does appear later this year, it will largely focus oneducation. And yet, according to the young people and professionals whoshared their wish lists with Children Now, this will not be enough onits own. Time and again, these interviewees stressed, educationalachievement is more than exams and schoolwork; it's also about a stablehome life, a lack of emotional turmoil, and a perception of safety.

So here's what they'd like to see Dhanda consider, and include, when hecomes to write that all-important green paper.

- Janet Rich business director, the Bryn Melyn Group - "Some localauthorities are not meeting their statutory obligations for pathwayplanning and even those that are often accelerate the process.

So we have youngsters aged 16 and one day expected to live independentlyin bed and breakfast accommodation, some nine years before the nationalaverage leaving-home age of 25. Ninety per cent of the problem isresources.

Social services budgets are massively squeezed, and naturally localauthorities push children out the other end as soon as they can, to makeway for their new intake. This green paper should ensure there are theresources to provide accommodation and an adequate grant for all careleavers.

"It also needs to tackle education. Now that Government has noticedchildren in care fare less well, it's concentrating on looked-afterchildren getting five GCSEs. What about those children with seriousdifficulties, who haven't a hope of even getting one GCSE? This kind oftarget chasing has also meant cases of children being moved into newaccommodation within a county boundary in a frantic attempt to improvethings on paper for that year. Local authorities need to be able to takea two- or three-year approach, so children do not suffer because oftargets."

Craig Chung; Nejada Bena; Sammy Berhane; Mitchelle Sinclair; KeyyahAbbabeya care leavers from Westminster Ask the question: what should theGovernment do in the forthcoming green paper?, and the opinions ofrecent care leavers who attend Westminster City Council's accommodationand leaving care team meetings underline just how much they cancontribute to the debate. Especially when their views are as clear asthose of 20-year-old Craig Chung (pictured far left): "People in careshould move around less," he says matter-of-factly and with good reason.Craig has lived in nine separate places over the last 12 years. Thanksto his social worker of four years, this turbulent existence is at anend and Craig has recently moved into his own flat. "My social workerunderstands how I think and so we get on," he adds.

Unfortunately not all Craig's peers experience such harmony. MitchelleSinclair, 18, had six social workers in three years: "Social workersneed to understand that everyone's situation is unique," she says.

"But all mine treated me the same way. My situation is really complexand involves immigration, but they didn't try and understand it. Maybeit's because they're getting bigger and bigger caseloads and areunder-staffed."

Lack of resources is also an issue for Nejada Bena, 18 (picturedcentre): "We need more funding," she says simply. "Money is very tightif you're living on your own. I have no-one else to rely on, no parentsto borrow the odd tenner from. I get 45 benefit a week, but thathas to pay for absolutely everything in my life; utility bills, food,and phone calls. I'm a student, but worry the whole time about money,which affects my studies."

For Keyyah Abbabeya, 18, her studies are hampered by anothershortage.

"I'm doing A-levels in chemistry, business and maths, so I really need acomputer," she says. "However, the funding for computers has run out, soI have to use an internet cafe - and pay for it. And when teachers giveout CD-Roms, I can't access them."

Like Mitchelle, Sammy Berhane, 19 (pictured near left), has also been intouch with immigration. He was given exceptional leave to remain inBritain when he arrived five years ago from Eritrea, but sympathiseswith those whose circumstances are less clear-cut.

"Most universities say you must be able to show you can stay here atleast three years before they offer you a place," he says. "A lot ofpeople don't know where they stand, so can't enrol. The wholeimmigration process needs speeding up."

Robert Tapsfield chief executive, The Fostering Network - "It'sessential the Government recognises the centrality of foster carers totransforming outcomes, and commits to supporting, valuing and enablingfoster parents as key agents of children's achievements. For instance,fostering services need the ability to provide extra educational supportfor children who start falling behind but do not meet the criteria oflearning difficulties with the immediacy and enthusiasm that naturalparents would offer.

"Northern Ireland now has a policy, foster carers as first educators,which gives foster parents access to a fixed amount of money foreducational purposes. I'd like to see the same in England, with 1,000 per year per person."

Hilton Dawson chief executive, Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa - "My mainhope for this green paper is that the Government emphasises theenforcement of the current and very thorough legislation it already hasat its disposal.

"What we've got is quite good enough, but we're not yet making it work.Strengthen what's already there and we'll make a huge difference topeople's lives.

"The issues of looked-after children should not be a big problem, yet itpersists. The key is to ensure that local authorities - and by that Imean the whole corporate local authority - take on the full role ofcorporate parenting, rather than leave it to the frontline staff like itdoes at present."

Maxine Wrigley national co-ordinator, A National Voice - "When wesurveyed 150 young people and asked them which out of 20 topics theythought the most important, education came top by far. So many childrenmiss school for various reasons, and these children should receive asmany hours' one-to-one tuition as they have missed at school.

"I'd also like to see financial rewards on offer for academic success,and designated teachers with specific responsibility for looked-afterchildren, not just in schools but in all types of further education aswell.

"Similarly, foster parents should be trained and paid properly to matchthe incredible job they do. There needs to be a specialised trainingbody for foster parents, creating an NVQ-type national minimumstandard."

Jonathan Stanley principal officer, the National Centre for Excellencein Residential Child Care, National Children's Bureau - "The uniqueneeds of looked-after children are still not being consistentlyunderstood, especially their need for attachment, which impacts on theiremotional wellbeing, their ability to learn, and so on. It's crucialthat everyone in children's services receives training on theserequirements so we can develop suitable assessments and means ofcommunication. Also, specific skill sets are necessary for the educationof looked-after children, which must be spread around the country."

Steve Murray manager of the education support team, Walsall - "I'd liketo see funding ringfenced for the education of looked-after children,and a stronger emphasis on the educational attainment agenda from thecorporate parent perspective.

Those of us central to the whole agenda are not clear where the fundingis at the moment. And it can be difficult to reach targets that don'ttake account of the previous very poor life experiences of manylooked-after children. It may be easier if we had targets thatdemonstrated a year-on-year improvement."

Roger Morgan children's rights director, the Commission for Social CareInspection - "For me, choosing placements is an issue. If asked what isthe most important thing for social workers to get right, childrenalways say the first placement. When a decision has been made to findaccommodation for a child, there needs to be at least two placements tochoose from. And, in case the initial placement does not work out, aback-up needs to be readily available. Not everyone gets on, so moving achild somewhere else should not be seen as a drastic step. Butalternative accommodation needs to be there waiting."

John Hill national project manager, What Makes the Difference? "We needclarification of the corporate parenting role, with screwed-down detailsto complement the more prevalent strategic visions. Local authoritychildren and young people's plans have broad targets within anintegrated framework, but they tend not to reflect what you or I as aparent would do for our children.

"I'd also like to see the range of national indicators extended up tothe age of 21, instead of stopping at 18 as they do now. The Children(Leaving Care) Act 2000 states that local authorities should be stayingin touch with children up to the age of 21, or 24 if they go ontofurther education, yet too many kids who are 19, 20 or 21 don't have anypathway plan, and never hear from their local authority.

"Lastly, I'd like to see the lead worker role better promoted simplybecause the role of social workers has changed so much. A child in caremay have up to a dozen people working on their behalf, yet no one personwill be in constant contact with that child, building a relationship andacting as a parent. We need to redress that."

Paul Fallon co-chair, the Association of Directors of Social Services'children and families committee and head of children's services atBarnet Council - "I'd like to see tangible support for building localcapacity of foster care, so we can recruit good foster carers in theareas we need them. At the moment, we don't just have a shortage offoster carers, we also have an uneven geographical spread. It's aneconomics thing; the Treasury should get involved and come up withincentives: mortgage breaks for foster carers, for example, oreligibility for key worker housing schemes. The green paper may have afocus on education, but it needs to also address the basic buildingblocks beneath education, so we can give children stable placements and- from that - continuity in their lives."

Barbara Hutchinson acting chief executive, the British Association forAdoption & Fostering - "There's a lot of talk of placement stability,but the importance of foster carers does not seem to be acknowledged. SoI'd like the green paper to recognise their contribution, especially aswe can no longer rely on purely voluntary foster parents. Demographicsand the fact that people need to work mean we must look at the true costof high-quality foster care, and be prepared to pay for it. It's notenough to have the same number of potential foster parents as there arechildren. We're never going to achieve stability unless there is a poolof foster carers from which to choose. And ultimately the system needsto be financed to retain suitable foster parents."

Anthony Douglas chief executive, the Children and Family Court Advisoryand Support Service - "Looked-after children in the system for more thanthree months should be able to queue-jump public services. They'rebottom of the pile in terms of life chances and unless there's awholesale commitment across the entire system, their disadvantages willnever be redressed.

"The green paper seems set to focus on education, but life's also abouthealth, training, employment, and dealing with obstacles such as mentalhealth. At the moment, the sheer scale of the problem is not beingrecognised. Recent neuro-scientific work shows how brain growth can bestunted by discontinued attachments and emotional change. We don't yethave the solutions in the public system, and placement stability won'timprove until we do."