Care experts outline ambitions
Derren Hayes
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Care-experienced people want the Care Review to shape a system that better meets children’s needs.
Groups representing people with care experience of all ages have set out their hopes for how the Care Review will work and the issues it needs to address.
Josh MacAlister, the new chair of the Care Review, has pledged that the views of children, young people and adults with direct care experience of the children’s social care system will be “fully embedded” in the review’s work.
An “experts by experience” group made up of individuals who have had contact with a social worker – including children, parents, carers and extended family members – will be established to advise the review team, with the application process open already.
Charity Become has welcomed the emphasis on the views of care-experienced people; it’s chief executive Katharine Sacks-Jones says she hopes it will be “completely open to what they have to say”. In a statement, Become’s advisory group of young people adds: “We’ve seen how the care system works first-hand and, more than anyone, know how much it needs to improve so it doesn’t repeat the same mistakes for other young people. The review must involve people with lived experience at all stages and put our experiences and knowledge at the heart of this important review.”
The charity has announced that the all-party parliamentary group for looked-after children and care leavers, for which it acts as secretariat, will carry out a “spotlight inquiry” to bring together young people with care-experience and children’s practitioners to find solutions to inform the review.
The Our Care, Our Say group has published a report, Is This the Time People Are Actually Going to Listen?, setting out findings from a consultation of what changes to the care system care-experienced people of all ages want to see.
Many of those consulted for the report want to see care-experienced people central to leadership and decision making in the review team (see below). However, there are fears that people with direct experience of the system will be overlooked or marginalised, and the process not transparent.
Other concerns revolve around the scope and ambitions of the review, with worries that this could be limited by financial and political factors, not as transformational as promised or the recommendations simply ignored.
“There was a feeling that there was a history of recommendations for improvement already being ignored,” states the report.
The group has also set out key issues it wants to see the review address, covering the three phases of the care experience:
- Before care: Help should be available when it is needed and given early to prevent situations worsening, together with a strong feeling that more can be done to help struggling families. The resources of the wider family, friends and communities should be drawn upon more, and mental health treatment more readily available.
- In care: The participants highlighted the importance of creating a care system that provides love and stability. The ability to build and sustain personal relationships throughout the care journey is critical, respondents said, as is retaining relationships with siblings. “People did not want to feel treated like being part of a process or part of a business and called for more sensitivity to the distress being experienced and more respect – use of kind language and not being treated in a discriminatory way was very important,” it states.
- After care: There was strong opinion that stopping support at 25 was wrong as the experience of being in care had life-long impact and so support should be ongoing. “The system should be better attuned to the needs of people with care experience; particularly, better understanding and support from mental health and therapeutic services,” states the report. Support should be consistent across the country and more flexible in how it is made available for care leavers, while access to records made easier.
The report concludes by explaining that care-experienced people want to see a system that cares for the welfare of looked-after children and care leavers throughout their lives, drawing parallels with the relationship of the state to those who have served in the armed forces. It is the review’s challenge to ensure the voices of care-experienced people are now heard.
Care leaver and social worker on why system must change
By Selina Anderson
At the age of five, a social worker told me my mum was “not very well”. Despite help she couldn’t care for me, my brother or sister. She suffered a mental health breakdown and didn’t recover.
From eight to 18, we were fostered within our local community. Nothing could replace my family, but there was balance and I saw my mum and siblings.
As an adult I wanted to help others, so I became a social worker. I quickly found a lot of children’s experiences were different to mine. I work with amazing people but found the care system disjointed, underfunded and not always providing what children need.
I am excited that this review could change the system and outcomes for children in care for the better.
The Our Care, Our Say survey heard powerful messages about the impact of care being lifelong and learning from adults who have been in care. Changes of foster home, social worker, school and poor access to mental health and leaving care disparities are a problem.
It is clear the care-experienced community is ready for change and that every single one needs to be consulted as part of this review.
- Is This the Time People Are Actually Going to Listen? from https://ourcareoursay.wordpress.com