Greater Manchester leads the way on recognising care experience
Paul Marshall
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
When the Greater Manchester combined arrangements were created in 2010, they were founded upon the belief that the region's 10 local authorities could achieve more together than separately.
The combined authority has always placed a strong focus on children and young people, including vulnerable groups, and our latest decision epitomises that: we are proud to be the first group of authorities to adopt a list of pledges written by people who have been in care that sets out how to improve the experience for children in care now.
The infrastructure has created a wonderful platform for enabling the different children's services authorities to work together. Bold moves, such as that spearheaded by mayor Andy Burnham of making bus travel free for 16- to 18-year-olds to support their ability to engage and contribute to society, have already been made.
At the heart of this is the pioneering Greater Manchester Children's Care Leaver Trust Board. This brings together elected members and the private and public sector from all 10 local authorities to share ideas and best practice. It is a collaboration founded on the principle of ensuring the very best outcomes for children and families in need.
Fundamental to our approach is the belief that every council has expertise to contribute in some area, even though they may be finding things challenging in others. So the collaborative arrangement between the 10 authorities seeks to capture best practice and leadership wherever it sits.
From an early stage, the board has focused on children in care and care-leavers. After hearing about the Care Experienced Conference, we spoke with the organisers who helped us see that the emerging findings from the conference and the key issues identified from the event chimed well with what we were thinking of doing next.
TOP 10 MESSAGES FROM THE CARE EXPERIENCED CONFERENCE
- We need more love in the care system, including displays of positive physical affection
- We need to be seen as individuals worthy of respect more than we are
- Relationships are critically important
- Instability and loss of continuity is made worse through no fault of ours by pressure in the care system
- Mental health and wellbeing are our biggest worries and the most urgent things that have to improve
- The impacts of the care experience do not end at 18, or 21, or even 25
- Our sense of who we are is vital. Our family, heritage and history are uniquely ours and must be protected
- Having our say is essential
- We have legal rights and entitlements and we are not always told what they are
- Nobody knows more about what it means to be in care than we do.
The Pledge
When the organisers approached us to test out the idea of a "Pledge" based upon the Top 10 Messages from the conference, it exemplified what we were aspiring to - so well in fact that we decided to use this as our framework for improving our dealings with children in care, and with care-experienced people.
We were struck by the potential power of one element of the Pledge which says that we will invite care-experienced people to contribute.
It is estimated that nationally, there are 400,000 people who have spent time in care - so in Greater Manchester there are probably 20,000 people with experience of care. It is this pool of wisdom and experience that we want to draw upon to improve things going forward. We want that opinion about how well we're doing and what we need to work harder at.
We pride ourselves on speaking plainly, so we have no doubts that people will tell us what they really think. This will be an honest sounding board which we know will make a real difference.
The Care Experienced Conference reports capture in great detail what was said by over 150 people from all over the country who gave their views. It's vital we use that reservoir of wisdom to make things better for the future.
I have seen no better expression of the important issues facing young people in care and care-leavers than those captured in these important reports.
It's now up to those in positions of authority and responsibility to make use of this valuable resource to change things for the better.
Greater Manchester are proud to be leading the way through the adoption of this Pledge and we urge others nationally to follow.
For more, visit www.careexperiencedconference.com/