Call for independent visitor scheme to be extended to 25
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Independent visitors, who offer emotional support to looked-after children, should be made available to all those with experience of care until they are 25, according to the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS).
Access to the trained volunteers is currently a statutory entitlement for children in care up to the age of 18.
But NYAS warns that the scheme is not being used by young people as the current age cut off hinders their opportunity to build a relationship with independent visitors.
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Care Review: key proposals for the children’s services workforce
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Putting the Care Pledge into Practice
Its Across the Border report warns that just 3.3 per cent of children in care in England and only one per cent in Wales have an independent visitor.
It also warns that many care-experienced young people are not aware of their right to be supported by an independent visitor.
“We believe children and young people should have that right extended up to the age of 25 so that more children can grow up with the support of a friend,” said NYAS policy and communications director Ben Twomey.
The aim of the independent visitor scheme is to provide children with a “trusting and positive relationships with an adult who is not a professional in their lives”, says the NYAS’s report.
“Positive childhood experiences are when children and young people are made to feel safe, respected, and listened to,” the report adds.
“Research has shown if children and young people regularly experience one or two positive childhood experiences growing up, then their ability to recover from or cope with significant stresses improves.”
Today, NYAS has released the Summer 2022 instalment of #AcrosstheBorder 🏴🏴
— NYASservices (@NYASServices) September 6, 2022
In our latest report we look at the difference in laws across England and Wales relating to #IndependentVisitors 📣
Learn more ➡️ https://t.co/BEOPg2VcHa@IV_Network #IndependentVisitorNetwork pic.twitter.com/8Wxht9Q508
NYAS’s call follows a recommendation made in the independent children’s social care review calling for the scheme to be “reimagined” to focus on relationship building with children.
The review is calling for greater partnership working between councils and communities to develop befriending and mentoring programmes through the scheme.
The review also warned that children from ethnic minority groups are “disproportionately more likely to be on waiting lists” to access an independent visitor.
