Campaigners welcome inclusion of children’s rights in Care Review
Nina Jacobs
Friday, November 26, 2021
Children’s rights will be officially included in a Care Review framework that draws up new proposals to reform children’s social care, following a successful campaign by sector leaders.
The move means the review, which has entered its penultimate stage of work, will carry out a children’s rights impact assessment (CRIA) before issuing any of its recommendations to the government.
It follows a campaign earlier this year by a coalition of organisations working with and for children and young people for the review to publicly commit to upholding the principles and provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
The coalition said this led to the review announcing that it was “unequivocal” in its support for the convention before declaring that children’s rights would now be enshrined in its policy-making process.
CRIAs are used to ensure government policy, legislation and budgeting are consistent with international children’s rights standards and avoid measures which breach those requirements.
They are a mechanism which can be used to consider the potential impact of public policy on children’s rights thereby fulfilling obligations under the UNCRC and other treaties and domestic legislation, the coalition said.
The group, which includes representative bodies with more than 150 member organisations and thousands of social workers and lawyers across the sector, is co-chaired by directors from the National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) and children’s rights charity Article 39.
Ben Twomey, NYAS’s director of policy and research and co-chair of the Alliance for Children in Care and Care Leavers, said the sector had been united in its call for children’s rights to be at the heart of the care review.
“We welcome this commitment from the review team to measure the impact of their recommendations.
“This ‘once-in-a-generation’ review must seize the opportunity to strengthen and expand rights, entitlements and protections for all care-experienced children and young people,” said Twomey.
Carolyne Willow, Article 39 director and founder of the Together for Children network, said the UNCRC was essential for ensuring that every child had a fulfilling and safe childhood which allowed them to reach their potential.
“It respects children for the people they are today, and places obligations on governments to ensure laws, financial decision-making and policies work for children and their families.
“As we reach the 30th anniversary of the UK ratifying the convention, it’s absolutely right that the review uses the treaty as a framework for assessing the extent to which potential recommendations could help to fulfil the government’s obligations towards children and their families, or take us backwards,” she said.
The review, which launched its Call for Ideas in November asking young people, families and professions to submit their solutions to issues facing the children’s social care system, is due to present its final proposals next spring.
