Care Review chair to ‘join children’s commissioner on children’s home visits’
Fiona Simpson
Wednesday, March 17, 2021
The chair of the Care Review will accompany the children’s commissioner for England on visits to children’s homes as part of the newly announced Children’s Commission, Rachel De Souza has said.
Speaking to CYP Now, De Souza said she and MacAlister had held “discussions” about the influence of the newly announced Childhood Commission on the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
“I have spoken to Josh about my plans and he will come with me to visit children’s homes and learn about the children’s experiences later down the line,” she said, but added that it was not yet clear if the work would influence the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
De Souza said that a raft of inquiries and examinations into various aspects of services affecting children was “clearly a positive step forward, especially for the most vulnerable”.
Some of those announced in recent weeks include the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) examination of children’s social care provision and the education select committee’s review of children’s homes as well as a “spotlight inquiry” by the APPG for looked-after children and care leavers into the care system.
“My role is to champion the rights of children, especially the most disadvantaged children who may not have had the best start in life," she said.
“The needs of these children have at times been overlooked and we have the opportunity now to help create a brighter future for these children who have been really badly hit by the pandemic.”
De Souza also warned that supporting children out of the pandemic meant not defining them by their experience.
“Some of the really early evidence we’ve had is children saying they are worried about being referred to as a “lost generation”, they are worried about their education and their employment and opportunities,” she added.
De Souza also highlighted the importance of including the voices of all children in the Childhood Commission vowing to target children in children’s homes, the youth custody estate and children’s mental health units.
She also noted the need to tackle poverty, including food poverty, affecting children and families.
The children’s commissioner praised the temporary extension of free school meals and the £20 Universal Credit uplift until September but said this was “not the only way” to support disadvantaged families.
“I’m not going to say this is the only option,” she said, “for example, I’ve just been looking at the £120m for the holiday food and activities programme from the Department for Education and that’s great. These are families we should and will be supporting but there is not just one way to do it.”