Stable homes consultation response

17 May 23

Coram Voice is committed to getting young voices heard in the decisions that matter to them, as part of that, we last week sent in our response to Stable Homes, Built on Love and the Children’s social care national framework and dashboard.

In our response we set out care experienced young people’s views on the strategy and what we think needs to happen to embed youth voice in the system.

In addition to responding to  the online consultation questions we produced two reports pulling together our feedback.

Feedback from ANV Ambassadors to the ambitions and missions

A National Voice (ANV) is the ‘National Children in Care Council’ for children in care and care leavers aged 11-26, every year a group of care experienced young people aged 16-25 are recruited from across the country to be our ANV Ambassadors and guide the work of the ANV.

Our Ambassadors have participated in a range of activities to inform the Government strategy, including sessions with representatives from the Department for Education working on the strategy.

There’s so many things that need to change around the foster care system. It is so important that the government, the people who have the power to make a difference, take some time to listen to children and young people who have experienced being in the care system. To them, this is just a job, but this is our lives.

(Chloe, ANV Ambassador and Chair of ANV)

This paper summarises what two groups of ANV Ambassadors spoke about on two separate occasions, February and April 2023, about Stable Homes, Built on Love.

(A summary of these views were included in Coram Voice response to the consultation)

How we believe the Department can work to Embed Youth Voice in the Children’s Social Care System

There is a commitment to the principle of youth voice throughout the Stable Homes, Built with Love strategy and National Framework, but not enough is said about how to make this promise a reality.

This paper highlights what our extensive experience of engaging care experienced children and young people has taught us about what needs to be in place for decision makers in children’s social care (and government) to hear and act on the voices of children and young people and what that may mean for an outcomes framework.

We need to move beyond principles to think about how youth voice can practically be embedded at all levels of decision making – individual (child’s own care), organisational (local authority and partners) and system (National Government).

In this paper we set out specific actions that should be taken to realise youth voice, in particular we make three key recommendations to inform the government’s implementation strategy and national framework:

1. Create a new mission to embed youth voice by putting in place the structures and systems to make the right to be heard a reality for all children and young people.

2. Focus more on making life better for children and young people by making well-being, as defined by children and young people themselves, a key pillar for children’s social care.

3. Support children and young people to be heard and safeguard their rights by giving them the information about their rights and providing opt out independent advocacy for all children and young people throughout and beyond the care system (including in child protection, kinship care, care leavers etc.)

 

Coram Voice response to the supported accommodation consultation

13 Apr 23

This month Ofsted starts registering Supported Accommodation providers so they can inspect homes for 16 and 17 years old in care next year. The Department for Education published new guidance and regulations last month. Coram Voice responded to the consultation and have supported young people to inform Ofsted’s work in this area.

Whilst we welcome some of the language of the quality standards that emphasise the importance of trusting relationships, feeling safe, young people’s voice, we remain concerned about the creation of regulations that specifies that some looked after children do not require care. The proposed framework focuses more on managing accommodation rather than providing a nurturing home environment. All children in care deserve to live in homes where they feel safe, settled and cared about.

We believe that the reforms reinforce a two-tier system of children’s social care where children in supported accommodation do not get the care children in other placements would get. We are concerned that this means that some vulnerable children and young people are not adequately supported.

In our Bright Spots research (Selwyn & Briheim-Crookall (2022) we found that a greater proportion of young people in residential care and living ‘somewhere else’ (mostly supported accommodation, but also other settings like prison or hospital) reported lower well-being, e.g. more did not feel safe where they lived, disliked their bedrooms, did not have a trusted adult, and felt the adults they live with did not notice how they were feeling.

Looked after children’s well-being by placement type

 

Through our Always Heard national advocacy helpline and safety net young people have told us about feeling unsafe in the places that they have been placed. Some young people responding to our Your Life Your Care survey also describe negative experiences in supported accommodation:

“I would live with nicer people. They just start all the time, arguing, fighting, shouting, I cannot sleep properly. I cannot cook in the kitchen because it is so dirty. You do not really feel human with social workers. They do not care.” (young person responding to Bright Spots survey)

Brigid Robinson said “We believe that children are children until they turn 18 and support should be consistent throughout their time in care. The state has a responsibility to ensure that all young people in care are provided care until they are adults. They should get the support and care they need to feel safe and thrive.”

Whilst we disagree with the reforms we will continue to support young people to have a voice as the framework is being developed. We believe it is essential that care experienced children and young people are given a platform to be heard when decisions are made that are important to their lives.

More children in kinship foster care rate their wellbeing as high compared with children in unrelated foster care

02 Mar 23

An analysis of the views and experiences of over 1,200 children and young people in kinship foster care in 38 local authorities is published today in a new report by Coram Voice and The Rees Centre, Department of Education, University of Oxford.

In the first analysis of its kind, The Views of Children and Young People in Kinship Foster Care on Their Well-being finds that on a number of wellbeing indicators, children (4-10 years) and young people (11-18 years) in kinship foster care were doing better or at least as well as those in unrelated foster care and that on some indicators they scored the same or better than their peers in the general population. These findings reinforce existing evidence that kinship care can be a positive experience for children who cannot remain with their birth parents and support current guidance to give preference to suitable placements with family and friends.

Relationships with kinship carers were generally very positive with the majority of children (94%) and young people (91%) reporting that their carers were sensitive to their feelings. One child (aged 8-10) said: “Nanny and Grandad help me with my worries, and they know when I’m sad.”

Nearly all (98%) of the youngest children (4-7 years), 89% of children aged 8-10 years, and 87% of young people aged 11-18 trusted their carers ‘always or most of the time’. More young people in kinship foster care also reported talking frequently to their carers about things that mattered to them compared with those in unrelated care (71% compared to 64%).

There were significantly more children (91%) and young people (87%) in kinship care having contact with at least one of their parents compared with children (87%) and young people (71%) in unrelated foster care, and felt their contact arrangements were ‘just right’. Young people in kinship foster care reported more positively that the things they did in life were worthwhile than those in unrelated foster care (74% compared to 67%). Having a sense of purpose and meaning in life is an important indicator of positive functioning and a protective factor against risky behaviours and poor mental health.

However, there are also a number of well-being indicators on which children and young people in kinship foster care score rated themselves lower than those in unrelated care. There is a common assumption that kinship care is less stigmatising than other forms of substitute care. Yet there was a higher percentage (over a quarter) of kinship children and young people who felt afraid to go to school because of bullying.

Compared to the 5% in unrelated foster care, significantly more of those in kinship foster care (8%) disliked their bedrooms. There were complaints of overcrowding and comments about their carers having financial difficulties. Lack of space may also have been a reason why fewer kinship children (65%) lived with a pet compared with 71% in unrelated foster care.

Relationships with social workers were more complicated. Fewer children in kinship foster care knew their social worker than those in unrelated care (87% compared to 92%). Some of the comments left by young people revealed that they thought the social worker was for their relatives and not for them and some did not know they had a social worker.

It was surprising that only half of those aged 11-18 years were placed directly with their kinship carer. More than a third (35%) had lived in two to four previous placements, and nearly one in ten (9%) had five or more placements before moving in with their kinship carer.

Recommendations

The report is the latest to be published as part of the Bright Spots programme*. Based on the research findings, the authors make eight key recommendations to improve policy and social work practice:

  • Ensure that every child knows who their social worker is, how to contact them and that social workers visit regularly and see children on their own.
  • Try to ensure that a child’s first placement is their only placement by searching for and assessing relatives or friends as quickly as possible.
  • Ensure children and young people have an age-appropriate understanding of why they are living with a kinship carer and support carers around how to talk sensitively to children about their past and the reasons why they are not living with their parents.
  • Review contact plans regularly with children and young people and make sure they know where to turn if they are unhappy with how often they are seeing key people in their lives.
  • Talk to children about how they feel about their homes and bedrooms and explore creative solutions to make things better if they are unhappy, for example, funding space saving furniture.
  • Support kinship carers with income maximisation and ensure they receive all the benefits and allowances they are entitled to.
  • Work with the kinship carer(s) and the family network to create a plan for the child’s care in case the kinship carer becomes unable to continue care, reassuring children that adults have planned and will keep them safe.
  • Work with schools so that children and staff become more aware of the needs of children in different types of care and consider how they can support children in kinship care with bullying.

Linda Briheim-Crookall, Head of Policy and Practice Development at Coram Voice, said: “These findings show that living with friends and family in kinship foster care can be a positive experience for children and young people who are unable to remain with a birth parent, and also supports current practice to prioritise these placements where possible. However, this analysis also clearly underlines the importance of not treating all children in care as if they are the same. Services need to carefully consider the areas of greater difficulty and complexity for kinship children such as accommodation, financial support, bullying at school and relationships with social workers.”

Julie Selwyn, Professor of Education and Adoption at The Rees Centre at University of Oxford, said: “Most children in kinship foster care are happy and feel that their lives are going well.  Yet too many start by having multiple placements. Social workers and agencies need to prioritise locating relatives and friends who are able to care for the child and ensure that there is adequate support to make it happen.”

Download the full report

Download key findings

Go to the Bright Spots Resource Hub page

The Story of New Belongings

14 Feb 23

A three-year co-production programme led by Coram Voice has demonstrated the value of local authorities engaging with young people to develop creative and innovative solutions for local care leavers.

The Story of New Belongings, published today, with support from the Esmee Fairbairn and Segelman Trusts, finds that the eight local authorities across England developed a range of successful local service improvements together with their care leavers in areas such as education and employment; emotional health and wellbeing; leaving care support services; and accommodation.

Gathering baseline evidence

At the start of the New Belongings project, the local authorities were supported by Coram Voice to better understand the views and experiences of their young people using the Your Life Beyond Care Survey*. In completing the survey, the young people sent a powerful message to their local authorities with a third (32%) of young people reporting that they did not feel safe where they lived, a similar figure (34%) reporting high levels of anxiety and one in five (20%) said they struggled to cope financially.

Co-produced solutions to the issues identified by young people

The local authorities used this baseline evidence to work with young people to co-produce solutions to the issues identified, including areas such as:

  • Emotional health and wellbeing: Wandsworth introduced specialist personal advisors with a background in mental health to bring a therapeutic approach to their work with young people experiencing acute difficulties.
  • Accommodation: Stockport developed a pilot scheme to provide ‘Ring’ video doorbells so that young people could see who was approaching their door and help them to feel safer.
  • Leaving care support services: North Yorkshire developed the “Always Here” scheme to extend to support to young people beyond the age of 25 in recognition that some care leavers wanted to keep in touch with their workers to share their successes in life or have someone to talk to when they experienced difficulties.

Local solutions as part of a national drive for improvement

The Story of New Belongings report follows the recent publication of the Department for Education’s implementation strategy in response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. The document sets out six missions to drive improvement. The New Belongings work shows how local authorities can work together with their care leavers to develop local solutions to the missions set out in the government’s plan.

Ofsted also recently expanded its evaluation criteria to include “young people’s views lead to improvements in services” as part of the experience and progress of care leavers. Through participation in New Belongings, these local authorities now have rich evidence to share with Ofsted.

Linda Briheim-Crookall, Head of Policy and Practice Development at Coram Voice, said: “To deliver the best support and services to care leavers you must work alongside young people. The New Belongings project shows what can be achieved when local authorities are committed to listen to their care leavers about what is important to them and take action together with young people to develop local solutions to local issues.

“Across England we need to shift the focus of children’s social care to embed participation and co-production with young people to ensure that services offered meet the needs that young people themselves identify. New Belongings is a structured and inspiring approach that can help local authorities on their journey towards improving services.”

Download the story of New Belongings

Find out more about New Belongings

 

Children and young people respond to care review recommendations on advocacy, independent visitors and protected characteristics

01 Dec 22

The views of care-experienced children and young people on recommendations set out in the independent review of children’s social care are uncovered in a new report published today (1 December 2022) by Coram Voice and the NYAS (National Youth Advocacy Service). The report follows a recent MP debate on the care review (24 November) and the government’s response to the review and implementation plan are expected in early 2023.

Today’s report summarises feedback from over 80 children and young people aged 8-25 years from 27 local authorities across England on three key areas of the care review: making care experience a protected characteristic, advocacy and Independent Visitors.

It shows that:

  • 60% of young people in favour of making care experience a protected characteristic, as 2 in 5 say they have been treated negatively because of their care experience
  • A third of children and young people in care don’t know how to get an advocate
  • A third of young people have not heard of Independent Visitors, despite legal right to receive one

Protected characteristics

The care review recommended making care experience a protected characteristic. Most young people (60%) supported this and were in favour of making care experience a protected characteristic. Some young people thought it would lead to a better awareness of the discrimination faced and an understanding of the impact of trauma. While there is support from young people for a protected characteristic, there are still many who are unsure (29%) and some do not favour this (11%).

Nearly 40% of children and young people who responded to the survey felt that they had been treated negatively as a result of being care experienced. One young person said: “People often assume that you are problematic and have many things wrong with you because you’re in care. They expect you to be aggressive and loud, when really you just want to be heard.”

Advocacy

The care review recommended that advocacy services should be opt out and all children and young people in care should be contacted by an advocate to offer support at key points in their lives. 31% of children and young people surveyed said they did not know how to get an advocate. It is more likely that children who are in contact with children’s rights organisations such as Coram Voice and NYAS would know about their right to advocacy, meaning that the proportion of all children in care in England who know how to get an advocate is likely to be much lower.

One young person said: “It can feel like you have to ‘fight’ for an advocate at the moment. It feels because the process was really difficult and not straightforward that having an advocate was something I weren’t meant to have. Therefore having one instantly helps this feel meaningful and like it matters.”

Of the children and young people surveyed, 64% reported needing an advocate to resolve issues with social workers and personal advisers, 53% needed an advocate to help with family contact issues and 47% needed an advocate due to issues with school or education. Children and young people felt it was important that they had access to advocates during reviews, especially if, as proposed in the care review, Independent Reviewing Officers (IROs) are removed. They also wanted advocates to be more proactive in contacting young people directly.

Independent Visitors

An Independent Visitor is a volunteer who spends time with a child or young person in care. For many children and young people, an Independent Visitor is the only adult in their lives who is not paid to spend time with them. The care review recommended that local authorities redesign Independent Visitor schemes to prioritise long-term relationships and involve wider communities but no tangible goals were set.

The report finds that a third of the young people surveyed have not heard of Independent Visitors and almost half don’t know how to get one. The young people who responded wanted an Independent Visitor who shared the same interests as them and highlighted the importance of long-lasting relationships with a degree of flexibility.

One young person said: “Being able to contact them anytime, and meet for occasional coffees etc. if needed. My IV would only meet me on the set date, relationships don’t have specific dates, they happen at any time.”

Recommendations

  • Advocacy: The government should implement the care review’s recommendation for an opt-out model of independent advocacy support, where children are automatically connected with an advocate when entering care and that this must be properly funded.
  • Independent Visitors: Services should be reimagined and redeveloped together with children and young people. This should include more flexible services that allow contact when young people want and need it and continue post 18. The government should set a legal duty for local authorities to actively offer children in care and care leavers an Independent Visitor or befriending service up to the age 25.
  • Protected characteristics: Government should prioritise consulting widely on care experience as a protected characteristic. As part of this, resources should be produced to explain in more detail to young people what a protected characteristic is and the implications of such a proposal.

Brigid Robinson, Managing Director for Coram Voice, said: “As the Government responds to the recommendations of the Independent Care Review it is essential that they take the views of children and young people into account. Only by listening to children in care and care leavers can the Government make sure that they design a system that will work for them. Children and young people are experts in their own lives. A big thank you to all who shared their expertise with us.

Rita Waters, NYAS Group Chief Executive, said: “The Care Review might have concluded, but our work continues to empower children and young people in decisions that affect them. The views of care-experienced children and young people must be at the heart of the Government’s response and implementation plan. We want to thank all the children and young people who shared their time, opinions and experiences with us to create this report and tell the Government how they feel.”

Read the report