Category: Publications

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

05 Jul 22

• Over 7,500 children and young people in care share their views and experiences on contact arrangements with their families.
• Over a fifth of children felt they saw their mums, dads and siblings too little
• Compared with foster and kinship care, more young people in residential. care were dissatisfied with how often they saw their family.
• Half of young people didn’t feel involved in decisions social workers made about their lives.

The views and experiences of over 7,500 children and young people in care on their contact with family members and impact on their wellbeing are uncovered in a new report published today by Coram Voice and The Rees Centre at University of Oxford*.

Staying Connected finds that nearly a third (31%) of children (aged 8-10) and a quarter (25%) of young people (aged 11-18) felt they were seeing their mothers too little, whilst over a fifth (22%) of children and 18% of young people felt they were seeing their fathers too little. 22% of children didn’t feel they had enough contact with their brothers and sisters, and this figure was higher for young people (31%). About one in five young people had no contact with either parent and this was particularly the case for those in residential care and boys.

Visits being arranged at inconvenient times, long distances, the costs of travel, their family’s circumstances, and workers failing to make necessary arrangements were among reasons cited by children and young people for seeing family less often than they wanted. Children in care who felt they saw family members too little reported feeling sad, angry and unsettled, while in contrast, those who felt contact arrangements were “just right” felt they were being listened to and looked forward to seeing their family.

One young person (aged 11-18) commented: “I want to see my family more. My social worker is supposed to be doing police checks. I have been here since September and the checks have not been done. It’s not like I can just visit. I live five hours from home.”

Whether children and young people felt that they saw parents often enough was statistically associated with length of time in care, type of placement and which local authority was caring for them. Analysis shows that young people (aged 11-18) in residential care more frequently reported that they had too little contact with family compared to young people in other types of placements. The number of placements experienced also had an impact, with 60% of young people who had only had one placement reporting they were satisfied with their contact frequency, compared to 39% who had experienced 11 or more placements.

In addition, 50% of young people surveyed did not feel involved in decisions social workers made about their lives, and half of the comments about involvement focused on contact arrangements. Children and young people commented on arrangements being inflexible, not changing as they got older or as their family’s circumstances changed. One child (aged 8-10) commented: “I used to see Mum and older brother three times a week. It has been cut down to once a week and this makes me sad. I don’t know why contact was cut down.”

Comments also highlighted that children and young people wanted to see extended family members, pets and other adults who were important to them, and that the key people in their lives were not always included in contact plans.

Staying Connected is the latest report to be published as part of the Bright Spots programme* and it makes seven key recommendations to improve policy and practice:

	Work with all children in care to identify the key relationships in their lives.
	Make arrangements for children and young people to maintain contact, develop relationships and reconnect with people who are important to them.
	Listen to and involve children and young people in decisions about the arrangements to see and keep in touch with family and others who are important to them.
	Keep children in care informed about their families, why they can or cannot see them, and what arrangements have been made for them to spend time together.
	Ensure plans are regularly reviewed and reflect the current circumstances, wishes and needs of children and young people and their families.
	Normalise family time whenever possible, minimising the use of contact centres and supporting children and families to meet in the community.
	Make sure the workforce has the skills and knowledge to prioritise and confidently support children in care to stay connected to the people who are important to them.

Linda Briheim-Crookall, Head of Policy and Practice Development at Coram Voice, said: “The recent Care Review suggested the primary objective of the care system should be promoting the formation of lifelong loving relationships around children in care and care leavers. This can only be achieved if more is done to build rather than break relationships with the people who are already important to children in care. Our research showed that there is still some way to go to make this happen.

“Services and workers must listen to children and young people about who they want to see, when and how and seek to make this happen. Children in care should have the opportunity to spend time with the people who are important to them doing everyday things like playing games, having a meal or going for a walk with the dog.”

Julie Selwyn, Professor of Education and Adoption at The Rees Centre at University of Oxford, said: “While previous UK research has emphasised that the quality of contact is more important than the frequency, from young people’s perspective frequency was equally, if not more important. Feeling contact was ‘just right’ was associated with higher levels of wellbeing. Staying connected to the important people in life is essential for children’s wellbeing. Greater efforts need to be made to ensure that this is achieved for all children in care.”

Read the full report

Learn more and use the findings:

• Read our Key findings and Recommendations report to give a quick overview of what the research found and how services might be improved
• Read the full Research Report to learn more in depth about what children and young people said.
• Download the Workshop template and Self-assessment and reflection sheet to explore and review how to address the findings and recommendations in your local area.
• Join our Lunchtime Learning Webinar on the 20 July to learn more about the findings.

Work with us

We have funding to work with a small number of local authorities to explore ways of implementing the Staying Connected recommendations – Email brightsport@coramvoice.org.uk if you are interested

We have helped over 60 local authorities understand what their children in care and care leavers feel about their well-being. Find out more becoming a Bright Spots partner.