Our Insight paper: ‘Challenging Stigma in the care system’, shares what children and young people have told us about stigma, what they want to see from services and gives examples of how local authorities have worked with children in care and care leavers to challenge stigma.
Key messages from children and young people
Change the language of social care
Don’t use words that make us feel different. Help us feel normal by avoiding acronyms and words that do not make sense to us.
Change ways of working
Get rid of ways of working that mark us out as different from other children and young people.
Let us manage our care status
Let us control who knows about our care status and how we share this – do not identify us with your actions (wearing badges, taking us out of class for meetings) or words (referring to carers, looked after status).
Let me own my story
Train foster carers, social workers, independent reviewing officers and personal advisers to discuss our care status with us, and empower us to take charge of our own stories.
Offer training to our teachers
Train and support teachers to understand what it is like to be in care, to give us opportunities to be trusted (such as taking the register or showing visitors around), and to not single us out in the classroom as children in care.
Promote positive messages
Recognise our potential, praise us when we do well and work with us to promote positive messages about children in care and care leavers.