Dear Editor
The recent Scottish Government report highlighting the work done to date on improving the lives of care-experienced children and young people is to be welcomed. There is however much to be done.
‘The Promise’ is a commitment that by 2030 all care-experienced children in Scotland will grow up loved, safe and respected, with the ability to reach their full potential.
Those in this category represent some of the most vulnerable members of our society, experiencing considerably fewer life chances than their peers, with poorer health and educational outcomes.
Recent data reinforce this, noting that the figures for exclusion of pupils who have been looked after in the past year are still between five and six times as high as the levels found across the total pupil population. This is despite a commitment that all formal and informal exclusions of care-experienced pupils would end. Scotland is still very far away from achieving that.
As a society, if we want to build a care system which has love and respect at its very heart, we must provide the resources necessary to ensure that that this group of individuals get the vital care and support they so desperately need.
Only through this can we ensure that ‘The Promise’ is kept.
Yours faithfully
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition:
Kenny Graham, Falkland House School
Lynn Bell, LOVE Learning
Stephen McGhee, Spark of Genius
Niall Kelly, Young Foundations
42 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh EH2 4HQ
Tel: 0131 603 8996
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