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.
42 organisations across Scotland will benefit from £4 million funding to deliver projects that will help children, young people and families in the care system.
Administered by the Corra Foundation, the second round of The Promise Partnership Fund will be split across third sector and public organisations that prioritise work to:
build supportive workforces that can provide the unique support for young people and families in the care system to thrive
create school structures that provide support, opportunities and a sense of belonging
enhance youth justice and rights to reduce and prevent the criminalisation of children and young people with care experience
The announcement marks the beginning of Care Experienced Week, when people come together to advocate for change and encourage the transformation required to Keep The Promise.
Minister for Keeping the Promise Natalie Don said: “The Promise Partnership Fund is crucial in supporting organisations to make the changes needed to enrich the lives of children and young people in or on the edges of care.
“Care Experienced Week starts today and is a key opportunity for Scotland to come together to celebrate and show our love for children and young people who have experienced care.
“I am determined we keep driving forward the transformational change that is required to Keep The Promise and make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up, where all children are loved, safe, respected and realise their full potential.”
In 2022 the Scottish Government appointed Corra to administer £12 million through the Promise Partnership Fund from December 2022 until March 2025.
The 42 successful organisations are:
Aberdeenshire Council Virtual Headteacher
Adoption UK
Angus Carers Association
Association for Fostering, Kinship and Adoption Scotland
Bright Light Relationship Counselling
Children 1st
Children and Families Service, Dundee City Council
Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice
Children in Scotland Ltd
Circle
City of Edinburgh Council – Childrens Partnership
City of Edinburgh Council – Parent Panel
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Community Law Advice Network
Cyrenians
Families Outside Limited
Fife Council
Fostering People Scotland
Highland Child Protection Committee
Home-Start UK
includem
Kirkcaldy YMCA
Moray Council
Napier University Development Trust (Hub for Success)
North Lanarkshire Council
Project Esperanza
Renfrewshire Council
Salvesen Mindroom Centre
Scotland Yard Adventure Centre (known as The Yard)
Scottish Attachment in Action
South Ayrshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council
Staf
Stirling Community Enterprise
Stirling Council
The Fostering Network
The Princes Trust
The Why Not? Trust
West Dunbartonshire Health and Social Care Partnership
Harbour Homes is working with Cairn Housing Association to create 306 homes at Granton Harbour (Plot S), which are due to welcome their first tenants in autumn 2023. There will be 96 affordable properties for Harbour Homes to provide social housing and 130 Harbour Lettings homes for mid market rent. The remaining 80 properties will be social rent homes for Cairn Housing Association.
A seven-bedroom independent living home and office space with an adjoining one-bedroom flat are also being built for Dean and Cauvin Young People’s Trust to support people in the care system. Dean and Cauvin provide accommodation for young people (from ages 15-21) as well as supporting their transition to living independently.
Pamela Kidd (left), Chief Executive at Dean and Cauvin and Harbour Group Chief Executive Heather Kiteley (right).
Following a visit to the site Heather Kiteley, Group Chief Executive of Harbour (formerly Port of Leith Housing Association), said: “This development is going to offer so much to the local community in Granton and continue our dedication to providing affordable homes in Edinburgh.
“The progress that has been made at this site is great to see and I can’t wait to see the finished high-quality homes.”
Jason MacGilp, Cairn Housing Association Chief Executive, commented: “It is great to see the progress of this important development and we are looking forward to its completion this year.
“Our thanks go to the contractor team at CCG for their hard work on this high-quality scheme. Cairn are delighted to be working in partnership with Harbour Homes and with the City of Edinburgh Council to make a positive contribution to meeting housing needs and the wider regeneration of the waterfront.”
Young adults who visited the site and will be moving into Dean and Cauvin’s unit said: “We’re looking forward to fewer stairs, better beds, having double glazing and having better showers. Excited to be the first group of people to be staying there. Great that it’s next to the seaside!”
Staff from Dean and Cauvin commented: “There will be nicer conditions for staff and it will be good to have a nicer sleep-in room for staff.
“The new office being on the ground floor will mean it is closer to the main living space so everyone can stay connected. It should feel much more like a home. Bigger windows will allow in more light and fresh air.
“We’re most excited about having a laundry room and a nice dining area for everyone to eat together and socialise. It’ll be nice to have a purpose-built space just for us.”
(PICTURED – TOP L-R) Meg Deasley (Director of Property Services, Cairn), Rachel Fraser (Development Officer, Harbour Homes), Jason MacGilp (Chief Executive, Cairn), Heather Kiteley (Harbour Group Chief Executive), Gordon Cameron (Director of Group Operations, Harbour) and Susan Wilson (Development and Regeneration Manager, Cairn).
Vital funding to help transform family support services and reduce the number of children going into care has been announced by the Scottish Government. Local authorities will receive £32 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding for 2022-23, with a further £6 million available to support this work.
This will help build services that focus on prevention and early intervention, so families get the support they need to overcome challenges before they reach crisis point.
Arrangements for distributing the remaining £12 million of Whole Family Wellbeing Funding committed for 2022-23 are being finalised.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “It is essential that we provide the right kind of support to enable families to thrive so that, ultimately, fewer children and young people go into care.
“Whole Family Wellbeing Funding aims to transform the way support is delivered by ensuring families can access seamless support that meets their individual needs.
“The £50 million committed in 2022-23 will focus on building the capacity for further investment from 2023-24 onwards. This funding is a critical part of how we will keep the Promise by helping families access the support they need, where and when they need it.
“Our ambition is that from 2030, we will be investing at least 5% of all community-based health and social care spend in preventative whole family support measures.”
The Scottish Government has committed to investing £500 million in Whole Family Wellbeing Funding over the course of this Parliament.
Decisions on the use of the £32 million allocated to local authorities for 2022-23 will be made by Children’s Services Planning Partnerships.
A major plan containing 80 actions to improve the lives of children, young people and families in and around the edges of care has been published.
The ‘Keeping The Promise Implementation Plan’ aims to significantly reduce the number of children in care, with at least £500 million over this Parliamentary term to help families stay together.
The Scottish Government will also introduce a national allowance for foster and kinship carers and provide a £200 grant each year for 16 to 25-year-olds with care experience.
Other commitments include:
redesigning the Children’s Hearings System
redesigning the governance of the care system
ending the placement of 16 and 17-year-olds in young offender institutions
reducing the use of restraint in residential or secure care
Minister for Children and Young People Clare Haughey said: “More than 5,500 people – half of them children and young people with experience of care – told the Independent Care Review that change is needed. This plan sets out, for the first time, over 80 actions that the Scottish Government will take to keep The Promise to deliver that change.
“These ambitious actions will help families to thrive so they can safely stay together. They will also support carers and families engaged with the care system, as well as care leavers and care experienced people in education and employment.
“Alongside The Promise Scotland, the care community, local government, and many others, we are building on work that is already under way to bring forward change as quickly as possible.”
In February 2020 the Independent Care Review published The Promise setting out recommendations to improve outcomes for those with care experience.
Coram Voice is excited to announce that actor Peter Capaldi will return to host the sixth annual edition of Voices, the creative writing competition for children in care and young care leavers across the country. The competition is now open for entries until 31 March 2021.
Coram Voice, a charity that ensures the voices of children and young people in and around the care system are heard, first launched the competition in 2016 as a platform for care-experienced young people to express their creative talents and share their stories.
Peter said: “It is an honour to host the Voices awards ceremony again this year. The competition is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the creativity and talent of care-experienced young people and builds greater understanding around their lives and experiences.
“I really hope that lots of young people will be inspired to put pen to paper and share their words with us. I can’t wait to read your pieces and wish you the very best of luck!”
The theme of this year’s competition is ‘What Makes Life Good’ and entries can be in any written form including poems, short stories, raps or newspaper articles, with a 500 word limit.
There are four age categories: primary school, lower secondary school (age 11-14), upper secondary school (age 15-17) and care leavers (age 18-25).
Entries will be judged by an expert panel of authors and poets, some of whom are care experienced. The judges are due to be announced shortly, alongside a group of young judges who were finalists in previous years of the competition.
Previous competition entrants have said that participating had inspired them to write more, made them feel appreciated and valued for their talents and helped them to express their emotions about being in care.*
Ryan, winner of the Voices 2020 Primary School category, said: “This brilliant competition gives young people the opportunity to express themselves. I’ve dealt with lots of difficult feelings to be the person I am today and writing helps to clear my head.
“Without entering this competition, I wouldn’t have discovered how much I enjoy writing. We all have a poet inside us – we just need to have a go and write from our hearts.”
Brigid Robinson, Managing Director of Coram Voice, said: “We are delighted to open the 2021 edition of the Voices creative writing competition. The competition has grown year on year, and we are always impressed by the remarkable entries that we receive.
“This year’s theme of ‘What Makes Life Good’ is guaranteed to see more creative and inspiring written pieces from care experienced young people. It is a chance for young people to express what really matters to them and an opportunity to showcase their talents. It is also a reminder that the voices of care experienced children and young people should be centre stage as we learn about their experiences and celebrate their achievements.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to listen to 1,000 young people with experience of care. Ms Sturgeon met children and young people at Who Cares? Scotland in Glasgow yesterday to kick off a project to improve the lives of children in care.
The 1,000 voices manifesto, put together by Who Cares? Scotland and a coalition of charities, has three aims:
To let young people return to care and to extend aftercare;
To make sure young people who are looked after at home get the support they need;
To make sure more young people have a chance at getting and keeping a job.
The First Minister said: “Every child should have the best start in life and an equal chance to succeed. Yet for far too many young people in care, and through absolutely no fault of their own, that’s not the case.
“Children and young people are the best advocates for change and I am delighted to commit to listen to 1,000 people with experience of care.
“I’ve heard today some powerful stories of incredible strength and success in the most adverse of circumstances. Every person will have a different experience and over the next two years, I’ll spend time meeting many more young people or hearing their stories.
“By listening more to our young people, and by hearing what works and how the care system can improve, we’ll be able to make meaningful, lasting change and ensure children in care get the same support, stability and life chances that the rest of us take for granted.”
Duncan Dunlop, Chief Executive of Who Cares? Scotland said: “We are thrilled to welcome the First Minister today. The commitment to listen to 1000 care experienced voices shows incredible leadership and will set us on a journey that will change the outcomes for care experienced people once and for all.
“The Scottish Government, when passing the Children and Young People Act, did something that had never been done by any Government in the world. They engaged with care experienced people, listened to their stories, and made legislation that addressed the realities of what it’s like to leave care.
“As the most senior corporate parent in Scotland, the First Minister has now set the tone. Decisions can’t and shouldn’t be made without listening to care experienced people. It is this commitment to working together that makes us confident that we are on the road to giving every care experienced person in Scotland the future we would want for our own children.”
