WIREDGOV

Social workers should visit children and young people living away from home at least once a month. That is the strong message children in care are giving to the Government in a unique report that will help shape new regulations under the Children and Young Persons Act 2008.

The report, Future rules, published yesterday by the Children’s Rights Director for England, is the outcome of a national conference, where 136 young people in care and care leavers gave their views on a range of subjects relating to regulations that will affect their future.

The report shows that over two thirds of young people with direct experience of the system think children in care and those living for more than three months at a time in a school, clinic, hospital or care home for adults, should be visited by someone from the council every month.

The new government regulations will need to say how often every child in care must be visited by someone from the council to make sure they are being looked after well.

Dr Roger Morgan, Children’s Rights Director for England, said:
'This is an important report, as it’s the first time we have been able to give children in care the chance to advise the government directly on what should go into a set of brand new statutory regulations. Ultimately it’s these children that the regulations will affect the most.

'What we’ve found is young people giving extremely pertinent and sound advice, and a strong message that their safety and happiness should be a major priority. Where decisions are being made about their welfare, young people want their views considered first, regularly and away from their home environment and carers so they can talk freely.'

The new Children and Young Persons Act says that a council has to place a child within its own council area if it can. When questioned about this, three-quarters of young people surveyed said that new regulations should say it is ok to move a child away from the council’s own area if the child is deemed to be in danger.

Some children gave very specific reasons for this, such as one child who wrote 'so my family can’t get me' or another who said 'if they need to escape from risks of "gang violence"'. Others also said children should have some say in whether they should be placed near home or at a distance.

Over two-thirds (71 per cent) of young people said that if a child needs an independent adviser to ‘visit, befriend or advise’ other than a social worker, they should be someone who has been in care themselves. New government regulations will need to say what type of person this independent visitor should be.

Young people also gave their views on new regulations for what social workers must do when they visit a child in care. They said that social workers must listen to the child first and foremost, visit and call the child regularly, talk to the child in private away from their home and their carers, and make an extra visit if the child is having particular problems.

Young people also said that regulations should say that before a child is placed back into care with their parents, social workers should check that it is safe for the child, that the parents can look after the child properly and that everyone affected is happy with the arrangements.

1. The report, “Future Rules” is published in hard copy, on the Ofsted website, www.ofsted.gov.uk/publications/080246, and on the Office of the Children’s Rights Director website www.rights4me.org.

2. 136 children gave their views at the National Space Centre in Leicester. Out of the 127 children who gave their age, the oldest was 19 and the youngest was 6. Of the 132 people who told their gender, 61 per cent were boys and 39 per cent were girls.

3. Children were asked for their views in a number of ways; Firstly every child was asked to fill in a set of question cards on their views and suggestions – one was filled in before the conference, and another six throughout the day. Secondly, all children and young people were invited to join in a series of voting sessions using electronic voting pads where results were displayed on an all-round screen.

4. A total of 122 children and young people took part in the electronic voting sessions. 42 per cent were in foster care, 34 per cent were living in a children’s home and seven per cent were living in a residential school.

5. The Children’s Rights Director for England, Dr Roger Morgan, has personal statutory duties to ascertain the views of children in care, children living away from home, and children receiving social care services, to advise Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector on children’s rights and welfare, and to raise any rights or welfare issue he considers significant. His post is hosted by Ofsted.