Children on theirRights in Care

Dr Roger Morgan OBE

Children’s Rights Director for England

Independent Children’s Homes Association

Conference 2010, Worcester

The Children’s Rights Director:(commercial slide!)

Independent post with statutory personal functions

Including consulting children without third party permissions

Hosted by Ofsted (previously DH, then NCSC, then CSCI)

Children and young people in care, or receiving social care support, or in residential education, or family centres, or care leavers, regarding their rights and welfare

(Not the Children’s Commissioner!)

‘Ascertaining’ children’s views

Advising on rights and welfare

Raising issues I consider significant

Input to Ofsted and to Government

A ‘Right’ is something you should always be able to do, to have, to know, to say or to be protected from

Sources of Children’s Rights in the UK

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Human Rights Act

UK Primary Legislation on children

UK Secondary Legislation – Regulations

Statutory Guidance

National Minimum Standards (where applicable)

Legal case law

Children’s Rights Director statutory advice

Different approaches to rights

Protective

Pragmatic

Libertarian

THE NINE BASIC RIGHTS FROMCHILDREN’S RIGHTS CONSULTATION 2010

The right to be safe from harm

The right to well-being

The right to be alive and well

The right to learning and education

The right to enjoy life

The right to be oneself

The right of all people to be treated equally and fairly

The right to socialise with other people

The right to have a say in one’s own life

CHILDREN’S TOP TEN RIGHTS

To be protected from abuse

To have an education

To be helped to keep alive and well

Not to be discriminated against because of my race, colour, sex, language, disability, language or beliefs

Not to be treated or punished in a way that is cruel or meant to make me feel bad about myself

Special help for any child with a disability

To have privacy

Not to be bullied

To keep in touch with my parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters if I want to and they want to, wherever we all live

To have my private letters, phone calls, emails & messages kept confidential

CHILDREN’S TOP TEN RESPONSIBILITIES

Responsibility for your own behaviour and actions

Making use of your education

Showing respect to others

Responsibility for your own safety

Looking after others

Looking after yourself

Your own health and hygiene

Carrying out your responsibilities around the house

Looking after the environment

Giving your opinion

Service rights in the UK

It shall be the duty of a local authority looking after any child

(a) to safeguard and promote his welfare; and

(b) to make such use of services available for children cared for by their own parents as appears to the authority reasonable in his case.

The duty of a local authority under subsection (3)(a) to safeguard and promote the welfare of a child looked after by them includes in particular a duty to promote the child’s educational achievement.

Children Act 1989 Section 22(3)

The consultation right in the UK

UK Children Act 1989 –

ascertain and give due consideration to the [individual] child’s wishes and FEELINGS, subject to [age] and understanding

Decisionmaking – the individual’s rights in context

In day to day decisionmaking, staff demonstrate an appropriate balance between:

• Each child’s wishes and preferences

• The needs of individual children

• The needs of the group of children resident at the time

• The protection of others (including the public) from harm

National Minimum Standards for Children’s Homes

The carer’s default duty

A person who does not have parental responsibility for a particular child; but has care of the child,

may (subject to the provisions of this Act) do

what is reasonable

in all the circumstances of the case

for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare.

Children Act 1989, Section 3(5)

Children on children’s homes

Best things are the staff, activities and making new friends

Worst things are missing your family, rules and living with people you don’t get on with

A good children’s home is spacious, in good repair, homely, has individual rooms and has plenty to do

It is near to local activities and shops and not in a bad area

Good children’s home staff are kind, caring, listen, help with problems, are happy, not moody and are easy to get on with

Biggest danger is bullying and other young people

Main factor keeping children safe from danger and bullying is the staff

Main factor helping with education is the staff, then incentives

Main factor in staying healthy is diet, then exercise

Main preparations for the future are learning practical skills and support from staff

Children on secure children’s homes

A safe place – out of trouble, safe from bullying inside, safe from people outside who would harm you

‘Welfare’ and ‘criminal’ divide

Loss of freedom, away from family and friends, boredom

Staff are key

Having your own room

Rooms and spaces too small, ventilation a problem

Food, activities, ability to socialise all important

Education seen as either good or bad

Protected from bullying, but affected by others ‘kicking off’

Miss smoking and usual teenage activities

Fear of returning to trouble on leaving

Core points …

Please don’t always believe an adult over a child

Always take what a child says as seriously as what an adult says

Please don’t make a looked after child ‘stand out’

A child has a right to have what they are entitled to

Policy rights sought by children (1)

Treat me as an individual, not one of a group

Don’t apply targets when deciding for individuals

Let me get to know a placement before I move in – don’t place me with strangers

Keep giving me information

Have an agreement about touching or being alone with a child

Check for risky times and places for bullying or dangers

Give us a choice of staff member to go to for help or advice

Keep asking us about our views and concerns

Keep me informed

Make sure I know what I am entitled to and what I’m not

Policy rights sought by children (2)

Only restrain me to stop me injuring myself or someone else or seriously damaging property

Don’t restrain me as a punishment or to make me do what I am told

Don’t hurt me when you restrain me

Know how to calm me down when I kick off

Only give people information about me if they really need to know

Make sure I can talk to someone independent when I have run away

If I run away, check whether I ran just to have fun, or to go somewhere I want to be, or to get away from something here

Care and prejudice …Being from care makes others treat you differently – sometimes better, sometimes worse

Main sources of difference are that you live away from family and have had different life experiences

Public sees children from care, and especially from children’s homes, negatively

45% of children in care worry about others knowing they are from care

Being from care is a trigger for being bullied

Later, being from care can make getting accommodation or employment difficult

Siblings …

81% of those with at least one brother or sister also in care had been separated from at least one brother or sister

Separation of siblings more likely for those in children’s homes than those in foster care

Children request visits, phone contact, email contact, and photos

Grading contribution to decisions

The Decision Score …

1. You’ve no preference – I decide

2. I decide – but I know what you want me to say

3. I can say no to what you want, and that will stop you

4. If I want to stop you, I’ve got to argue my reasons with you

5. I can object and you will take some notice of that

6. You’ll only listen if I can convince you to change your mind

7. I can object, but I don’t think that will make any difference

8. You’ll decide your way unless something serious happens

9. You’ve already decided whatever anyone else says

10. There is no decision – it is the same policy for everyone

I do not know how this gets decided - or who decides

Assessing understanding for decisions

Once it’s fully explained – does the young person understand:

The question?

The reasons behind it?

What the alternatives are?

What will happen if they decide one way or the other?

Can they weigh things up for themselves?

Can they say what they want for themselves?

Can they keep the same view, not keep changing it?

Findings from Children’s Care Monitor 2009

50% of children are usually or always asked their opinions about things that matter to them

48% say their opinions, when asked, usually or always make a difference to decisions about their lives

69% say adults usually or always tell them when changes are going to happen in their lives

Care planning (from 2009 Monitor)

73% stated they had a care plan

76% of those knew what was in their care plan

65% of them had a say in what is in their care plan

68% of them agreed with their care plan

82% of them said their care plan was being fully kept to

Children on placement

Can there be a choice of placement, and a backup if I don’t settle in the first one?

54% considered their last school change because of placement change turned out to be in their best interests

68% of placement changes were in the child’s best interests

81% say they are currently in the right placement

PLANNING, PLACEMENT & REVIEW REGULATIONS – issues children raisedAvoid moving schools in years 10 or 11

Placements not to end other than through a review (other than emergency)

Placements usually near home

Placements usually with brothers and sisters

Questions or Standards for independent accommodation

Social worker visits in first week, 6 weekly for first year, then 3 monthly [NB children’s view is monthly]

Seeing their social worker alone

More powerful Independent Reviewing Officers

Overnight stays

And a final message from a care leaver …

“I want to be free of my past,

better than my present,

and always ambitious for my future.

The only thing that can help me get there

is funding and my own will power”