Children’s social care questionnaires 2016: what children and young people told us

Children’s social care questionnaires 2016: what children told usThis slide deck sets out what children and young people told us about their experiences of children’s homes and foster carers

Background Each year, we use online questionnaires to gather views about

children’s homes, secure children’s homes, adoption services, fostering services and residential family centres.1

The questionnaires are for children and young people, parents, staff, social workers and other professionals, such as independent reviewing officers.

The questionnaires ran from 11 January to 3 April 2016 and we received responses from 23,575 individuals.

Our main purpose is to use the responses, along with other information we have, such as previous inspection findings or any concerns, to decide when to inspect and what to focus on when we do.

(You can find the footnotes at the end of the presentation.)

Children’s social care questionnaires 2016: what children told us Slide 2

Who are the children we are talking about? There are 11.5 million children aged 0−17 years in England. 70,440 are children looked after. 74% of children looked after live with foster carers (51,850). 8% of children looked after are in children’s homes (around

5,940).2

2,859 children placed by 150 local authorities told us about their children’s home or foster carers in our 2016 questionnaires.3

You can view the accompanying data here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-questionnaires-2016-what-children-and-young-people-told-ofsted


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-questionnaires-2016-what-children-and-young-people-told-ofsted

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-care-questionnaires-2016-what-children-and-young-people-told-ofsted

Key messages from 2016Last year, we looked at what children and young people told us was good about their children’s home or foster carers and what could be better.4

This year, we heard some important messages from children: children need to understand why they came into care children can find moving into a new home a difficult experience children need to be able to build relationships with adults they can

trust children rely on the adults caring for them to help keep them safe.


Children need to understand why they came into care


Most children told us they understand why they came into care

Children’s social care questionnaires 2016: what children told us

84

children’s homes (1091 total responses) fostering (1293 total responses)

4%90%90% 4%

Yes NoYes No

84% 7%

I have been helped to understand why I am in care

Slide 6

Helping children to understand why they came into care is important work


My foster mum explained in great detail about why I

am in care. She did life story work, which helped me understand about my past. It helped me a lot

and I felt a lot better once I understood (age 10,

fostering)

The field social worker and staff have explained

why I'm in care. I understand the situation and control my emotions

better now (age 16, children’s home)My social worker has

explained fully things to me, also, my foster

carers always talk to me about things going on if I am ever confused about anything to do with me being in care (age 16,

fostering)

They make sure I understand and

encourage me to talk about it and if I don't understand why then

they will always find out the answers to my questions (age 15, children’s home)

Not all children have been helped and some need better support to understand


I don't really understand why

my parents couldn't keep me

(age 10, fostering)

No one has gone through all of the reasons with me

(age 15, children’s home)

I have been explained to but I

still don't understand (age

13, children’s home)

People just tell me I can't go back to my mum's (age 16, children’s

home)

Children can find moving into a new home a difficult experience


Children don’t always get to find things out about their new home


Around one in three children told us they didn’t receive useful information before they moved in or had a short break with their foster family (1402 total responses)

Around one in four children told us they didn’t receive useful information before they moved in or had a short break at their children’s home(1367 total responses)

Even fewer children get to visit their new home

Some children already knew their foster carers because they were family members or people they had visited for short breaks; this may be why the figures are lower when compared to children’s homes.


Around one in three children told us they weren’t able to visit their children’s home before they moved in or had a short break (1366 total responses)

Around half of children told us they weren’t able to visit their foster family before they moved in or had a short break (1399 total responses)

Finding things out beforehand can help children


I got a booklet about the foster family with pictures of them, my room, what the home

looked like and the birth children. I got it before my first visit so I

could ask questions if I wanted to with my social worker. It made me

feel much better about where I was going, less worried too

(age 15, fostering)

They let me have a sleep over and had

a meal so I felt comfortable before

moving (age 17, children’s home)

My previous carers informed me of my new family. My new family

made a DVD about themselves and where I

was going to live. I watched this with my then carers and on my own (age

15, fostering)

They make sure I understand and

encourage me to talk about it and if I don't understand why then

they will always find out the answers to my questions (age 15, children’s home)

Some children didn’t know anything about their new home or who they would be living with before they moved in. Some told us they didn’t find anything out because their move was unplanned or they couldn’t visit because their new home was too far away.


All that was done the social worker I had at the time turned up and took me away. I didn't have a single clue I was being

moved into another foster home (age 13,

fostering)

I wasn’t given any information and was

informed it was far away and when I was brought it

was with strangers (age 14, children’s home)I was moved from a

previous placement without having any

knowledge of who they were, where they lived,

nothing (age 16, fostering)

I was not told anything about it at all and neither was my family (age 14, children’s home)

Children need to be able to build relationships with adults they can trust


Children told us that when other people have picked on them or upset them, staff or foster carers have helped and supported them by getting involved and:

helping children to deal with difficult situations and offering support and reassurance

talking to those involved contacting the school (where necessary) to get the

situation resolved taking action to stop it from happening again.


When children get the right help


We talk through things that have upset me and they help

me to put things into perspective. Things do not

bother me as much now as they would have done before I

moved to this family (age 15, fostering)

Staff talk to me and give me good ideas how to deal with it. Also staff speak

to the school teachers and let them know if I have any

problems with other kids at school (age 14, children’s

home)I have talked to my

carers about issues that have worried me and they gave me good advice and ways to be confident to say 'no' if I feel pressured to do things (age

17, fostering)

Staff would talk to me first then talk to

the [other] young person and help me to rebuild my friendship with the young person (age 12,

children’s home)

But not all children get the help they need


It doesn't feel like it but they tell me they are doing it

(age 11, fostering)

The staff are rarely in the room at the time that I was

upset however when I tell them what happened they don't do anything about it

however some staff members hear/see it and do something about

it however this is very rare (age 15, children’s home)You get picked

on… most of the time staff say

‘grow up’ (age 15, children’s home)

They say they can’t do nothing most of the time

(age 15, children’s home)


Children told us that staff still don’t always get it right when deciding who comes to live in their home

But they did answer this question more positively than last year

Staff make good decisions about who comes to live in this home

80% 52%

2016 (1070 total responses)57%

80%

5%

All the time NeverAll/most the time

52%

74%

8%

2015 (1114 total responses)

Involving children when someone new moves in can make a difference


One young person has moved here whilst I have

been here, I was spoken to before she moved and asked my views and

opinions and I met her before she moved in and we

get on well (age 15, children’s home)

Staff tell us when they are thinking of another kid coming, and we can give our thoughts and feelings on it (age 17,

children’s home)

We are always consulted about a new person moving in. We get to meet them and show them round (age 17,

children’s home)

It can make it difficult for children when staff don’t get it right


Some of the young people who have

moved here since I have arrived disturb

me while I am settled (age 14, children’s

home)

I feel we are put here and it doesn’t matter

if we don't get on (age 15, children’s

home)

The new kids usually disrupt the site and everyone

falls out and it's not nice (age unknown,

children’s home)

They often make mistakes about who

will get on well together (age 15, children’s home)

Children want to feel part of their foster family

Although most children feel like they fit in with their foster family, those who don’t told us that some of the reasons why were because: their foster family is too different from their own family and they don’t feel like

they belong their foster family isn’t their ‘real’ family they blame their own behaviour.


I feel like I fit in with my foster family (1292 total responses)80% 94% 1%

All the time

All/most the time

Never

When children don’t feel like part of the foster family


There are a lot of people that come to the house whom all share the same culture.

I am the only person in this house who shares my culture. At my original home for example, we don't use a knife to eat (but

here they use a fork and knife to eat everything) because home is a place where

you're supposed to feel the most comfortable. It felt very odd and robotic

(age 17, fostering)

Sometimes I don’t always feel like they

like me (age 17, fostering)

Because I was bad sometimes my

brothers don't want to talk to me so I feel I have let them down (age 12, fostering)

I sometimes feel angry towards my foster mum

because she is not my birth mum and towards my foster

sister because she lives with her

birth mum and I do not (age seven or younger, fostering)

Children rely on the adults caring for them to help keep them safe


Children living in foster homes told us they feel safer than those living in children’s homes


These figures were similar to last year.

I feel safe inside my foster home(1407 total responses)

I feel safe inside the children’s home(1365 total responses)

93% 99% <1%

All the time NeverAll/most the timeAll the time NeverAll/most

the time

70% 92% <1%

Children told us they still feel less safe outside their home


I feel safe outside my foster home(1406 responses in total)

65% 92% 1%


66% 91% <1%

I feel safe outside the children’s home(1356 responses)


This year, we asked children to tell us more about why they don’t feel safe outside their homeSome of the reasons they gave were: because of the location of their home and the surrounding area they were worried about strangers they might come into contact with members of their birth

family they don’t feel safe in school, for example because of bullying because of certain places, for example areas they aren’t

familiar with or busy places.


When children don’t feel safe outside


Because I don’t know who’s

outside on the street or who

might bully me (age unknown,

fostering)

Sometimes I feel unsafe at school because

sometimes the other children are not very nice to me (age 12, fostering)

I sometimes get anxious when I'm out. I feel uncomfortable with people I don’t

know (age 15, children’s

home)

Because the area surrounding the care home is a

rough area (age 15, children’s

home)

Worried my mum might find me here

(age 13, fostering)

Children need adults to teach them how to be safeChildren told us that staff or foster carers help them to stay safe by: spending time with them, always being around and doing activities with them keeping in contact with them when they are out and checking who they are

with having rules in place, for example curfews asking about their day and if they have any worries or concerns providing helpful advice, for example about making good decisions, being

aware of strangers and staying safe online making sure they are physically safe such as helping them with road safety or

ensuring that any equipment they rely on, for example wheelchairs or safety harnesses, is used properly.


How children are helped to stay safe


They give me reassurance. I have lots of foster family members that I know I can

ring who will come to collect me if I needed them

to (age 15, fostering)

The staff always make me aware of either who I

talk to or who I hang around with and the dangers of the

internet and social media (age 16, children’s home)

Boundaries, which I didn’t have before.

Explain things to me so that I can understand

(age 16, fostering)

They consider my needs and how I may react to certain

places or conditions i.e I don't like dark or crowded spaces, I also hate waiting for anything. They

hold my hand and talk to me when I feel scared or nervous as I try to

run (age 12, children’s home)

Children staying with foster carers told us they have less chance to talk to someone independent about being missing


When children had the opportunity, they talked to independent organisations such as Barnardos or Catch-22, or their social worker or the police.

Did you have the chance to talk to someone independent about being missing (fostering 170 total responses)

66% 29%

Yes No

81% 13%

Did you have the chance to talk to someone independent about being missing (children’s homes 454 total responses)

Yes No

Children who go missing can be helped when staff and foster carers try to understand the reasons why


My foster carers had an idea why I went missing but on my return my foster carers did not pressurise me to talk about it until I was ready to

speak to them (age unknown, fostering)

Staff from the home were really worried about me,

afterwards they discussed with me the reasons why I went missing and what they could do as a staff team

to help me feel more settled (age 14, children’s home)

I used to go missing a lot but each time I

came back they would talk to me about why I

had done what I did (age 13,

fostering)

Staff have always sat down with me when I have come back and spoken

to me about when I have gone to understand why, staff have tried to come up with alternative things for me to try

when I have been upset to stop me going missing and this has helped a lot (age 15,

children’s home)

Not all children felt that staff or foster carers tried to understand why they went missing and even when they did, children didn’t want to talk to them


I would tell her stuff and she wouldn't listen to me and wouldn't care about what I was saying

so I ran away (age unknown, fostering)

They just got mad and shout (age 12,

fostering)I always get lectured and in trouble when it

happens. This is annoying because they don't really

know why it happens (age 17, children’s home)

Some of their comments provided an insight into why this might be

Get the cops after me and that

was it (age 16, children’s home)

Coz they wanna be nosy (age

unknown, children’s home)

They say that it is my choice to go missing and

therefore the consequences are my fault even though when I do go missing I always have a

reason behind it (age 14, children’s home)

Footnotes


Footnote 1 Due to a low number of responses to the questionnaires for

secure children’s homes and adoption services, these have not been included in this presentation. We do not have a questionnaire for children staying at residential family centres because of their young age.

Adoption services include voluntary adoption agencies and local authority adoption services.

Fostering services include independent fostering agencies and local authority fostering services.


Footnote 2 Data about the number of children looked after, living with foster

carers or living in children’s homes refers to the position as at 31 March 2016 and is taken from ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2015 to 2016’, Department for Education, published 29 September 2016, www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2015-to-2016.


http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2015-to-2016

http://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2015-to-2016

Footnote 3 1,410 children and young people told us about their children’s home and

1,449 children and young people told us about their foster carers. We do not inspect individual foster carers. We inspect the local authorities and

agencies that recruit them. In relation to children’s homes and fostering services, the responses from

children do not solely relate to children looked after. A number of children who are not looked after receive services. For example, children who receive short breaks or are placed under other arrangements. Most users of short breaks are children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities but other children in need may also receive short breaks. The breaks usually have two aims to enable the child to participate in fun, interesting and safe activities and to provide a break for parents.

The percentages for all questions don’t include the ‘this question isn’t for me’ responses.


Footnote 4

What children and young people living in children’s homes or with foster carers told us was most important to them in 2015www.slideshare.net/Ofstednews/what-children-and-young-people-living-in-childrens-homes-or-with-foster-carers-told-us-was-most-important-to-them


http://www.slideshare.net/Ofstednews/what-children-and-young-people-living-in-childrens-homes-or-with-foster-carers-told-us-was-most-important-to-them



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Children’s social care questionnaires 2016: what children and young people told us