Dame Rachel de Souza, The Children’s Commissioner for England, outlines her thoughts on transforming the lives of children living in care.
“…Everyone should have a safe place to live. They want somebody to love them and treat them well like their family.” – Girl, 10 (Living with foster family).
As Children’s Commissioner, I speak to thousands of children every year and thankfully the majority of children tell me they feel safe, loved and secure at home. However, this is sadly not the case for all children.
In the Big Ask survey, which I conducted in 2021, those children living in care told me they were less likely to feel they have a place to call home, and to feel loved by those they live with.
Children with social workers and those in care deserve to have lives that are as fulfilling, rounded and happy as any other child, but recent analysis by my office shows that we still have some way to go until this is the case.
Since I took up post, I have visited children across the country, and carried out a range of research, to really explore in detail how children experience family life, and the challenges that families in England face.
I am due to release the results from most recent survey, The Big Ambition, from the middle of February onwards which will provide further evidence. It will also shine a spotlight on what children think would improve their lives and the lives of other young people.
While I have been going across England over the last few months, I have made it a priority to speak to children in care and I look forward to sharing those results which will look at children with a social worker, children in foster care, children in kinship care, and children living in children’s homes.
I have also been conducting a separate survey asking people whether they think care should be a protected characteristic and I will be sharing these findings as soon as I can.
The children in care who responded to The Big Ask survey which I carried out when I became the Children’s Commissioner were generally happy. Among those aged 9 to 17, the majority (63%) said they were happy with their life, and 68% said they were happy with their family life. They were less likely to be happy with life at school or college, their mental health, and the choice of things to do in their local area – but, still just over half said they were happy with each of these.
My key reflection is how neglected children’s social care has been, particularly in comparison to the education system, which has been through lots of reform and received plenty of money and challenge from Government.
We need Government to give children’s social care reform the commitment, funding and attention it gave school reform back in 2010. Because children’s social care is the most important function of the state. It is about how to keep children safe. And that’s why we must aim for a system that is consistently brilliant.
Sadly, the stories of individual children that are included in this response will demonstrate that while there are dedicated, compassionate and thoughtful people working across the country with our most vulnerable children, things are still not good enough. Too many children’s voices are being ignored, their needs overlooked, and their opportunities diminished.
It’s welcome that the Government has a plan for reform, following Josh MacAlister’s review into social care, but they need to be moving much further and faster. I want to see a really ambitious reform programme, that is not just about testing different ideas. There needs to be real accountability in place, with a robust outcomes framework that lets us know if things are working or not.
We need to start from the point of view of the child, ensuring that they are always listened to, and their needs are prioritised.
The top three issues that children in care (aged 9—17) were most likely to say they were unhappy with were their mental health (23% unhappy); the choice of things to do in their local area (20% unhappy) and life at school or college (19%). This is remarkably similar to the top three issues that other children aged 9 to 17 – not in care – were unhappy with. It’s important to note that children in care reported similar future aspirations to other children, namely to get on in life.
However, there are also some issues where children in care (aged 9 to 17) were significantly more likely than other children to be unhappy. For example, the office found that 14% of children in care were are unhappy with their family life, compared to 6% of other children.
I have carried out several major pieces of research with children in care, for example on siblings who are separated in the care system, looked after children who are not in school, 16- and 17-year-olds who present as homeless, and children’s access to advocacy.
What came through clearly in those reports was:
- children not being listened to
- a lack of sufficient, loving homes
- children not having access to consistent and loving relationships
- a system which is overwhelmed, and unable to responsively meet the needs of children
Throughout my work I have set out five over-arching outcomes that I want for every child, namely that they are safe, healthy, happy, learning and engaged in their community. I think for us to achieve that within the context of children’s social it will mean achieving some key ambitions.
Broadly speaking, I believe that all young people involved with children’s social care must be truly listened to and we need to ensure that their views are really heard and taken into consideration.
All families get consistent, effective help to improve children’s welfare. This would mean a range of measures including clear national thresholds for families being offered Child in Need plans; greater investment in children’s social care to allow for earlier intervention and plans should be integrated in cases where children are receiving help from social care and also have an Education and Health Care Plan.
I would like to see all children in care have a loving stable home without a cliff edge of care at 16 or 18. My ambition is for those children who need secure care to receive it in an integrated, homely environment.
It is simply not acceptable that children are being placed far from home, separated from siblings etc because there are not enough good, loving homes.
Over the next few months, I will be sharing the results from the Big Ambition which will analyse in detail what children in care have told me and I will be spelling out what young people have told me they want to see from decision makers. I will then be working really hard to make the case for change so that every child feels like they have a safe place to live with people to love them and treat them well.
As we stand on the brink of a General Election there is an opportunity for all parties to set out how they plan to enhance the lives for children in care. It’s time to ensure their dreams are not just heard but championed. The power to create a brighter future is in our hands.
@ChildrensComm
