Executive summary
The purpose of this review is to demonstrate what good care for children and young people who are looked after by local authorities looks like, to identify good practice and to recommend in what ways care can be further improved. It is intended for everyone who is concerned with looked after children and their families; elected members, local authority staff, staff in voluntary organisations, private providers, foster carers, health professionals and those involved in developing and improving children's services.
We consulted almost 200 young people and adults. We collected examples of good practice, reviewed policies, examined government reports from the Kilbrandon report (1964) to spring 2006 and considered the findings of research studies. We commissioned separate studies to find out more about kinship care, looked after children's daily activities, the legislation relating to looked after children in Scotland and the health of looked after children. Finally we asked 32 young people to tell us about their experiences.
This review has six key messages.
i. Looked after children can overcome adversity in childhood and lead successful adult lives.
ii. Too many adults have low expectations of what looked after children can achieve. Children and young people can do well when they are cared for.
iii. Relationships with skilled adults can help looked after children and young people develop successfully.
iv. Children and young people looked after away from home need stability and the chance to put down roots. Being moved frequently from one care setting to another is damaging and often restricts their access to education and health care.
v. Tackling the disadvantage and discrimination still experienced by many looked after children requires planning at every level in a local authority and between them and their partners in delivering children's services. Champions are needed to make sure that local authorities and their partners provide the best possible care.
vi. Developing an understanding of what children and young people think about services intended to help them supports effective engagement and long-term service planning.
Some people regard looked after children and young people as a group who both have, and cause, problems. This review challenges that negative stereotype. There is nothing inevitable about looked after children doing less well in education, having poor health or being involved in crime. The young people who contributed to this review told us about their successes at school, in their relationships and in their employment. Their experience of care ranged from fostering, kinship care, residential care, secure care and prison. However, we conclude that the responsibility for the needs and hopes of looked after children and young people cannot rest solely with carers and staff at the front line. Local authorities need to recognise their role as a corporate parent and act on it at a senior level. The care and well-being of looked after children is not solely the preserve of social work staff, but of all the departments of the local authority and its partners in delivering children's services. One fifth of the population of Scotland lives in rural communities. This presents challenges for services supporting families and providing care for looked after children in rural areas, in terms of transport, access to services and resources.
There is a wide range of initiatives by central and local government designed to help and support all children and young people in Scotland. However, the longstanding patterns of particular disadvantage experienced by looked after children require specific and targeted intervention. In this review we identify the best outcomes and ways forward in the care of looked after children. These will come from changes made by local authorities and their partners with the support of the Scottish Executive.
Involving looked after children in their own care and in the wider policies of the local authority and their partners helps to enhance their skills and sense of responsibility and in the longer term improve services. Looked after children are not a homogenous group. The term 'looked after' includes children who are subject to supervision and live with family members as well as looked after and accommodated children who live with foster carers or in residential schools or care homes. We recognise that these are not discrete groupings, children move between them. This review is primarily concerned with children and young people who are cared for outwith their own families. They have different needs and some experience additional discrimination by virtue of their race, disability and sexual orientation. Careful assessment and planning is essential to meet the specific needs of each child.
There are strategic management and resource implications for central and local government in providing the best possible environment for looked after children and young people. However, the provision of good care in childhood, combined with effective aftercare, which supports them into young adulthood, can give them and their families very different future life experiences.