Highland Council backs Scotland-wide pledge to all young people and adults with experience of the care system
Highland Council has underlined its commitment to a Scottish Government-backed blueprint aimed at ensuring better futures for young people and adults with experience of the care system.
In October 2016, the First Minister announced an independent, root and branch review of care and made a commitment that Scotland would “come together and love its most vulnerable children, to give them the childhood they deserve.”
One outcome is the production of The Promise, a 124-page document guided by the voices and experiences of over 5,500 people – over half children and young people – who have used the care system.
Highland Council’s health, social care and wellbeing committee today stated it was “absolutely committed” to The Promise, in line with the findings of the Independent Care Review.
The Promise outlines the need for a redesign of the care system, including a fundamental shift in how decisions are made and money is spent in supporting Scotland’s children and families.
The aim is for Scotland to better support its children and young people to grow up feeling loved, safe and respected, and able to realise their full potential.
Councillor Linda Munro, chairwoman of Highland Council’s health, social care and wellbeing committee, said: “Powerful messages came from interviews with care experienced young people, adults and care leavers.
“They expressed a need to feel loved, that they belong, they are heard, that corporate parents ensure intervention doesn’t cause harm, that they are empowered, their human rights are protected and that they are not stigmatised.”
The Promise sets out a vision and blueprint for transformational change.
At its heart are five foundations:
Voice: Children must be meaningfully heard and listened to in all decisions about their care.
Family: Where children are safe in their families and feel loved, they must stay.
Care: Where living with their family is not possible, children must stay with their brothers and sisters when safe to do so.
People: The children that Scotland cares for must be actively supported to develop relationships with people in the workforce and wider community.
Scaffolding: Children, families and the workforce must be supported by a system that is there when needed. The scaffolding of help, support and accountability must be ready and responsive when it is required.
One of the main messages from The Promise is that local authorities, organisations and institutions “must radically rethink their underlying purpose and structures.”
The local authority says it is proposing to restate its commitment to The Promise and make a public commitment, collaborate with its staff teams and ask for their views and listen to children and families on the edge of care to understand what they want the council’s priorities to be.
It is also pledging to undertake an assessment of “where the council is now”, with this paper forming the beginnings of that process.
It will aim to fully understand The Promise and report to the committee in May this year.
A link to the Promise can be found at : https://www.carereview.scot/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/The-Promise.pdf
