February 2020 Newsletter

February 2020

Issue on the Scottish Independent Care Review

“Lewis is 12 and has lived in 8 different places. He has never lived anywhere longer than 2 years. He thinks he must be difficult to look after. He doesn't see his mum very often but when he does, she tells him the changes she has made to make sure he can come home soon. Lewis likes hearing this. He would really like to see his cousins again. Lewis' mum regularly meets with the social workers. Recently there have been lots of meetings. She doesn't really know what the meetings are for, but hopes it means Lewis will be able to come home very soon...Lewis has lots of questions but no one seems to be able to answer them."

- Lewis' Story - Independent Care Review Composite Stories

Introduction

This special issue of the BCN Newsletter features the Independent Care Review in Scotland , the first 'root and branch' review of care anywhere in the world. In autumn 2016, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, heard directly from people with lived experience of the care system in Scotland as they shared their stories, campaigned for change, and called for an Independent Review of the system.

The Care Review then commenced, with the commitment that it would be ‘a review like no other,’ and Fiona Duncan became the Chair of the Care Review in February 2017, stating:

“While the review will be complex and the issues challenging, it will be the expertise of children and young people with lived experience of the system who will ensure a focus on what matters. It will be crucial that the review not only hears their voices, but that real change happens as a result.”

The process and the branding were co-designed with children and young people with care experience from the outset and throughout the life of the Care Review. The final reports were published on 5th February 2020, and immediately followed up with cross-party support in Scotland and a commitment to implement the conclusions .

Four key lessons from the Care Review in Scotland are as follows:

Listening to infants, children and young people must shift the balance of power and no child should ever be seen as ‘hard to reach’. We must value lived experience much more than we currently do.
There must be a greater focus on building and maintaining lifelong relationships that includes a broader understanding of the risk of not having long term, loving relationships.
Scotland must parent, not process, children. We must be considerate about the language we use, and understand the success of care by understanding lived experiences and not just system measures.
Scotland must commit to supporting families to stay together as much as possible. This means recognising that poverty contributes to children being taken away from their families. We need to invest in families and their complexity to radically reduce the number of children taken away from families

This issue of the BCN newsletter, published jointly with the Independent Care Review , highlights the collection of reports and materials produced by the Review, as well as other articles and resources highlighting its findings and recommendations. There is rich learning in both the conclusions and the quality of the review process, where people with care experience have been centrally involved at every level and every stage of the Care Review.

The Review also offers key lessons on how similar root and branch reviews of care could be conducted in other countries. Readers can follow the conversation, and lend their support, by using the hashtag #KeepThePromise on social media.

Jimmy Paul

Co-Chair, Independent Care Review

Florence Martin

Director, Better Care Network

Focus on the Scottish Independent Care Review

Reports

The Promise

One of several reports produced as part of the Scottish Independent Care Review, The Promise sets out an overall view of what the new approach to children's care in Scotland should be, organized around five foundations: voice, family, care, people, and scaffolding. Everything in The Promise, and the other Care Review reports, reflects what the Care Review heard.

The Pinky Promise

The Pinky Promise presents a young reader-friendly version of The Promise report, which sets out an overall view of what the new approach to children's care in Scotland should be.

The Plan

The Plan outlines how to implement the changes recommended in The Promise . The Plan report calls for a time-bound plan for thoughtful reform in Scotland, including a re-design of current services and establishing new services, always based on meeting the needs of those they exist to serve, rather than the needs of the system, as well as a shift in operating culture.

The Rules

This report demonstrates the current legislative framework of the Scottish care system and how it must change to achieve The Promise . The Review found that the 'rules' governing children's care in Scotland are complex and often contradictory. This report calls for a new set of Rules - with the UNCRC as the bedrock upon which all future legislation is based - that work for children, young people and their families across all Five Foundations of The Promise and reflect their lives, not the systems priorities.

Follow the Money

One of several reports produced as part of the Scottish Independent Care Review , this report explains how Scotland can invest better in its children and families. There were two key objectives of this report: (1) To quantify the human costs and impacts of the current ‘care system’ and (2) To determine the financial costs of the current ‘care system’.

Related Topics: Cost of Care and Redirection of Resources

The Money

This paper was written by Dr Katherine Trebeck and is her reflections on what was found as a result of the work done to Follow the Money, the report of the Independent Care Review that produced the financial argument needed to challenge the way Scotland invests in its ‘care system’. The paper reviews the human costs of the current care system, what was learned from Follow the Money, and what this means for future investment.

Related Topics: Cost of Care and Redirection of Resources

Thank You

This Thank You is intended for the thousands of people who contributed to the Scottish Independent Care Review , volunteering to take part in the groups and give their time, professional expertise, stories, and experiences. The Thank You report describes the process of the Care Review and how children, young people and adults with care experience were involved.

Related Topics: Child Participation

Ministerial Statement: Independent Care Review

In this video, the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, issues a statement on the publication of the final report of the Scottish Independent Care Review . In her statement, Sturgeon underlines her personal and political commitment to turning the recommendations made by the report into reality as quickly as possible.

Infographics

These accompanying infographics outline what Scotland must do for each of The Promise report’s Five Foundations: Voice, Family, Care, People, and Scaffolding. Click the image above to view all five infographics.

Fiona Duncan: "There is an urgency. This is children’s lives we are talking about"

This article for The Herald Scotland describes the recently launched Scottish Independent Care Review as "a once-in-a-generation scrutiny of our care system, with far-reaching recommendations for change. It is not unreasonable to expect that other countries might look upon it as a model for their own systems."

Brothers and sisters split up by the care system

This article from BBC News tells the story of siblings who were separated by Scotland's care system and highlights findings from the recent Independent Care Review in Scotland which revealed the "profound and lifelong consequences" of sibling separation.

Failings in the children's care system cost Scotland £1.6bn a year

According to this article from the Herald Scotland, the Independent Scottish Care Review has calculated that the cost of the care system letting down children and their families is £1.6 billion. "This is a combination of £875 million in meeting the needs of care-experienced people as a result of the system failing them and £732 million in lost income tax and national insurance."

Stop excluding children in care, says review

This article from Tes Scotland highlights some of the key findings and recommendations from the Scottish Independent Care Review , including the call on schools to "stop excluding looked-after children and avoid reductions in these pupils' timetables that mean they are 'denied their rights to education.'"

Delivering on a promise: the Independent Care Review

This article from Holyrood features an interview with Fiona Duncan, Corra Foundation chief executive and chair of the Independent Care Review, herself care-experienced. “What we did was look at what matters to children and young people throughout their lives, before care, in care, after care, in order to understand how this operating environment has to change to fit children, rather than how children have to change to fit in,” says Duncan.

Sturgeon pledges radical overhaul of children in care system

This article from BBC News presents the findings and recommendations of the Independent Scottish Care Review , which was welcomed by Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland. According to the article, Sturgeon called the Review "one of the most important moments" in her time as first minister and is "'committed' to turning its vision for caring for young people into reality as quickly as possible."

Care Review: ‘Every child deserves to know they are loved’

This article from STV News describes the history of the Independent Scottish Care Review , including the advocacy of looked-after young people featured in a STV documentary whose efforts led, in part, to the call for the Independent Review in 2016. According to the article, after sharing their stories in the documentary, Laura Beveridge and Ashley Cameron were invited, along with two others, to a face-to-face meeting with Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who later announced a a 'root-and-branch' review of the care system.

Why Scotland will 'look back with shame' on its care system

This article from the National highlights the findings and recommendations of the Independent Scottish Care Review . The article also features an interview with Kenny Murray, public affairs co-ordinator at Who Cares? Scotland – also care experienced – who welcomed the recommendations around better family support. "[My mother] should never have had to choose between getting help and keeping us at home," said Murray. "In years to come we’re going to look back and see that we’ve often taken poor children away from their parents."

Insight: The trauma of growing up in care

This article from the Scotsman shares the story of Charlotte Armitage, a young woman who grew up in care in Scotland. The article connects Armitage's experiences to those shared in Scotland's Independent Care Review, which calls for "an end to systemic failures that lead to young people like Armitage being caused more damage by the very system designed to protect them."

Other Research and Updates

Understanding the Situation

The Paradox of Kinship Care

This report from Family for Every Child examines the growing use of kinship care, including its value and support needs for safe and effective use. The report argues that there is an urgent need to increase support to children living with relatives or friends of their family, with key recommendations made for national governments, donors and UN agencies.