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Listen
Conclusion
I've been really happy because it's like a home, a proper home. You know you're wanted. (Claire)
276. Families are still the cornerstone of our society. Despite changing patterns of relationships, a high divorce rate, and the many definitions of being a 'family', belonging to a family is a desired state for most people. Certain days of the year are set aside to celebrate mothers, fathers and grandparents. The family is everywhere. There are many different ideas about what makes a good family, but the concept of caring for children is at the core of most, if not all, of them. Children and young people who, for a whole range of reasons, cannot be cared for adequately within their own families are keenly aware that they are different from the majority of their peers. They know that many people may regard their families as having failed them and this can to lead them to feel that they too have failed in some way. Very often when children and young people become looked after they have feelings of loss and sadness. It is a paradox that much care away from home, which is intended to make up for early disadvantages and losses, ends up compounding rather than alleviating children's difficulties. We know from this review and many other studies of looked after children that this is not necessary. Children and young people can do well and many return to their families. Those who remain looked after can progress to a fulfilled adult life. The challenge faced by all who care for looked after children is to break the paradox; being looked after should always enhance children's education, health, leisure and life chances. Important factors that appear to contribute to successful outcomes include stable placements that promote good relationships, a positive experience of school, support from adults to develop life skills and career plans, support in maintaining social friendships and relationships, careful preparation for independence and the same sort of ongoing social, emotional and financial support that typical parents might provide for their own children.
277. The central finding of this review is that we cannot leave the care of looked after children to the goodwill of their carers and hope for the best. Corporate parenting is an uncomfortable term but the meaning of corporate is 'to belong to a group'. There are inherent risks in the care of children being held by a group, especially one which has many responsibilities and functions. There are also strengths in recognising that everyone in central and local government has a responsibility for looked after children. The Scottish Executive has a strategic role in a number of areas such as workforce planning, establishing national priorities for the recruitment and retention of foster carers and a national approach to kinship carers and private fostering. We have identified a number of key issues throughout this review which we think the Scottish Executive and others could usefully address to support changing practice and better care for looked after children.
278. When children and young people are looked after away from home the local authority provides them with substitute care. Although many families retain parental rights when their child is looked after, the local authority is expected to provide the same kind of care as a good parent would. We found in this review that many looked after children and young people were benefiting from the care and attention of committed adults. Nearly three quarters of those adults are foster carers; the remainder are staff who work in residential units and schools. We are asking these adults and other, often unqualified staff working alongside them, to undertake a vital task in our society, to provide substitute parenting. Many do it very well, but not always for very long. Recruiting and retaining good staff and foster carers is crucial to providing children and young people with the best 'parenting' that we can.
279. Each chapter of this review ends with a number of suggestions for local authorities, and their partners in delivering children's services, to consider what might best help them to improve their services and the outcomes for looked after children. Many of the suggestions are straightforward and sound easy but are harder to put into practice because they require a cultural change in the way we think about looked after children and our expectations of them. We have deliberately not sought to make prescriptive recommendations, recognising that one size will not fit all and that different practices suit different parts of Scotland. A number of the suggestions complement work already being taken forward in the Executive, such as getting it right for every child, the child protection reform agenda, the 21st century social work review, the adoption policy review and others. The indicators in the national quality improvement framework for integrated services for children and young people are there to ensure outcomes for all children, including looked after children, can be measured.
280. We have concluded that the single most important thing that will improve the futures of Scotland's looked after children is for local authorities to focus on and improve their corporate parenting skills. Different authorities might want to go about this in different ways but we think that all local authority chief executives should make an annual report to their council on the outcomes achieved for looked after children. All local authorities should nominate an elected member who will act as a champion for looked after children. Some local authorities might want to consider appointing a senior manager with a specific responsibility for looked after children throughout the authority at a strategic level. Looked after children need to belong and feel confident that everyone is working with and for them to achieve their best possible care. As we have found throughout this review, to be 'ordinary' they need extra-ordinary help and support.
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