Key Principles and Values

At SIRCC we are committed to:

Empowerment of Children and Young People

Children and young people’s views should be heard, not just in planning for their own lives, but in shaping the nature and quality of the services they receive. This applies equally regardless of disability or age. We are committed not only to emphasising children and young people’s rights in the services we provide but also to ensuring they are involved and influential in shaping those services.

Empowerment of Residential Child Care Workers

Residential workers have often been undervalued in the past. We aim to support them to have a positive and influential voice in the development of residential child care, through involvement in training, professional consultation, research and publications. As a result of SIRCC’s promotion of a higher, more positive and professional profile for residential child care, residential workers should be empowered both to promote good practice and to challenge poor practice.

Commitment to Education, Training, Professional Consultation and Research

We believe that education, training, professional consultation and research should have a major role in improving the residential services provided for children and young people. Residential child care workers should be critical and reflective practitioners enabled to use their learning effectively in the workplace. Likewise, courses, professional consultation and research should be informed by practitioners and practice experience.

Flexibility and Innovation

In order to remain relevant and helpful, residential care must be flexible and innovative, adapting itself to best practice internationally, to the changing needs of young people and their families, and to changing boundaries and models of provision. SIRCC will also be flexible and innovative in the services it provides, both to adapt to and influence this changing environment.

Inclusion, equality and diversity

We are committed to providing services that are equally accessible and equally relevant to staff regardless of their geographical location, type of service, position or hours of work. We aim to offer services which are anti-discriminatory and anti-racist and which recognise and value diversity within the workforce and the children and young people looked after.

Partnership Working

We will regularly consult, work jointly with and provide feedback about our work to children and young people, their parents, residential workers, employers and owners, the Scottish Government, the Scottish Social Services Council and the Care Commission.

Evaluation

We intend to make a positive difference to children and young people’s lives and to residential workers’ confidence and competence, and for that difference to be measurable. We will evaluate, and are open to others evaluating, all our services and their effect on practice, and will change our approach if shortcomings are found. We will also encourage residential care staff to re-appraise their own practice continuously, using and participating in relevant research.

Advocacy for Residential Child Care

In order to realise the above principles and values, we will advocate for good quality residential child care and speak out or take action against poor practice, whether individual or organisational, wherever the need arises.