Letter to the editor of the Sunday Herald: 19 October 2009

Further to your report on the number of young people who have ‘absconded’ from the Good Shepherd Centre (Suicide girls’ care home reveals runaway figures, 11.10.09):

I firstly wish to extend my condolences to the family and friends of Neve Lafferty and Georgia Rowe and to the grieving community of young people and staff of the Good Shepherd.

This article raises much wider questions about the public view of residential child care, which is commonly that of an earlier era, and I am concerned that it has perpetuated unhelpful stereotypes which stubbornly remain. These are stereotypes which further stigmatize young people living in residential child care who are there by no fault of their own. We must look below what may first appear to be a shocking 'absconding' figure to understand that in several of those cases, the young people may simply be late returning home. It is not uncommon for young people to challenge the restrictions placed upon them by those in authority, and particularly those young people who may have more chaotic life experiences prior to the relatively structured environment of residential child care. A high number of ‘absconding’ incidents tells us very little without knowing the circumstances behind each case. We must, however, take these seriously so that we do understand the reasons for each situation and, where necessary, work to prevent this. In various parts of Scotland, this issue has been addressed through the development of protocols dealing with the reporting of ‘absconding’.

The past 10 years have seen significant improvements in the quality of residential child care services. These services are a relatively small but important part of the continuum of care services for young people, caring for children and young people who commonly have complex needs and difficult histories. Requirements for minimum educational qualifications, professional registration and ongoing professional development of staff and managers are giving services increasing competence to respond skilfully to young people's therapeutic needs. A more rigorous inspection regime and investment in new buildings are transforming the landscape of residential child care, which is often challenged with meeting the needs of troubled young people when other forms of care have not succeeded. In response, more specialised services offering therapeutic programmes, underpinned by research-evidenced approaches, are becoming available. But progress is slow.

These are important steps forward, yet many challenges remain to best meet the highly complex needs of some children and young people. A government-initiated and sector-led National Residential Child Care Initiative will be recommending a future strategy for the sector's next steps forward with ambitious recommendations on 2 December 2009.

Without diminishing in any way this recent tragedy, it is essential that we are reminded that many young people who live in residential care are doing well in face of difficult circumstances with the help of their own resilience, and skilled and dedicated residential child care staff. The many, many care leavers who have turned things around for themselves are a testimony to this.

Jennifer Davidson

Director

Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care

http://www.sircc.org.uk