"Culture change needed" to strengthen residential child care

"Culture change needed" to strengthen residential child   care

2 December 2009

A culture change is needed to make residential care the first and best option for some of Scotland's most vulnerable children and young people, according to a major series of reports launched today, Wednesday 2 December, by a nationwide partnership.

The studies by the National Residential Child Care Initiative (NRCCI) found that residential care had made a positive and lasting difference to the lives of many young people.

They also found, however, that many professionals, agencies and the general public held a negative view of the services and perceived it as a last resort.

The research found evidence that the progress many young people made was not always sufficiently supported and was not always properly followed through as they made the transition to independent lives.

NRCCI, a group comprising representatives from local authorities, health boards, the Scottish Government, charities and government agencies, was established by the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care, based at the University of Strathclyde. Working groups were established to focus on three areas: matching resources to needs; workforce, and the commissioning of children's services.

Recommendations in the series of reports, entitled Higher Aspirations, Brighter Futures, include:

• Active participation of young people in planning their support
• More attention given to the views of children and their parents or carers on specific placements
• Effective retention policies, covering areas such as pay and conditions and the diverse backgrounds of the residential child care workforce.

Romy Langeland, who chairs NRCCI and is a Visiting Professor at Strathclyde, said: "Children and young people are the centre of our concern and if we want to make sure that the outcomes for them improve, we need to make appropriate investment in them so that we build on their strengths and develop their resilience.

"In recognising that they have had a difficult start in life, either through early neglect or abuse, or because they live with a disability, we need to ensure that we make good early assessments, that they have well-supported placements which address their needs, and that we follow through as long as necessary so that they are launched into adult life as positively as possible."

Jennifer Davidson, Director of SIRCC and a member of the NRCCI Project Board, said: "These children are likely to have a range of health and educational needs and are therefore likely to need support from a wide range of agencies.

"We hope that these reports will help to strengthen residential child care and build upon the good work already being done by these services. The recommendations in this report are ambitious and essential for the benefit of the children and young people who are looked after in residential child care, their families, and the wider workforce."

The reports recognised the increasing challenges which residential child care services have faced in recent years, through the increasing number of young people with complex needs being placed in the services, the need to maintain the skills and competence of the workforce and the type of provision needed for the future to meet young people's needs.

Councillor Isabel Hutton, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities' (COSLA) Education, Children and Young People Spokesperson, said: “I welcome the publication today of the final report on the National Review of Residential Childcare Inititiative . The report is the product of over a years work, and I want to thank everyone who has been involved in its development.

“The report is extensive and contains a large number of recommendations. COSLA and Scottish Government are publishing a joint response to the report, which will outline our initial thinking on where we go from here on the recommendations. It is fair to say that some will need further consideration before we can think of implementing them.

“However, we are already taking action, and have hit the ground running on national commissioning of secure care. We have appointed an officer to develop this work in partnership with secure providers and Scottish Government.

“The report today sets the tone and direction for the work ahead. For this reason I am happy to support its publication today.”

Anna Fowlie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Social Services Council, the social service workforce regulator, said: “Our children and young people deserve to be looked after by people who are confident and competent in their profession and valued by society for the critical work that they do. Their contribution to the aspirations and success of each child they care for is crucial and we know that outcomes for children and young people are much better when they are cared for by people who are motivated and have the right qualifications and skills.

"The NRCCI has made a number of recommendations and the SSSC will have a lead role in helping the workforce and the sector to meet the challenges ahead.”

The importance of assessment and care planning was a recurring theme encountered by the reporting groups. Although many young people were provided with stable, caring homes and received, along with their families, expert help, others were not receiving the kind of help they needed, when they needed it and were facing delays, multiple placements or disruption to their placement.

Instead, the reporters found, a residential child care placement should be made on the basis of a careful assessment of need.

To achieve a culture change which valued the potential of residential child care, the reporters said, higher aspirations for, and expectations of, the workforce were essential.  This required an increasingly skilled, confident workforce with the same levels of knowledge, skills, value and status as other professionals within wider children's services.

The reports will be launched at the Hilton Grosvenor Hotel, Edinburgh, at 10am on Wednesday, 2 December. Responses to the report will be made at the launch by a range of stakeholders, including the Scottish Government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

ENDS Notes to Editors:1.Copies of the full NRCCI reports area attached. They can also be seen at http://www.sircc.org.uk/

2.The Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC) is funded by the Scottish Government and is a partnership between the University of Strathclyde, the Robert Gordon University, Who Cares? Scotland, and Langside College.  It was established in 2000 with the aim of ensuring that residential child care staff throughout Scotland have access to the skills and knowledge they require to meet the needs of the children and young people in their care.

3.More on Strathclyde at www.strath.ac.uk