Start
with the child, stay with the child –
a Blueprint for a child centred care system
by Kathleen Lane
Somewhere to Muse
I
had long intended to visit the Museum of London, about which I
had heard good things. I was therefore intrigued to receive an
invitation to attend the launch of the ‘Start with the
child, stay with the child – a Blueprint for a child centred
care system’, at the Museum on 19th February.
From
the start it promised to be a different kind of day. It was school
half term for a lot of children, so the Museum was alive and buzzing
by 10am, not only with children being hauled around for some culture,
but also by a very good number of young people participating in
the Blueprint event. There were also a lot of ‘significant’
figures from all sectors. At lunch time I found one of the few
remaining hereditary peers in a queue with some young people waiting
for more sandwiches to appear.
Having
attended ‘Mulled wine and mince pies’ events at both
Cromer and Sheringham Museums, I wondered how a day conference
would fit around the galleries and display cases. I soon discovered
that there were miles of corridors, dozens of offices and many
rooms, including a full size theatre behind the parts open to
the public. Fortunately there were sufficient guides to lead us
to and from the various small groups, otherwise I think some of
us might have become part of history.
Giving
/ Getting the Paxman Treatment
In
the spirit of the project young people played a full part in the
various events during the day. The programme started with an ambitious
GMTV style session, in which several people were interviewed by
a couple of very capable teenagers. The interviews were interspersed
with ‘breaking news’ video clips from around the country,
which had been put together by young people who were unable to
come to London for the day.
Sadly
Jon Snow was represented by a cardboard cut out, since he had
pulled out. I actually think it was his loss, although I can understand
why he might have thought it could be a bit challenging. Most
of the adults bore the strain of being under the spotlight well,
with only one falling into the trap of talking in jargon, rather
than in plain English.
MP Hilton Dawson received the rowdiest reception, which must have
felt a bit like being back in the House of Commons. A number of
young people made impromptu vocal interjections about the Minister
for Children. Many in the audience also seemed at odds with the
MP’s loyal tribute to the Prime Minister as a likeable and
principled man. However, the audience was more co-operative than
members of the House of Commons during debates and responded well
to being called to order by one of the youthful interviewers.
Messages
through Arts and Groups
The
variety of small groups reflected the interests of those taking
part. There was percussion, dance and creative writing, which
all called for full and active participation as well as the more
traditional presentations.
I
opted for the safe and traditional and went to presentations about
the experiences of young people who had been in care and unaccompanied
minors. In both cases the lead was given by adults, but they were
supported by eloquent young people, who had thought about things
and had some messages about their experiences.
The
young black people both laid stress on being enabled to find out
about their culture of origin, so that they can fit in and belong.
One big problem which they had both encountered was not having
money for their personal hair and skin care needs.
Leading
the group about refugee children with someone from the Refugee
Council was a young person from Kosovo and one from Chad. One
of the things which they had found most hurtful was not being
believed either by Customs and Immigration officials or at other
places, including schools, along the way.
There
is a big difference in the treatment of young people under eighteen,
by contrast with those deemed to be legal adults. However, for
refugees coming from chaotic and often dangerous places, it may
be totally impossible to provide documentary evidence of anything.
So, in addition to unthinkable trauma and unmentionable horrors,
young refugees experience ‘professional’ disbelief,
which makes their struggle tougher than it needs to be.
What’s
Blueprint?
The
Blueprint Project arose out a multiplicity of stories and experiences
which make very clear that too often the system is not there to
serve children and young people, but rather to maintain itself.
Voice
for the Child in Care (VCC) and the National Children’s
Bureau (NCB) have been working on the Blueprint Project for eighteen
months. The project was set up to look at how the care system
could be changed to make things better for young people. Young
people between six and twenty five years old were involved, together
with Government representatives, managers and staff from eight
local authorities in England, trying to find ways to establish
effective and genuine partnerships with young people to improve
their participation and involvement in the care system.
A
lot of written information was provided on the day and the following
are extracts from the short leaflet.
The
first message is that at present things look like this :
Who
tells who what to do?
Government
Managers
Staff
Children and young people
Whereas
it should look like this :
Government
Managers
Staff
Children and young people
There
are then four main points which could revolutionise the ways in
which care for young people is planned and delivered in England.
They could provide some meaty topics for staff meetings and supervision
sessions.
1.
Children can do it.
Government
and managers must find ways to involve young people in helping
them to make sure that they always remember the child in everything
they do. Everyone throughout the system must believe that children
can be a real part of the team.
2.
The needs and what is right for young people must be put before
those of the organisation, the adults around them or budgets.
Children
need to feel that they belong. They must have more choice and
control over decisions which are made about their lives.
Children
have to be respected. The ways in which they think this can be
shown is by staff returning phone calls, turning up on time, talking
directly with young people, getting to know the real them, doing
what they say they will and believing in them. The young people
also thought that if managers modelled this behaviour towards
staff it would improve the way staff relate to young people, which
would affect the way young people behave, and in the end people
would change and the system would change.
Teachers
need a better understanding of what it’s like for children
in care. They should not be made to stand out. Neither more nor
less should be expected of them than it is of children not in
care.
Preparation
for leaving care should be a more gradual, longer term process
with young people, including more support from people they know
and from each other.
3.
The relationships children and young people have are one of the
most important things in their lives.
More
energy, determination and encouragement need to be put into maintaining
family links while young people are in care. When they leave they
may have no other support.
Keeping
friends is also important and should be better recognised by Social
Services providing time, space and financial help to keep the
links.
Children
and young people being looked after need at least one constant
relationship throughout their time in care. They should also be
allowed to stay in touch with workers and carers with whom they
have related well after they move on.
4.
How is time being spent?
Managers
need to look at finding simpler ways of doing things so that staff
can spend more time directly involved with young people and less
on doing paperwork and maintaining systems.
All
children should have one main worker who is supported by a team
with different skills in field such as education or health. All
of the team should be easy to reach, be open, honest and happy
to explain their actions to children and young people.
Everyone
hopes that the ideas from the Blueprint Project will influence
the Government, which is developing a new Children Bill. Also,
it could be a way of keeping enthusiasm alive and to keep the
focus of workers and services child-centred. VCC and NCB are setting
up a network. You can check things out by going to www.vcc-uk.org,
looking for the Blueprint link and looking for ‘Try a different
way’.
