"Children and young people don’t just want to be numbers on a file"

Tuesday 17 October 2017

Young people in care were able to share their personal experiences yesterday with politicians and professionals as part of a conference designed to improve States childcare in Jersey.

Two teenagers currently being looked after by Barnardo's gave a personal insight into their experiences at the 'Children in our Care' conference.

The conference, which was held at the Hotel de France, follows the recent publication of the £23million Independent Jersey Care Inquiry (IJCI) report. It warned that some children may still be at risk, and provided a series of recommendations on how the island needs to improve the way it cares for vulnerable children. 

Nick Cook, Children’s Services Managers at Barnado's, said that the presence of the teens at the conference was "absolutely vital."

"One of the key recommendations from the Care Inquiry is that the voice of the child is not acted upon enough. How could we have a conference around safeguarding following that without involving in a meaningful way children and young people?"

Mr Cook said that the children he met with following the publication of the Care Inquiry report came across as, "...quite disappointed that people that were meant to care for them had failed." 

The two who attended the conference were able to give professionals a series of tips to make on how they feel practitioners, including social workers, can listen to them and respond better to their situations, to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Mr Cook said: "The most significant message for me is that children and young people don’t just want to be numbers on a file, they want to be human beings and they want to be treated as such. And that is the very least they deserve." 

Safeguarding Children in our care conference 2017. We must listen to the voice of children, be committed, cherish and nurture them. #itseveryonesbusiness pic.twitter.com/WKe8LunWSG

— SPB Jersey (@JerseySPB) October 16, 2017

A number of experts from leading UK safeguarding organisations and the UK Government also attended the conference, including the Deputy Director of Social Care Policy for Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills), Lisa Pascoe and the Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield OBE.

Ms Longfield met the Chief Minister ahead of the conference to discuss the role of proposed Children's Commissioner, as the recruitment process for that new role continues in Jersey.

"What is important about the role is that you have got someone within the statutory framework who has a responsibility to be the eyes and ears of children in the system. That means that when politicians are meeting, when services are running, you have got someone whose job it is just to look at how children are faring in that system and be aware of their experience, and who is then able to represent that to decision makers and make sure that the decisions are made with those children in mind.

"The crucial part is to understand what children’s experiences of growing up is, meet with them on a very regular basis, carry out research to understand what children are experiencing and also to be able to actually talk with them and look at the things that need to change and being able to represent that. Regarding some of the failings in the past, the Commissioner needs to ensure that children generally, but especially those that are vulnerable and in the care of the state, are never overlooked, never not have a voice again."

Pictured: Hearing about children's experiences creates a "real challenge," according to the Prime Minister.

The Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, said that the States needed to rebuild trust after the IJCI showed that they didn't listen to children in the past.

"It does create a real challenge in that having heard those voices, we now have to act because the report tells us that in the past we heard their voices and we didn’t act. So it’s really important that we do. Having people who have the courage to stand up to talk about their experiences is a very precious thing that we can’t waste.

"So far the important message. I have taken away is ‘It can be done.’ You can turn places around, you can put children at the centre of what you are doing.

"If you have enough resources from a financial perspective, it makes things a little bit easier but it is not just about that. For social work, it’s about case load, training, support. We need to improve on all of those. If we allocate the money and that is all we do we won’t be successful. It’s broader than that."

Protecting children from harm is everyone's responsibility - speaking at @JerseySPB conference today #itseveryonesbusiness pic.twitter.com/KNcvE15Udk

— Senator Ian Gorst (@Ian_Gorst) October 16, 2017

Ms Longfield explained that changes might just mean that processes will involve children more and make sure their views are taken into account. "Sometimes the changes will mean more fundings needed, sometimes it is about the way of doing things as well. Some of it is about putting the children at the heart from the start and designing services around what children’s experiences and their needs. Some of that might cost more but it doesn’t always have to," she commented.

The 2017 Jersey Safeguarding Partnership Board Children’s Conference was sponsored by the Bosdet Foundation and Andium Homes.