Poole Children in Care Council

pcicc_cpwg_report_oct11_rr

Poole Children in Care Council

Report to Corporate Parenting Working Group - 18 Oct 2011

Background

Children in Care Councils came into being as a result of 2007 Care Matters White Paper. They give children in care a forum to express their views and influence the services and support they receive.

Since I have been in post I have met with most of the key stakeholders from the Child in Care, Fostering and Pathway Teams to discuss the vital role they will play in the success of the Children in Care Councils.

Questionnaire

A questionnaire was sent to all children and young people in care aged 11-18 and to all care leavers (a total of 99) during the first week of September. A copy of that questionnaire is attached. At the end of August I had written to all carers, explaining to them the purpose and rationale of the Children in Care Council, asking them to encourage the children and young people in their care to participate in the Council and specifically to encourage them to complete and return the questionnaires.

To date, 14 children and young people have returned completed copies of the questionnaire.

The outcomes are as follows:

1Saturdays and schools holidays are marginally more popular than weekday evenings, which are in turn marginally more popular than Sundays. No time that was acceptable to more than seven respondents.

2The most popular potential venues are Rossmore Sports Centre (7) and Holly Lodge (4). The most suggested alternative venue was Ted Webster Family Centre (4 suggestions). I have visited both Holly Lodge and Ted Webster with a view to using them as venues but I have so far received no response to my attempts to contact the management at the Rossmore Sports Centre.

3Several suggestions were made for a new name for the Children in Care Council. These will be voted on at the first meeting in October.

4The issues that were important to those who returned their questionnaires were, in order:

1Family Contact

2Choice of placement

3Education for children in care

4Health care for children in care/care leavers

5Accommodation for care leavers

6=Children in care reviews

6=Staying over with friends

8=Pocket money

8=Education, employment and training for care leavers

10How we can make coming into care a better experience for other young people

11Our experience of coming into/being in care

Other topics that were suggested were “support for care leavers” and “travel”. One respondent recommended “employing people who have been through the same experience”. Another commented “The more we talk about, the better care will be”.

Of the 14 respondents, 9 said they would definitely like to get involved, 4 said “maybe” and one definitely didn’t want to get involved.

Current plans

The current plan is to hold meetings every month or so for children and young people in care and care leavers aged from 11 -21 and to include plenty of fun activities. The theme of the meetings will initially reflect the priorities of the young people themselves and their views but will also start to take on board local and national priorities.

The first meeting will be on 27 October at the Lighthouse Centre, Poole from 10:00 to 15:15. A key part of the day will be a drumming workshop, which will encourage team work and learning new skills as well as allowing participants to enjoy themselves. All children and young people in care and care leavers aged 11-21 have been invited (100) and I have also written a report for the carers’ newsletter to promote the event. A report of the event will be made to the next CPWG.

Next steps:

agree with participants a suitable venue and weekday evening for future meetings and plan agenda
contact key stakeholders named in terms of reference to arrange suitable dates for attendance at CICC meetings
consult with key stakeholders re: upcoming matters that require consultation with children and young people
consult with key stakeholders about holding joint events with neighbouring CICCs
escort two 16+ participants to Children’s Rights event in London on Thursday 10 November (details tba)
arrange festive celebration for December

Rachel Rogers

Action for Children

22 September 2011