scholarly journals ‘What about me?’ Stories of the educational experiences of care-experienced children and young people in a Scottish local authority

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190
Author(s):  
Daniela Mercieca ◽  
Duncan P Mercieca ◽  
Leisa Randall
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Young People ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
School Attendance ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Background Characteristics ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Looked After Children ◽  
Home And School

This qualitative study explores the educational experiences of looked after children and young people in one Scottish local authority. The preoccupations of government are academic achievement and school attendance, but these are not the prime concerns of the children, carers and professionals involved. Moreover, they can be both enhanced and restricted by the background characteristics and care situations of the young people and the responses of schools to their needs and behaviour. Five influential factors emerged from interviews and focus groups with professionals, carers and young people: behaviour; school attendance; carers as educators; friendships; and communication between home and school. Each of them is discussed with extended quotations that convey the voices of participants.

scholarly journals The consequences of being labelled ‘looked-after’: Exploring the educational experiences of looked-after children and young people in Wales

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dawn Mannay ◽  
Rhiannon Evans ◽  
Eleanor Staples ◽  
Sophie Hallett ◽  
Louise Roberts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Looked After Children

Profile of neurodevelopmental and behavioural problems and associated psychosocial factors among a cohort of newly looked after children in an English local authority

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Ogundele
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Complex Needs ◽  
Looked After Children ◽  
Health Visitors ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
Ethical Approval ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Limited research has been undertaken into the neurodevelopmental profile of looked after children and young people who are known to be highly vulnerable to mental and physical health morbidities. This study seeks to assess the prevalence of childhood neurodisabilities and related neurodevelopmental, emotional, behavioural and intellectual problems (NDEBIPs) among a cohort of children coming into care in an English local authority. A retrospective review of all referrals to a local authority health team between January and December 2018 was carried out as part of its clinical governance strategies. No identifiable patient record was used and no research ethical approval was required. A total of 56 out of 80 (70%) children had at least one or more NDEBIPs (average of two), including behavioural (32.5%) and emotional problems (16%), attachment difficulties (14%) and speech/language delay (12.5%). This compares with a prevalence of up to 15% reported in normal childhood populations. Fifty-one (91%) of the looked after children and young people with NDEBIPs experienced at least one or more psychosocial adversities/trauma (average of five). Each of them received help from an average of four multidisciplinary professionals including social workers, dentists, opticians and health visitors and had an average of three physical/mental health diagnoses. The implications of this high prevalence are discussed together with recommendations arising from clinical experience. Particularly salient is the need for planning future integrated multi-agency services to meet children’s complex needs.

Aftercare

2020 ◽  
pp. 299-311
Author(s):  
Kenneth McK. Norrie
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Continuing Care ◽  
Formal Care ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Care Leavers ◽  
Industrial Schools ◽  
And Training

Aftercare, the duties owed to young people after they leave formal care, has always been an inherent aspect of the child protection process in Scotland, perhaps more so indeed in the early days when the assumption was that child protection necessitated the permanent removal of the child from the parent’s care. Early aftercare obligations were primarily around assistance in finding employment for young people when they reached school-leaving age, though managers of reformatory and industrial schools also had obligations to supervise the young person who had left their care for three years or until their 21st birthday. Latterly, education and training grants were made available, as were other forms of financial assistance. Finally, the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 imposed on local authority the obligation of “continuing care” towards young people who had previously been “looked after” by the local authority, and on a range of public bodies to act as “corporate parents” to such care leavers.

Children's Advocacy in Wales: Organisational Challenges for Those Who Commission and Deliver Advocacy for Looked after Children

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Pithouse ◽  
Odette Parry
Keyword(s):  
Local Authority ◽  
Step Change ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Vulnerable Children ◽  
Direct Benefit ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Looked After Children ◽  
Authority Area ◽  
The Way

Andrew Pithouse and Odette Parry set out results from a Welsh Assembly Government-funded study of all children's advocacy services commissioned by local authorities in Wales. The results are presented in relation to key organisational themes that include the characteristics of children's advocacy services in Wales and the views of advocacy services held by local authority staff. Particular prominence is given to matters concerning looked after children where it will be seen that (a) advocacy providers tend to deliver case- or issue-based services and do relatively less in the way of cause-based advocacy, (b) most advocacy providers see themselves as both insufficiently funded by and independent of those commissioning their services, (c) local authority staff typically view advocacy as a service of benefit to children and families rather than of any direct benefit to authorities and (d) there remain significant difficulties in providing advocacy for ‘hard-to-reach’ children such as fostered children, children in respite care and children placed out of the local authority area. The paper concludes that there is a strong case for national government in Wales to promote a step-change in the way children's advocacy is organised so that a more strategically coherent and regional approach is taken that can deliver an independent, equitable, accessible and more uniform quality of advocacy provision for vulnerable children and young people.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document