The views of the child: Article 12 and the development of children's rights in Scotland

Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child calls for state parties to 'assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child'. This paper will discuss the rights of children to express their views in the context of the Scottish legislative system

Beyond the new horizon : trends and issues in residential child care

High profile scandals of abuse and poor outcomes of children in residential child care have contributed to a government focus on improving the quality of services. There has also been a significant effort to promote the rights of children and young people. In Scotland, there have been a number of national developments which include national bodies to regulate social care services, the social care workforce and to co-ordinate the training of residential child care staff; legislation to enhance the protection of children; and the creation of the role of Children's Commissioner to promote children's rights. As well as these national measures, it is important to place the developmental and emotional needs of children and young people in residential care at the centre of quality services

Recent developments in child protection policy and practice in Scotland and the UK

This paper describes the developments in child protection policy and practice following the deaths of Kennedy McFarlane and Victoria Climbie. It outlines child protection statistics in Scotland and the findings of the Child Protection Review. It discusses the Children's Charter and the Framework for Standards in Child Protection. It also briefly discusses developments in England; Directors of Children's Services, Local Safeguarding Children's Boards, Information Database, and Children's Commissioner

Close enough? professional closeness and safe caring

In countries around the world, residential child care has been rocked by scandals of abuse of children and young people by the people who were supposed to be caring for them. In the UK, in particular, the reaction to these revelations has been to implement a raft of measures that seek to ensure that nothing of the same nature or scale might happen again. However, there can be tensions between the implementation of such measures and the developmental and emotional needs of children and young people in residential care. In this paper, we outline recent policy and legislative developments and address some of the issues which we see as important in attempting to strike a balance between safe caring and quality caring, between professional closeness and abusive practice

Hidden on the ward : the abuse of children in hospitals

While there have been a small number of high profile cases of the abuse of children by hospital staff, there has been relatively little attention paid to the child protection issues for children staying in hospitals. Drawing on a conceptual framework from work on institutional abuse, we identify three types of abuse: physical and sexual abuse; programme abuse; and system abuse. Physical and sexual abuse can be perpetrated by medical professionals and hospital workers, it can be perpetrated by other children, or it can be perpetrated by the child's own parent(s). Research evidence from the United States suggests that the rate of abuse in hospitals is higher than in the family home. Programme abuse occurs when treatment and care falls below normally accepted standards. Recently, a tragic case of programme abuse concerned the unacceptably high death rate of babies undergoing heart surgery at Bristol Royal Infirmary. System abuse is the most difficult to define but concerns the way in which child health services fail to meet the needs of children. Recent reports have highlighted inadequate services for children and young people, lack of priority given to children's services, and geographical inequalities in the provision of services. Three crucial aspects in safeguarding children from abuse are highlighted: listening to children; the selection support and training of staff; and external systems of inspection, monitoring and standards. The recent government agenda which has placed quality at the centre of NHS service developments are discussed. Only by addressing the abuse of children in hospital openly and honestly will effective child protection be possible

Young people's experiences of physical restraint in residential care: subtlety and complexity in policy and practice

Children and young people in residential care are some of the most vulnerable in our society. They may have experienced violence and physical, sexual or emotional abuse. They may be involved in offending or the misuse of drugs and alcohol. They are separated from their families and have to cope with living in a group situation with other young people and staff members. Children and young people in residential care also possess strengths, competencies and resilience. We have much to learn from their experiences and perspectives, both generally and surrounding their time in care. This paper will address the ethical issues which arise from gaining the views of children and young people in residential care

Time to be heard pilot forum evaluation : a chance to say more

In December 2004, Scotland's First Minister offered 'a full and sincere apology on behalf of the people of Scotland' to those who suffered abuse in residential homes in the pastthe Scottish Government. Since then, Tom Shaw carried out the Historical Abuse Systemic review which addressed the regulatory framework of resdiential care between 1950 - 1995 and in 2008 Scottish Government announced a consultation oon an 'Acknowledgement and Accountability Forum'. This led to a pilo project 'Time to be heard' which was set up to test the effectiveness of a confidential forum which gave former resdeints the opportunity to recount their experiences in care, especially abusive experiences to an independent panel. This evaluation. Ninely six questionnaires were sent out around three weeks after they had participated in the pilot forum. The questionnaire included an invitation to take part in a follow up face-to-face interview. Twleve interviews took place. participants were overwhelmingly supportive of the experience with the process but raised issues about acknowledgement and accountability

A different way to look at things : the development of consultancy in a residential service for children and young people

The support of consultancy and the tasks associated with consultation are considered to play a vital role in the development of good practice in residential care and in safeguarding children and young people. Back in the 1970s, Berry (1975) recommended that all residential workers should have opportunities for support and consultation and 'every residential unit requires a special senior supporter who devotes himself (sic) to the staff without being directly responsible for the children... a consultant, counsellor, supervisor or therapist (but not an inspector)' (Berry, 1975, p. 134). More recently, however, Warner (1992) highlighted that too often staff in children's homes are left to cope with abused, disturbed and violent young people without access to the specialist psychiatric and psychological services that are needed (Warner, 1992, p. 144). He stressed the need for support from specialists in other agencies such as child psychiatrists and educational psychologists and for staff care schemes such as stress counselling (Warner, 1992, pp. 154-155). Over half the heads of units in the survey of residential establishments in Scotland felt they needed additional support such as a specialist adviser, consultant or psychologist, and 'often such a specialist was required to provide a service both to residents and/or staff, such as an independent counsellor' (Harvey, 1992, pp. 27-28)

Care in mind : improving the mental health of children and young people in state care in Scotland

Some five thousand children and young people are in residential and foster care in Scotland. Many experience poor outcomes and concern about the quality of care has led to a number of government initiatives including the registration of care services and the social care workforce. Children and young people in state care experience a high level of mental health problems. Mental health services, however, have not served this vulnerable group well. The issue of the mental health of children and young people is now high on the government's agenda. A national needs assessment has set out an important agenda for the development of services. In addition, a number of innovative projects have focused on meeting the mental health needs of children and young people in state care. It is important that these developments lead to integrated and flexible mental health services in order to improve outcomes and well-being of children and young people in state care in Scotland

Residential child care and offending

This conference paper discusses residential child care and offending