More needs to be done to ensure children and young people living in cross border placements are properly supported and their rights respected.
A report was published today by Care Inspectorate on the experiences of children and young people placed in residential care settings in Scotland from other UK jurisdictions.
Inspectors found that decisions to place young people on a cross border basis were always prompted by safeguarding concerns and limited care provision in placing authority areas.
Young people did not choose proactively to move to Scotland, which was far from home for most. Once placed in Scotland, they were provided with opportunities to develop supportive and trusting relationships, listened to and respected.
The use of secure transport when placing young people cross border was only used in small number of instances, directly related to a need to keep the young person safe.
However, inspectors also noted that host authorities and placing authorities were not consistently working together effectively to plan support for the young person.
A lack of consistency in approach and pre-placement planning for education impacted on services being able to meet the young person’s needs. For some, this resulted in the young person’s education experience being limited.
Young people were able to access primary health services in the host authority areas, but when young people required mental health services, these were much less accessible or available.
Young people were supported in various ways to keep in touch with the people who were important to them. For the majority, when travel was needed, care staff provided support.
Most young people benefited from the involvement of an independent reviewing officer who helped them to feel listened to, heard and included. However, there were barriers to young people accessing independent advocacy if they needed this.
All young people felt they had their voices heard at reviews, and most attended review meetings in person.
Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: “Cross border placements require careful planning, taking a collaborative approach. The wellbeing of the young person must be of uppermost concern and given the highest priority.
“Young people need well thought out and appropriately resourced plans which give due consideration to the complexities involved in working across different jurisdictions and the longer-term consequences for young people moving so far from home.
“For some young people, it was encouraging to see the efforts made to uphold and protect their rights while they were living in Scotland. However, there was also clear evidence that young people are not supported well due to a lack of collaborative working, inconsistency in planning processes, inadequate information-sharing and difficulty accessing the services they need.”
The full report can be read here.