The rights of care experienced young people are being upheld as they move on from being in care, according to a new report.
The report, released today by the Care Inspectorate, also found challenges for organisations attempting to help care experienced young people move forward into adulthood.
The Scottish Government asked the Care Inspectorate to undertake a thematic review of the experiences for young people in and leaving care in Scotland, with a focus on how their rights were upheld.
The review found that almost all the young people heard from were experiencing positive relationships with trusted staff and felt supported by them throughout the stages of moving on from care.
A culture of rights and relationship-based, trauma-informed practice for care experienced young people was evident at a national level and in the four areas that participated in the review: Edinburgh, Shetland, North Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway.
When young people were meaningfully included in service design and planning this resulted in innovative, creative services which impacted positively in the lives of care experienced young people.
Where areas had gathered the stories of care experienced young people, this added a rich dimension to data already collected and demonstrated the worth of listening to young people’s accounts first hand as a means of giving insight into what is important to them.
However, the experience of moving on from care, envisaged by the Scottish Care Leavers Covenant (SCLC), has yet to be achieved for all young people.
Variable approaches to keeping in touch also means that not all young people have equity of access to all the necessary information during the stages of transition.
Access to suitable housing was the most significant challenge for partnerships and was compromising partnerships’ ability to fully deliver young people’s plans in the way they would wish to.
Jackie Irvine, Chief Executive of the Care Inspectorate, said: “The views of young people are to the fore within this review and speak to the importance of listening to their experiences to ensure their rights are consistently upheld and their lives improve as a result of the support they receive.
“A resounding message from this review is the value that young people placed on the good relationships they experienced with the staff who were working with them. The right worker was as important as the right service, and individual qualities of workers were as important as the work they do.
“We were impressed by many positive examples of relationship-based practice and how important that one person could be at a time of significant change. Young people valued being listened to and understood by people who know them well.”
The full report can be read here.