Care Experience

If you have been looked after or are in care, it means Wirral Council has a role in making sure you are safe and properly cared for.

The law (the Children Act 1989) says that when decisions are made about whether you should stay at home or go into care, the most important thing is what is best for you.

Why do some children and young people live in care?

There are many reasons why you or other young people might come into care:

• Your parents might not have been able to look after you because of illness or problems at home, including abuse or neglect

• A court may have decided that your home was not a safe place for you to live

• There may have been concerns that you or someone else could be at risk of serious harm

What types of care are there?

There are different types of care you might have experienced:

• Foster care – you live with foster carers who are not part of your birth family

• Children’s residential homes – you live with other young people and are supported by staff

• Adoption – you become part of a new family who look after you permanently

• Family and friends care – you live with relatives such as grandparents, aunts, or uncles

• Residential care – this is usually a home in the community where staff support you, and the number of young people living there can change

What does the law say?

When decisions are made about your life, the court must think about:

• What you feel and what you want to happen

• What you need to stay safe, feel happy, and do well in life

• Your age, personality, and how changes might affect you

• How well your parents or other caregivers can look after you

• Whether you have been hurt or not properly cared for, and if this could happen again

How might you have gone into care?

There are a few different ways you might have come into care:

• Your family may have agreed with Children’s Services for you to be looked after (this is called being “accommodated”)

• If adults couldn’t agree on what should happen, a court may have made a care order

• A care order is made when the court thinks you need to be protected

• This means Children’s Services share responsibility for your care with your parents

• A care order can stay in place until you turn 18

What else can the courts decide?

Courts can also make decisions about:

• Whether a child should be adopted

• Whether a young person is brought up in a different religion

• Whether a child can live outside the UK for more than 28 days

You have rights, and other people have a responsibility to respect your rights too. Laws like the Children Act and the Children and Young Persons Act are there to make sure you are treated fairly, wherever you live.

Wirral’s Promise to children and young people in care explains how the council and the people who work with you will support you and respect your rights.

What are your rights?

Your rights include:

• The right to get help and support from Children and Young People’s Services when you need it

• The right to healthcare

• The right to go to school and learn

• The right to be protected if you have been hurt or treated badly

• The right to see information written about you

• The right to keep in touch with your family and friends (when it is safe to do so)

• The right to be treated fairly

• The right to have your views, wishes and feelings listened to and taken seriously

• The right to complain and to get help to sort out problems

How you should be treated in care

When you are in care, there are rules about how adults should treat you.

If you live in a foster home or a children’s home, you should not be punished in any of these ways:

• Being stopped from having food or drink

• Being stopped from seeing or speaking to family or friends as a punishment

• Being hit, slapped, pinched, shaken, or treated roughly

• Being stopped from contacting your social worker, solicitor, or advocate

• Being made to wear clothes that could embarrass you or draw unwanted attention

• Being stopped from getting your usual medicine or seeing a doctor or dentist

• Being deliberately stopped from sleeping

Advice and Support

We promise to:

• support you in a caring way and go the extra mile

• listen to you and value your views and thoughts, as an individual and through your Children in Care Council and Care Leavers Councils

• respect you and strive to understand your position (by putting ourselves in your shoes), placing your needs, thoughts and feelings at the heart of all decisions about you

• make sure you feel confident and supported to attend your meetings and reviews if you wish

• help you to understand your care plan and the reasons why you are in our care

• make sure you are made aware of different services available to you so you can have the right support, at the right time, by the right person

Health and happiness

We promise to:

• support you in all your health needs - help you know how to find out about being healthy and support you to stay healthy and make sure you receive good health care whenever you need it (physical, emotional and mental)

• whenever possible, help you to keep in contact with the people who are important to you

• make sure you know your rights and entitlements and who to turn to if you are unhappy or wish to make a formal complaint
   

Growth and development

We promise to:

• provide a stable environment for you to live and learn

• make sure you live with people who care about you and support you

• help and support you to become independent

• do everything we can to build your skills and confidence to help you make a smooth move into adult life

• help you to have control of your life
   

Education and employment

We promise to:

• provide you with a named teacher in your school or education setting who understands the issues that you may face

• meet you outside of school if this is what you would prefer

• support you in any pathway you choose beyond school or college, including going to university or into and apprenticeship

• value your strengths, gifts and talents and encourage and guide you to be the best you can be and achieve the goals and dreams you have set and believe in you and celebrate your achievements

There are lots of people who want to help you when you come into care. Your social worker is one of them.

What is a social worker?

You will probably have had a social worker working with your family before you came into care. When you come into care they will visit to make sure you are happy and have settled in. They will work with you, your family and your carers to make your life better.

Your social worker is one of your main points of contact.

It is their job to make sure you:

• have a care plan and a placement plan

• get the right care that you need

• stay in touch with people who are important to you and monitor this as agreed in your care plan

• are involved in the decisions about your life

• have access to all of the services that you need to help you stay healthy, get a good education, and work with you and your carer to do this

They will do this by:

• visiting you regularly

• giving you my phone number and e-mail address so you can get in touch with me

• listening to your wishes and feelings and taking these into account when planning your care and your future

• attending your review and other important meetings

• working out a plan to make things better for you