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Although they are seen as important, children's rights services in London are held back by scarce resources, bureaucracy and the tenet that the adult is always right, says researcher Lorna Clarke-Jones

Children's rights have been buzzwords in the past 10 years, but research by the Social Science Research Unit shows that only 12 of the 33 London local authorities have children's rights services.¹

The strategy published by the government's children and young people's unit last November may reveal a landmark change in government thinking. This states that "children and young people should have opportunities to play an effective role in the design and delivery of policies and services"².

The research, based on interviews with children's rights officers, focus groups with young people leaving care and a survey of local authorities, examined the picture of children's rights provision in London. Children's rights services remain the exception rather than the norm, and often struggle against hostile attitudes, bureaucratic structures and scarce resources.

Children's rights services are unique models combining advocacy for looked-after children and children in need, with participatory approaches. These empower children to take part in decisions that affect them and assert their rights.

Participatory approaches include groups for young people to meet and support each other. They would meet senior social services managers, speak at conferences, sit on local authority committees and involve themselves in consultations. There is a move towards these services being independent from local authority structures and supported by partnership funding from local authorities and voluntary organisations.

The development of these services can be placed in the context of growing international pressure for independent human rights institutions for children, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified by the UK in 1991. The children's rights services in London are based on the principles of the CRC, in particular Article 12, which says that children have the right to express their views and have them taken seriously.

Of the 33 London authorities, our survey found just 12 with children's rights services, although a few were subscribing to London-wide advocacy services. Authorities noted other types of children's rights provision, such as "information in draft regarding children's rights" and "a drop-in centre for care leavers" and "independent visitors schemes", but few had staff with dedicated responsibility for children's rights.

It was agreed by those interviewed that children's rights services are valuable. One officer said that, despite the efforts of local authorities, children still became lost in the process, "their voices obliterated by the overriding concerns of adults". Bureaucratic systems and limited resources of local authorities were offered as reasons, along with wrong attitudes to children and young people. Young people we spoke to noted the disproportionate number of "faceless individuals" in social services who had access to their records. Children's rights officers also reported that senior managers evaded the issue when they did not invite children or children's rights officers to policy meetings. In response to all this, one officer said: "Historically our society is built on the view that the adult is right - we are saying look at it from a different angle."

The London-wide picture of children's rights provision remains patchy. Only a few London authorities offer specific children's rights services or have staff with dedicated responsibility for them.

The national organisation Children's Rights Officers and Advocates launched a development project in 1999 to help local authorities in England and Wales develop effective children's rights and advocacy services³. But much remains to be done.

We found that, regardless of the isolation of children's rights services, the officers were committed. One said: "I see myself as a shop steward for children."

The need for a more consistent strategy is clear. A theme that arose from interviews with children's rights officers was the need for the profile of children's rights to be raised. There was widespread enthusiasm about the idea of an independent children's rights commissioner for both London and England to confront the problems of inconsistent standards and cuts in services.

Lorna Clarke-Jones is a research officer and co-editor of An Evaluation of Children's Rights in London.

References

¹ P Alderson, L Clarke-Jones, B Mayall, H Schaumberg, An Evaluation of the Office of the Children's Rights Commissioner for London, Stage 1, Social Science Research Unit, December 2001

² Children and Young People's Unit, Strategy for Children and Young People, Department for Education and Skills, November 2001

³ Children's Rights Officers and Advocates Annual Report, June 1999-July 2000 from www.croa.org.uk/