Children are popularly represented as passive, dependent, vulnerable and in need of protection or, alternatively, as antisocial, deviant, irresponsible and in need of firm social control. In other words, adults cast children in the role of either victim or villain. What adults tend to think less about is how children and young people negotiate difficult circumstances and how they draw on their reserves of resilience to overcome life’s adversities.(1)
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (Scie), has published a resource guide to help child care professionals make a difference in the lives of fostered children and young people through focusing on factors that enhance resilience.(2)
A complementary piece of work commissioned by Scie shows that focusing on the strengths of young people is crucial to outcomes.(3) This means focusing on resilience factors, or things that help children and young people to cope, survive and even thrive in the face of great hurt and disadvantage.(4)
Although it may not always be possible to protect a child from further adversity, finding ways to boost a child’s resilience should enhance the likelihood of better long-term outcomes. Resilience-enhancing factors include:
Foster care should offer children these opportunities. In particular, a sense of direction is important to young people in troubled circumstances because it provides stability and control. The involvement of children and young people in planning their care is crucial in promoting a feeling of control or self-direction. For example, working with young people to develop goals or outcomes can help to induce a sense of what the future might hold and how to reach it.
There are several ways professionals can support young people’s sense of control: by involving them in discussions about their needs and their future; helping them to contribute to care plans and reviews; and ensuring that their wishes are always considered and where possible addressed.
They should give clear information, making sure that young people know about their reasons for entering and remaining in care, their rights while they are in care and how they can influence their future plans.
rofessionals should also try to regard young people as resources rather than problems in the process of seeking solutions in their lives. They should encourage young people to make choices, declare preferences and define outcomes for themselves and respect those preferences.
A second way to promote self-confidence is through the participation of young people in the development of services for looked-after children. Official guidance has emphasised the importance of ensuring that the voices of children in the care system are listened to and promoted.
There are now many systems in local authorities for encouraging feedback from young people. In Cambridgeshire a "Just us" group of looked-after children meets monthly at three localities. The group members were consulted during the Best Value review of the authority and contributed to ideas on training staff to work sensitively with looked-after children.
Some councils have used information technology to promote children’s participation and improve their service to young people. The Kids in Care Together group, set up by Norfolk Council has established a website () with helpful information for looked-after children, including foster children and young people. The group provides advice to the social services department and has had a direct impact on policy and practice evaluation and change.(5)
Despite the development of ever more sophisticated means of communication, there is still concern that young people’s involvement in service planning is confined to the triangle of core support: young person, foster carer and social worker. It is within this triangle that children and young people exercise their influence on day-to-day decision-making, having few or no opportunities to comment on service delivery more generally.
"If I was in charge of social services, I’d listen to them [people in care] first, see what they’ve got to say. I can’t just make the rules on what I think is best for them," a young person in care told Scie.
While managers express a commitment to young people having a greater say on service development, questions about the responsibility of managers and policymakers to creating the right conditions for listening, learning and producing change remain unanswered and the perspectives and experiences of young people are lost.
The lack of systematic policies and practices to support and integrate the feedback from children and young people limits opportunities for young people to develop a sense of involvement. Where evaluations do exist, the evidence suggests that the participation of children and young people is having little impact on decisions made in relation to agency policy and practice.(6)
"If I’m really honest…I don’t know what young people in our fostering services think or feel about the care they’re getting," a senior social services manager told Scie.
hat is essential is that social workers, their managers and in particular social care agencies recognise that they matter in the lives of fostered children and young people by supporting caring relationships, ensuring that school is a good experience and finding ways to make participation of young people real, not only in day-to-day decisions but in service development.
"Care has brought me to realise I am a person in my own right, but I know I have been very lucky – [I have a] good social worker, good residential worker and good foster parent," a young person in care told Scie.
For copies of Resource Guide 4: Promoting Resilience in Fostered Children and Young People visit , call 020 7089 6840 or e-mail publications@scie.org.uk
Abstract
This article looks at how professionals can make a difference in the lives of fostered children and young people. Research shows that focusing on the strengths of young people is crucial to future outcomes.
References
Further Information
Contact the Author
Lisa Bostock is senior research analyst at the Social Care Institute for Excellence. Her background is in conducting social policy research. Her career spans shelf-stacking, being a care assistant and conducting research on people’s experiences of poverty, health inequality and disability.
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