This article originally appeared in The Scotsman newspaper on Friday 25 October 2019
Fiona Duncan at a Care Review roadshow event
As the Independent Care Review prepares to make its recommendations, its chair Fiona Duncan says it is now up to Scotland as a whole to make sure the standards of care for children and young people is the very best it can be.
Change is coming.
In October 2016, when the First Minister announced a root-and-branch review of the “care system” for children and young people that would be driven by those with direct experience, there was a mixture of excitement and, of course, scepticism as let’s face it, there have been many reviews with no real change at the end.
Few would disagree however, that Scotland’s current “care system” is expensive, excruciatingly bureaucratic and unwieldy and does not function as a single entity.
Furthermore it does not universally deliver what is needed – and indeed in many instances makes things a whole lot worse for infants, children, young people and their families who need support when things are tough.
What was different in this announcement was the commitment that direct or lived experience would be at the heart of the review, a direct promise made to the care community and a nod towards the need for it to be independent.
Therefore the Independent Care Review has focused on hearing from the people most affected in order to fully understand what is working and what is not.
Since the outset, the Care Review has heard from over 5,000 infants, children, young people and those who support them from every corner of Scotland and all settings.
Some of the stories are heart-aching accounts from badly let down children and young people, how they’ve missed out on loving, caring and life-enhancing childhoods many take for granted and how they felt and the toll that has taken on their later lives, their relationships and their well-being.
Awful experiences and people who care
As being the review’s chair, I’ve had the unique privilege of working alongside the most incredibly driven, passionate, courageous and visionary individuals.
And as the review comes to the end of its journey and starts looking towards delivering recommendations, I continue to remain staggered and moved by their generosity, particularly as many have had some truly awful experiences that will continue to affect them for the rest of their lives and yet are driven to make things better for children and young people who’ll be in need of care in the future.
The Care Review has also heard stories where, despite the odds, workers supporting young people have cared so much that they’ve lost or given up cherished careers and battled with nonsensical bureaucracy that got in the way of giving the love and nurture all of us as human beings need.
There are amazing examples of people who genuinely care and never forget to be decent, respectful human beings no matter what.
Another way that the Care Review is like no other is that the entirety of the work has been overseen by a group of which more than half have experience of care.
Working alongside other experts and professionals to listen, scrutinise and analyse means that the subsequent recommendations will demand the change needed.
Over the coming months, the onus will be on Scotland to make sure we deliver.
No one could question the First Minister’s commitment to change and how brave and visionary she was to have made this promise to our young people.
But this is bigger than minister or political party or body. It’s up to Scotland to be the very best it can be for all its citizens.
If we can get this right for our young people who find themselves in need of care, then we can get it right for all.
About the author
Fiona is the Chair of the Independent Care Review and CEO of the Corra Foundation – a philanthropic grant-giving organisation for people and communities experiencing disadvantage – and has over 20 years’ experience working in the voluntary sector in Scotland as well overseas.
As CEO of the Corra Foundation, Fiona has driven a new strategy for the organisation that includes supporting communities to drive lasting change in systems, practice and culture.
She has contributed to the Foundation’s flagship Partnership Drugs Initiative, particularly in relation to its growing focus on the rights and voices of children and young people affected by substance misuse.
Its good to see a proper review take place and in this review team Dadscare trusts will deliver much better postitive outcomes for both parents and children alike!
Not many people outside in the real world knows what is really going on in Scottish Children’s Services and even less lay people are fully aware of how much it costs us all to look after a single child once in local authourity care, it might surprise many to learn that Dadscare (charity) estimates the average cost is around £70k a year and that does not include fees to the fostering mamagement companies?
When so much money is floating around is it little wonder Scotland has one of the highest rates of children taken into care in the western world per population and its not that our country has bad parents most of any support is given to foster carers with less than 1% of the parents getting any support at all shows something is just not working in all our communities and change with a capital C has to be made and quickly!
The above really is but the tip of a very large iceberg and we can go on forever but hopefully this review team will have figured out all that is wrong in our child wellfare system we certainly think we do.
Kind regards,
Chair of Dadscare, Scottish Charity ,supporting fathers to be all they can be!