Leaving children behind


Column in Llanelli Herald on 8th December 2017



Fear of change, and the unknown, is something that we can all relate to - children, in particular, experience change on a daily basis, which is necessary for their development, but can also be very stressful for them.

Take moving home. Few children live in the same house for their whole childhood; most move several times, often to new towns and to new schools. Children, like the rest of us, handle change best if it is expected and occurs in the context of a familiar routine. Unpredictable changes, however, can chip away at their sense of security and leave the child feeling anxious and less able to cope with what life throws at them.

It saddened me, then, to read that here in Carmarthenshire, looked after children are moved between homes more frequently than they are in any other local authority, with one child in six having been placed in more than three homes in a single year. And this is not just a change of house, remember - this is often to a different family, in a different town and to a different school.

When I was chair of governors at a primary school a few years back, I was responsible for looked after children, and it was heartbreaking that often just as we were beginning to establish a relationship with a child, they would be moved with no prior warning at all.

So I was immensely pleased to get the Assembly's powerful Public Accounts Committee to agree to a rolling programme of investigations into the way that we support children in care. One of the issues I hope the enquiry will be looking at is how this constant state of flux has on looked-after children’s chances in life.

Currently, the statistics for looked after children are outrageous. Consider this - only 23% of looked after children in Wales achieved five GCSEs at C and above, 43% of looked after children are NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training),  and a child in the care of the state is more likely to go to prison than to university.  But where’s the outcry? These children get dealt a terrible lot in life and we can’t allow it to continue.

All children have a right to a healthy and safe childhood, and the chance to reach their full potential. Our ambition must be to make sure that looked after children have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Comments

JuA said…
This is so important. As you say, all children have a right to a healthy and safe childhood, and I would add, to one that strives to help them fulfil their potential.
I think another area that needs looking at with regards to this is what happens when children age out of the care system. I don't know about anyone else's children, but mine have continued to need and benefit from support beyond the legal age of adulthood, and children cared for by the state should expect no different: care and support should continue to be available well into early adulthood, and beyond. I applaud your ambition to ensure looked after children get the same opportunities as others.
15 December 2017 at 07:26
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dysgu gwersi

Image
A note to members of the Llanelli constituency Labour Party There has been a big disagreement within Welsh Labour. There has not been a ‘witch-hunt’ against Vaughan Gething, but there has been a genuine conflict of values. Now there is an appetite to quickly move on, but I think there’s a real danger that in shutting down discussion we will neither understand nor learn the lessons of what has happened.  As uncomfortable as it will be I think we need proper debate about the future direction of Welsh Labour. Circling the wagons around a ‘unity candidate’ may bring some short-term relief, but it will do nothing to address the fundamental need to renew in office. I’ve not given any interview and don’t intent to, but as a way of making sense of it all I’ve written this assessment which looks at what should happen now and an analysis of how we got to this position.  These are offered in the spirit of honest debate and not point-scoring. Edrych ymlaen We’re in a pickle. After 25 years as the
Read more

Transport for Wales 2.0

Image
Speech to Transport for Wales senior management at Llys Cadwyn, TfW HQ, in Pontypridd on 6th February 2024 Diolch am y croeso a y cyfle. James Price and I meet regularly, and sometimes it feels like we’re in charge. But it really is a privilege to be in the same room as the people who actually do run transport in Wales. And it’s so nice to see people together. I’m still adjusting to meeting people in the flesh who I’m used to seeing online; I still can’t believe how short everyone is when I meet them! Apart from the ones I already knew were short, obviously (you know who you are). The worst thing about those mass Teams calls is that I can’t see people’s reactions to what I’m saying – to confirm that they are drifting off.  So at least I’ll know for sure today that I am boring you – the people in the room at least. It won’t stop me, but it gets rid of the uncertainty. I know we’ve priced-in that politicians' speeches will be insincere, but I really do mean what I say. And I
Read more

2023 - 5 big changes in transport in Wales

Image
Changing direction takes you to a different destination... We ask our transport system to do a lot of things, but we’ve not asked it to make its contribution to our shared challenge of reducing carbon emissions. Indeed, transport is the sector that has contributed the least to the legal duty to cut emissions. Unless that changes we will not meet our overall NetZero imperative . It is difficult for any incoming Transport Minister to change much in the short-term - road and rail projects take upwards of seven years to implement, and the ongoing pipeline of schemes means that significant spending has already been committed and political expectations raised by the time a new Minister takes office. Though the political spotlight is inevitably on short-term problems, significant change is a longer term project. Over and above the day-to-day activity of keeping a transport system on track I have tried to focus on how to ‘change the wiring’ to secure medium to long-term change. For all its ch
Read more