Social work services
All looked after children and young people should be provided with the same types of opportunities as other children and young people, so that they may grow into valued, effective lifelong learners and successful and responsible adults.
'My experience of care has meant that I have had support and stability. I feel that the love that my foster family have given me is the most important thing. I would not class them as my foster family, they have become my family. This has given me confidence and made me positive person.'
Guy
Social workers, residential and other care staff, staff providing support to fostering and kinship carers, throughcare and aftercare workers, managers and other support staff form vital relationships with children and their parents. It is through these relationships that social work services staff contribute to the challenging and complex task of the day to day corporate parenting of looked after children and young people and care leavers.
Foster carers and residential carers provide corporate parenting on a daily basis, while the social worker is the glue which holds the child’s plan together. It is likely that the child or young person’s social worker will be their lead professional under Getting It Right For Every Child, and he or she will be central in making sure that everyone involved with the young person is focused on the young person’s needs, and contributing effectively to planning and delivering services.
Moving into independence too soon can have serious and damaging consequences for young people and can contribute to an unsettled future lifestyle with significant financial and social costs for those involved, and for society as a whole. Preparation for the time a child or young person ceases to be looked after, at whatever age or stage, is therefore crucial, and is the duty of all corporate parents; the positive impact of careful planning and preparation cannot be overestimated.
You will want to:
- have the same aspirations, hopes and expectations which all good parents have for their own children.
- be the professional who holds together the life story of the child or young person and makes sure that life events which are important do not get lost but are recognised and stored.
Downloadable resources
Read the full version of this section of the Corporate Parenting Guidance on the Scottish Government website.
Personal stories
Grahame Blair
The importance of involving looked after children and young people in making the decisions about their care.