Ministers to invest to support care for young people
A major plan containing 80 actions to improve the lives of children, young people and families "in and around the edges of care" has been published by the Scottish Government.
The plan follows up recommendations in The Promise, the report of the Independent Care Review published in February 2020. It aims to reduce significantly the number of children in care, with investment to help families stay together, and further support for foster and kinship carers and care experienced young people.
Key commitments in the Keeping the Promise implementation plan include:
- Investing £500m during the present parliamentary session, beginning in 2022-23, in preventative spend through the Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, to deliver whole family support, reduce the need for crisis intervention in areas such as child and adolescent mental health, child poverty, alcohol and drugs use and educational attainment;
- supporting local areas to implement the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021, to support the least intrusive and most supportive levels of intervention at all stages;
- investing £10m per annum through the care experience grant, a new £200 annual grant for 16-25 year olds with care experience, to help reduce some of the financial barriers that young people face in transitions to adulthood and more independent living;
- setting a recommended national allowance for foster and kinship allowances;
- ending the placement of 16 and 17 year olds in young offenders institutions "without delay", fund care based alternatives to custody and consulting on new legislation in spring 2022;
- consulting from March 2022 on the need for further appropriate underpinning in legislation or guidance to ensure children's rights are protected in care settings so that the use of restraint becomes an absolute last resort where it is necessary and proportionate and should always be pain free;
- redesigning the children's hearings system, building on the recommendations from the review led by Sheriff Mackie, with the aim to bring forward any required legislation by the end of the parliamentary session;
- supporting The Promise Scotland in scoping a national lifelong advocacy service for care experienced people and their families;
- by April 2023, publishing a long-term delivery plan for further work to embed and sustain trauma-informed workforces and services, with a priority focus on trauma training and support for adoptive parents, kinship, foster and supported carers;
- collaborating with The Promise Scotland to scope a new, holistic framework for governance and accountability, reporting by June 2024.
Minister for Children and Young People Clare Haughey commented: "These ambitious actions will help families to thrive so they can safely stay together. They will also support carers and families engaged with the care system, as well as care leavers and care experienced people in education and employment.
"Alongside The Promise Scotland, the care community, local government, and many others, we are building on work that is already under way to bring forward change as quickly as possible."