Your say / care leavers
‘Children in the care system need our support’
Everyone wants a permanent, safe, loving, stable home – especially over the winter festive season.
This basic truth is what drives much of what we do as a council; whether that’s building new council housing, repairing the existing homes that need it, providing support for our elderly or trying to keep our streets safe.
As both a social worker and a city councillor, I see first hand that few people are more vulnerable than children and young people who have been through the care system.
City Hall lit up in blue to mark Care Leavers’ month – photo: Shona Jemphrey
This is why the Green Party is putting a motion forwards in December’s Full Council on Tuesday to protect a fund that supports families who have newly taken on children from the care system.
I sit on Bristol City Council’s Children and Young People’s committee, where we get frequent updates about the barriers our care-experienced young people face.
And my background supporting kinship carers means I have seen first-hand the trauma that these children and their carers are processing.
Trauma that may have begun at home, but which is made worse by this country’s semi-privatised foster care system.
In Bristol, we are already working hard to do what we can for these young people.
The Green-led administration has just opened a post-16 care experienced hub in St Paul’s.
This is a physical space where care leavers can go to access support around education, employment, housing, and health.
“As councillors, we have a parental duty to every single Bristol child in foster care” – photo: Bristol Green Party
In January, the council agreed to recognise Care Experience as a protected characteristic, which means care experienced young people will get better access to opportunities such as job interviews.
We are also opening new children’s homes and recruiting specialist foster carers within Bristol so that Bristolian young people currently in placements out of the area can start moving back home to their city.
It is currently Care Leavers’ Month, and on November 24, city hall was lit up in blue to mark this occasion: a really moving event which drew attention to some of our most vulnerable young people who can often seem invisible to wider society.
However, a lot of the support that our care-experienced young people need is out of the council’s hands and out of our budget.
This is particularly the case when trying to access therapeutic support for the children and young people who have been adopted, or who are living with family members who have become their long-term carers under a Special Guardianship Order or a Child Arrangements Order.
Even when they are no longer in immediate danger, we know that the trauma of what they have experienced can follow them throughout their lives, and cause huge issues long-term if not addressed.
Therapeutic support is mainly funded through the nationwide Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF).
The start of an adoption journey can be a hugely challenging time as newly-formed families hit unexpected roadblocks and challenges.
The ASGS fund has long been a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable children in our society, enabling them and their families to build brighter, more secure futures.
And therapy is expensive!
The Fund has allowed families to access support they otherwise couldn’t afford – this might be play therapy, art therapy, family therapy, or something else. This Fund transforms lives.
82% of adopters surveyed by Adoption UK last year said the Fund has had a significant positive impact on their family.
But the national government has made cuts to which families can access through the fund.
A nationwide survey has found that this has already harmed children’s and carers’ mental health, increased behavioural issues, and undermined family relationships.
Cutting this fund is going to cause far more problems and expenses in the long term.
Nobody can process significant trauma all by themselves.
If families don’t get support early on, it will inevitably lead to more placement breakdowns and children having to move back into foster care. This is very expensive for councils – and, more importantly, extremely traumatic for the children.
The Bristol Green Group will always prioritise the most vulnerable.
This is why we have submitted our motion to December’s Full Council, to draw attention to this and challenge the decisions of national government.
As councillors, we have a parental duty to every single Bristol child in foster care.
Any parent or carer would fight tooth and nail for their child to get the support they need.
We know that this Fund is a lifeline for the families affected; without this support, more children will end up alone and traumatised without that permanent, stable home that we all yearn for and we all deserve.
Children in the care system need our support and we will do everything we can to give it to them.
Main photo: Bristol Green Party
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