East Ayrshire young people raise their voices to help improve lives for the care experienced community
Representatives of East Ayrshire’s care experienced community and corporate parent organisations have launched a series of documents that will help progress their work to ensure care experienced children and young people’s voices are heard and that continuing action is taken to improve their lives.
The launch took place at East Ayrshire’s Care Experienced Cabinet meeting held at SL33 in Kilmarnock. The three documents celebrated at the meeting were a charter for the Care Experienced Cabinet, the ‘East Ayrshire Promise’, and East Ayrshire’s corporate parenting action plan.
Members of the cabinet developed the charter to provide a formalised commitment and structure for their meetings. It covers what the cabinet aims to do, the expectations of attendees, how the cabinet meetings will be led, and how it will continue to develop and grow.
The East Ayrshire Promise takes views and contributions from the care experienced community to present a series of asks of the adults who work with them, so that they know what is important to children and young people and what they need to make sure they grow up with love and support and are safe.
The care experienced community also gave their views to help develop East Ayrshire’s corporate parenting action plan. This details the shared activities taking place between 2024 and 2027 of organisations and individuals who have special responsibilities for care experienced children and young people.
The plan focuses on five key priorities: supporting those moving on from East Ayrshire’s care; providing long and enduring relationships and maintaining familial relationships where possible; avoiding poverty; supporting recovery from the trauma and impact of care; and championing and celebrating those experiencing care.
Councillor Elaine Cowan, East Ayrshire Council’s Spokesperson for Education and Children and Young People, chairs the Care Experienced Cabinet. She said: “The work carried out to develop these documents is an outstanding example of collaboration and a shared aspiration to make things better for people here in East Ayrshire. I am especially proud of the charter which really helps give the Care Experienced Cabinet strength and purpose.
“All of our young people deserve an equal chance in life, and we know that for people experiencing care or who have experienced care, that’s not always the case. Having our young people with us to discuss and explore our ambitions, and being able to listen to their views has helped us to understand what it is they need from us and the wide range of organisations and people who work with them. This all underpins our action plan, so I look forward to seeing this progress, and everything we will learn together on our continuing journey.”
The East Ayrshire Promise asks of corporate parents
- You ensure, where appropriate, that the utmost is done to keep brothers and sisters together and, when it’s not, to make sure they have as much time together as possible.
- You involve children and young people in all decisions made about their lives and ensure our voices are heard.
- You respect and take all aspects of our lives and lived experience into consideration, even if you do not agree with them personally.
- You ensure all care-experienced young people continue to receive meaningful support in their academic journeys (e.g. all types of learning, training and studies). Education matters to us.
- You ensure we receive fair and equitable opportunities in training and employment.
- The achievements of young care leavers are celebrated, locally and nationally.
- Children and young people are supported to see their family and friends and to build and maintain relationships.
- Everyone commits to training around relationships and language to better support and represent care-experienced young people.
- Children and young people are included and respected in their communities and feel that they have a place.
- There are realistic, face-to-face ways for everyone to keep in touch and support us without barriers.
- You deliver meaningful and consistent parenting through all services and are there for us, providing loving support.
East Ayrshire’s 2024 – 2027 corporate parenting action plan priorities
- Moving on: To provide improved support to those moving on from our care.
- Relationships: Recognising we cannot replicate family but will provide long and enduring relationships that are available and relentless in their presence and offer. We will do everything we can to ensure familial relationships are maintained.
- Poverty: We will do everything to ensure our care experienced children, young people and care leavers do not experience poverty that is compounded by them being in care.
- Health and wellbeing: We recognise the trauma and impact of care and will do everything we can to ensure our children, young people and care leavers are supported to recover.
- Celebrating youth: We feel passionately that youth should be celebrated and those experiencing care should have the ability to shine. We will be champions of our children and ensure they are seen in a positive light regardless of their adversity.
The action plan in full: https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Resources/PDF/C/corporate-parenting-plan.pdf
Care Experienced Cabinet Charter
- We will put a spotlight on issues and ensure that anything raised has a response by the next meeting (or sooner if something urgent is identified)
- We will keep an action log and set deadlines to help keep everyone on track
- We will report on our progress using a clear “you said… we did” format
- We will promote and increase participation in the cabinet through targeted communication
- We will meet monthly, and each meeting will have a focused theme, with the exception of quarterly meetings which will have a broader agenda
Every year the group will decide on a chair and a vice chair who will be responsible for:
- Leading the meeting
- Ensuring everyone has a chance to speak
- Highlighting issues and actions required for the next meeting
- Ensuring the right people are in attendance for the meeting
- Making sure members keep to the agenda and time
- Ensuring everyone is treated with respect
We are committed to working together and have agreed some timescales to help our meeting run smoothly:
- Any member who is unable to attend a meeting must give five days’ notice by contacting either the chair or the Participation Lead
- Any materials required for the meeting (papers, presentations, reading materials) must be shared with members at least five days before the meeting takes place
The Care Experienced Cabinet will develop and grow as we go, to make sure we are getting it right we will:
- Ask care experienced young people across East Ayrshire if and how they want to be involved
- Plan and agree topics for focused meetings throughout the year
- Review our charter every year
- Agree who will be chair and vice chair every year
- Work with Care Experienced Cabinets in other areas to share learning and ideas
- Ask for feedback where we can
- Record and review our progress every year so that we can see how far we have come
