The Scottish government establishes the New Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children

This news article first appeared on April 20th, 2011 at   http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1 
on the home page of goodenoughcaring.


The Scottish Children's Minister Adam Ingram announced on April 19th, 2011 that Scotland is to get a new centre for excellence to improve the lives and futures of looked after children. The centre, which will incorporate the former Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care is to be based at the University of Strathclyde. Among the responsibilties of the new centre will be:

• the provision of specialist training for those working with looked after children
• support to colleges and universities so they can help looked after children make the transition into ongoing education
• consultation  with looked after children so they can shape services
• acting as a central point of contact for those seeking information/advice, including the provision of a web-based resource
• running seminars and conferences to promote good practice and raise awareness of current thinking and developments in the area of looked after children, as well as helping to develop good practice through a research programme covering domestic and international practice working with the sector.
• to reduce the stigma associated with being a looked after child

The announcement comes at a time when new statistics published on child care in Scotland show that more children are becoming engaged with the looked afterd children system in Scotland. new looked after children statistics were published today. In a statement about the new initiative Mr Ingram said that the new statistics
"show that while more children are becoming looked after, this is happening earlier in their lives This shows our policies to provide the earliest possible support to children and families are starting to have an impact. As looked after children are among the most vulnerable members of our society we must continue to do what we can to improve their lives and life opportunities. The creation of a new centre for excellence will help us drive forward improvements in care planning and corporate parenting with those who work with looked after children and the children themselves.
This centre builds on a range of other initiatives. Earlier this week, we announced new nutritional guidelines to improve the health of children in residential and, over the past year, we have put in place new measures to improve educational attainment through the Additional Support for Learning Act and taken action to improve training and employment opportunities through our 16+ Learning Choices initiative.
Finally, it's important to recognise that while the number of looked after children has risen, this appears to be due to more young people being looked after for longer. This can mean that they are continuing to be looked after without a clear path to a permanent placement. We have been exploring how best we tackle these issues and will be announcing action on this in the coming weeks."
Romy Langeland, the independent chair of the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care which will be transformed into the new centre of excellence, said:
"We recognise that there is already a great deal of important work being undertaken to improve a child's experiences throughout their journey within the care system. We welcome this opportunity to come alongside partners and work together to ensure that we maximise the opportunities and outcomes for looked after children."

The new centre  will be created by changing the role and remit of the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC), set up by the Scottish Government in 2000 to improve outcomes for children and young people in residential care. SIRCC is a partnership between the University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University, Langside College and Who Cares? Scotland. The focus of its activities during the last 10 years has been the development of the residential child care workforce.
During a planned phased transition,the new centre will take on an extended role to cover support and training for everyone working with looked after children and care leavers, regardless of where that care is provided, including teachers, healthcare workers and kinship carers. The change in role reflects the fact that that looked after children often move between care settings and that these services need to be better integrated and that there is also a long history of the adoption, fostering and residential care sectors working together.
For more information go to http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/02/23094433