Guest Editorial Vol5 no2

Some young people have a positive care journey with reasonable outcomes as evidenced in Extraordinary Lives: creating a positive future for looked-after children and young people in Scotland (Social Work Inspection Agency, 2006). Achieving consistency of care, however, has remained elusive as outlin...

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Main Author: Deirdre Watson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: CELCIS 2006-08-01
Series:Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
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author Deirdre Watson
author_facet Deirdre Watson
author_sort Deirdre Watson
collection DOAJ
description Some young people have a positive care journey with reasonable outcomes as evidenced in Extraordinary Lives: creating a positive future for looked-after children and young people in Scotland (Social Work Inspection Agency, 2006). Achieving consistency of care, however, has remained elusive as outlined in reports such as Let's Face It (Paterson, Watson, and Whiteford, 2003). During the eighteen years I spent as Director of Who Cares? Scotland, I witnessed many new initiatives but was often somewhat frustrated at the unrealistic way in which some of these were resourced. The introduction of initiatives may lead us to believe that the care offered to looked-after children is improving. Initiatives, however, require to be adequately resourced in terms of finance and the promotion of cultures which support aspirational plans. Sadly, there is still a stigma and a culture of low expectation associated with residential care. If the best possible service is to be provided for looked-after children and young people, policymakers must be realistic about the effort that will take and the investment that still has to be made. To help us get to that point perhaps we need a 'hearts and minds' campaign to change thinking and to combat some of the current negative attitudes that surround young people.
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spelling doaj-art-efe86f24639d4f08b88d6173d57c61d42025-01-22T13:27:20ZengCELCISScottish Journal of Residential Child Care2976-93532006-08-015210.17868/strath.00086222Guest Editorial Vol5 no2Deirdre WatsonSome young people have a positive care journey with reasonable outcomes as evidenced in Extraordinary Lives: creating a positive future for looked-after children and young people in Scotland (Social Work Inspection Agency, 2006). Achieving consistency of care, however, has remained elusive as outlined in reports such as Let's Face It (Paterson, Watson, and Whiteford, 2003). During the eighteen years I spent as Director of Who Cares? Scotland, I witnessed many new initiatives but was often somewhat frustrated at the unrealistic way in which some of these were resourced. The introduction of initiatives may lead us to believe that the care offered to looked-after children is improving. Initiatives, however, require to be adequately resourced in terms of finance and the promotion of cultures which support aspirational plans. Sadly, there is still a stigma and a culture of low expectation associated with residential care. If the best possible service is to be provided for looked-after children and young people, policymakers must be realistic about the effort that will take and the investment that still has to be made. To help us get to that point perhaps we need a 'hearts and minds' campaign to change thinking and to combat some of the current negative attitudes that surround young people.residential child carechild carechild abuse
spellingShingle Deirdre Watson
Guest Editorial Vol5 no2
Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care
residential child care
child care
child abuse
title Guest Editorial Vol5 no2
title_full Guest Editorial Vol5 no2
title_fullStr Guest Editorial Vol5 no2
title_full_unstemmed Guest Editorial Vol5 no2
title_short Guest Editorial Vol5 no2
title_sort guest editorial vol5 no2
topic residential child care
child care
child abuse
work_keys_str_mv AT deirdrewatson guesteditorialvol5no2