The History of the UK Care System - Essay Example

? Exploring the perceptions and experiences of young people leaving in care in UK Introduction The history of the UK care system can be traced back into 1834 from the enactment of the Poor law and the workhouses. During this period, children in the care system rarely returned to their parents and any ties with the birth family were permanently avoided. The turnaround of the care system was occasioned by the Curtis report of 1946 and the subsequent enactment of the Children Act which formed the basis of the current child care system. Young persons Act enabled local authorities to prevent utilize their resources to avoid the massive admission of children in the care system. The demise of seven year old Maria Colwell in 1973 in 1973 prompted the establishment of the modern care system. In England and Wales, the care system is guided by the Children’s Act of 1989 while in Northern Ireland it is based on the Children order of 1995. In Scotland the guiding framework is the Children’s Act of 1995. The Children Act of 1989 has witnessed numerous amendments after the death of eight year old child in 2000. The legal framework of the child care system is the Children’s Act of 2004 which provides the expected outcomes of the care system like the need to stay safe, enjoy and achieve, stay healthy, positive economic well-being and the need of positive contribution to the society. The agencies which are involved in the care system have the duty and obligation of sharing information and processes to improve the safety and the well-being of the children under the child care system (Ward H, Holmes, and Soper 2008). The composition of the children needs and ages indicate the limitations inherent in the current care system. Child development researchers have pointed out that the psychological health of the child is influenced by the important character traits and skills which the children learn at their early age like empathy and self-regulation which the care system should strive to achieve. An efficient care system should provide stable psychological development and placement which results to good parenting and emphasis on the children needs. High ratios of staff turnover are counterproductive since they affect the stability of the relationships in the care system. The ability to stay in the same school without disruptions assists in academic attainments of the children under the care system. Certain emotional behaviors like confusion affect the ability of the children to cope with the challenging environment in the care system in the UK (Stillwell 2009). Literature Review Children in the UK enter the care system for numerous reasons and have different characteristics and needs. Over the last forty years, the number admitted in the care system has fallen significantly which has been attributed to few children joining the care system and the massive drop outs from the care centers (Corsaro 2006). Preliminary studies indicate a lot of disadvantages among the care population. The placement of children in the care system considers the age and the unique needs of the child with majority of the children joining the system being over the age of ten years (Stein 2006). Evidence suggests that many of these children already have physical health complications and high mental problems at the time of their admission to the care system (Corsaro 2006). The purpose of the child care system has attracted a heated debate with some policy makers citing the need to protect the children from undesirable influence while other pointing out the need of the need of the ideal family reunification (Chase, Simon and Jackson 2006). The use of the care system has been centered on the need to support families and allow children to return to their birth parents and also the need to safeguard the children beyond their birth parents (Woodhead and Montgomery 2003). The children’s Act 1989 lays down some principles, powers and duties which the agencies involved in child care system must follow like the duty to investigate if the child is suffering or is likely to suffer harm from the care system. The welfare principle in court proceedings also should consider the feelings and perceptions of the child in the child care system. Parental responsibility is also outlined where the birth parents have the primary duty of providing for the child (Corsaro 2006). On particular important among the principles is the religious persuasion, racial origin and the cultural background of the child which should be considered before arriving at any decision pertaining the child care. Although the children Act has laid the guidelines pertaining the provision of the children like the education, health, play and leisure services which should be availed by departments in the local authorities like the social services departments, the care system has not done enough in the provision of social amenities for the children like the play grounds and leisure facilities (Stein 2006). Local authority services like the family support services have emphasized on short-term goals through provision of parenting and care services mainly to the disabled children for short while. The local authorities have ignored the day care facilities for children above eight years thus no after-school care facilities for most of the children who demand the care facilities (Stein 2006). There is minimal inter-agency co-operation in the protection of children from abuses which has made it impossible for the police department and the social services departments to collect reliable evidence which can be used to institute legal proceedings on the child abuse offenders (Stein 2006). Children in the care system in the UK have been subjected to neglect which has exposed them to many dangers. Past researchers have claimed that there is extreme disregard to the Children Act which has affected their moral development. Most of children have been exposed to inhuman living conditions like cold and starvation which have changed their behaviors and attitudes towards life (Stein 2006). The care system has failed totally in preventing physical injury and suffering. The dwelling houses are not safe for the children under the care system. Numerous cases of deliberate suffocation and food poisoning have been reported in the instances which have raised concerns on the safety of the children under the UK child care system (Wade and Dixon 2006). Most of the children who disobey the instructions of the care givers end up in mistreatment which negatively affects the healthy ultimately leading to the death of such children (Robson 2008). Children under the care system live in constant fear of sexual abuse where school going girls have been subjected to rape and other indecent sexual contact and comments from the providers of the care (Stein 2006). Sexual exploitation have exposed them to high risk of contacting sexually transmitted diseases and feelings of guilty which have led to many of them shy away from the public. Sexual abuse has negatively affected the psychological development of the children (Andrew 1998). Children in the care system have perceived the presence of emotional abuse which has affected the development of their behavior. Emotional rejection can lead to the development of behavior disorders like bullying and aggressiveness towards other children in school and the society (Thompson 1988). The care system the UK has led to the increase in the youth offenders who have been put under the youth justice service where they work with the social workers, the police and health workers in their rehabilitation process. Mental health outcomes. Children in the care system in the UK have history of maltreatment and abuse due to the separation from their parents. Such abuse and trauma has exposed them to feelings of confusion and fear in the society hence is more susceptible to stress disorders (Wade and Dixon 2006). According to studies conducted by the National Institute of Mental health in 2004, children in the care system in the UK showed signs of mental stress due to poverty whereby only a mere four percent of the children which had clinical signals of mental health had received mental health services. The researchers also cited the need to improve the mental care services since the affected the schooling of the children even in young adulthood stage (Lexmond and Reeves 2009). Among the recommendations which were made was the need to acknowledge the unique background of the children in the care system and improve the living conditions together with increased access to mental health services (Andersen and Molander 2003). A study by Sinclair on the children under the care system concluded that children under the age of ten years experienced a longer placement while those over ten years had constant disruption with fifty percent of the placements breaking down within three years. The research further found out that children who had three or more placements had lower academic performance and challenging behavior scores and were less likely to accept further care (Sinclair 2007). In 2008, Sempik conducted a study which indicated that seventy percent of the girls between eleven to fifteen years had emotional disorders due to past sexual abuse (Sergeant 2006). Educational outcomes. Children in the care system lag behind their peers in education attainments. One of the reasons for this trend is the wastage of valuable academic time due to the need to move from one home to another in order to attend schools (Thompson 1988). Frequent transfers to other schools affect their comfort and attendance which reduces their motivation in the studies. Such school transfers may not always accompany academic credit transfers due to lack of documents and reports on the academic performance of the child. It is believed that only fifty percent of children in the care system graduate from high school or earn general education and only 2 percent of those wishing to complete their bachelor degrees afford to do so (Alderson 2004). According to DCSF statistics, educational attainment of the children increased with the time the children are placed under the care with sixty six percent of those who last for a period of eight years and more attaining at least one GCSE. In 2009, the DSCF statistics indicated that only seven percent of the children under care attain one GCSE which was attributed to the low emotional and behavioral scores of the children (DCSF 2009). Some of the children under the care system have reported all manner of harm from the caregivers which include sexual abuse and other non-physical forms of harassment like intimidation and forced labor which has impaired the well-being of the child. With the many of the poor being single mothers who receive social assistance, it is clear that child care is prerequisite and should be designed such that the single mothers have enough time to look for their children (Alderson 2004). Research methodology The first part of the research paper was to conduct a literature review of the care system in the UK and the shortcomings. The paper dwelled on the academic literature and the policy documents which have been prepared and implemented by the government and other non-governmental organizations which deal with the child care system in the UK. Interviews were conducted with care leavers mainly focusing on the age of the leaver and the academic attainments. The research paper also interviewed children currently under the care system on their daily experiences and needs. Experts on child development were also incorporated in order to explain the results of the findings. The questions were structures and included the initial goal of joining the care system, any past abuses which the individual had been subjected and their perceptions of the quality of the care system. Care leavers were also asked the reasons why they dropped from the care system and the quality of their adulthood after the care system. The respondents were classified in to four groups with each group comprising thirty five members. The first group was the care leavers who were all above the age of thirty years. The second comprised the degree students who passed through the child care system while the third group was high school leavers who had also attended the child care system. The fourth group included the elementary students who were still in the child care system. Data analysis and findings Simple statistical software was used in the data analysis. From the respondents interviewed, eighty percent of them said that they had experienced mental problems under the care system. Ninety percent of care leavers pointed out ill-treatment was the cause of the drop out from the care system. From the observation, the care leavers were not satisfied with their adulthood life due to poor academic attainments which have forced them in to unemployment. Fifty percent of the respondents in the elementary school going children cited discomfort with the care system due to frequent school transfers which had made them lose valuable study time and concentration in studies. Sixty percent of the degree students who had passed through the care system acknowledged that mistreatment was real in the current care system. According to this group, the current care system should involve trained experts who understand the unique needs of the children. Among the respondents in the third group, seventy percent of the respondents were unhappy with the current care system due to poor funding from the government and mistreatment care takers. Fifty percent attributed their poor academic success and school drop out to lack of sufficient study time and support from the agencies involved in the care system. Generally, there are thousands of children in the care system in the UK. Most of the children have past history of mistreatment in and abuse which has increased the demand for efficient care system in the UK. Child abuse results to trauma which may impair the mental and social development of the children hence many researchers in the past have tried to investigate on the experiences and the perceptions of children in the care facilities in order to suggest policies which the relevant authorities can implement to improve the quality of the children care. Initial research points out that many children in the care system experience feelings of guilty, confusing, sadness, anxiety and stress which denies them full mental and social development. It is generally acceptable that poor child care at the earlier stages of growth results poor mental outcomes which negatively affects the individuals educational outcomes and the quality of adult life. Conclusion Children in the care system in the UK have perceptions of inequity and discrimination in the education system. The children experience stress and confusion which negatively affects their mental development and adult life due to lack of enough education. The government should have specific schools and teachers to cater for the unique needs of such children. Such teachers should receive basic training in the care system. The policy makers should also consider a requirement of placing the children in the same school which eliminates the frequent school transfers which interrupts the learning process. High schools and public universities should also implement measures of monitoring the performance of these children and availing the necessary financial and moral support to the care system leavers. In order to eliminate the placement breakdowns, enough support should be availed to the children care takers like specialized training and enough work leave. Efficient channels of communication and stable relationships should be established where the children under the care system can air their views and complains hence reducing the drop outs from the care system. The policy makers should also review the lengthy of the care system and the level of personal development when the child should leave the care system since most of the earlier leavers have been involved in other crimes like illegal drug substance use due to unemployment and homelessness. The policy makers should raise the care leaving age to 21 years since this will allow them to have emotional maturity and relevant skills which translates to successful independent living after attaining the legal adulthood. Young people at the age of 16 years leaving the care system may not have adequate education to enter the labor market. The number of semi-skilled jobs has reduced tremendously over the past fifty years which has increased the unemployment rates. The local authorities should provide personal advisers to the children under the care system at an early age like 14 years in order to provide emotional support and adolescent life skills. Bibliography Alderson, P. 2000. Young children rights: exploring beliefs, principles and practice. London. Jessica Kingsley. Alderson, P. 2004. Ethics, social research and consulting with children and young people. Ilford. Barnados. Andersen, M.T and Molander, P. 2003. Alternatives for welfare policy: reconciling policy goals with demographic change and internationalism. New York. Cambridge University Press. Andrew, B. 1998. Children: the modern law. New York. Jordan Publishing Ltd. Chase, E., Simon, A and Jackson, S. 2006. In care and after: a positive perspective. London. Routledge. Corsaro, A. 2006. The sociology of childhood. Thousand Oaks u.a.: Pine Forge Press. DCSF. 2009. Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers. Retrieved from www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR on 7th December 2011. Sergeant, H. 2006. Handle with care: an investigation in to the care system. London. Centre for policy studies. Stein, M. 2006. “Wrong turn: the consensus that children in care are failing, and that the system is to blame, is plain wrong”. Retrieved from www.guardian.co.uk/society/2006/children services on 7th December 2011. Lexmond, J and Reeves, R. 2009. Building character. London. Demos. Robson, R. 2008. Couldn’t care less: a policy report from the children in care working group. London. Centre for social justice. Thompson, P. 1988. The Voice of the Past: Oral History. 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sinclair, I. 2007. The pursuit of performance: a study of the English care system. London. Jessica Kingsley. Stein, M. 2006. Research Review: Young people leaving care Child and Family Social Work 11 pp273-279 Stillwell, J. 2009. Fertility, living arrangements, care and mobility: understanding population trends and processes. London. Springer. Wade, J and Dixon, J. 2006. Making a home, finding a job: investigating early housing and employment outcomes for young people leaving care Child and Family Social Work 11, 199-208 Ward H., Holmes, L and Soper, J. 2008. Costs and consequences of placing children in care. London. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Woodhead, M and Montgomery, H. 2003. Understanding childhood: an interdisciplinary approach. New York. John Wiley and Sons. 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