Policy of Leaving Care and Children - Essay Example

Introduction Childhood is an essential part of a person’s life. It establishes the belief of a person concerning his society and the people within it.1 The prevalent aspects of childhood do not incorporate any guarantee of protection from the harmful decisions of the society one lives in. Moreover, the meaning of childhood has changed concerning their position, their function within families, and their identity as citizens of a certain country. Legislation changes had defined what should be a child’s life, his/her rights in a country, and the inclination of a child to a brighter future. Significantly, caring for children has accumulated the spaces of iniquity and values of a family. However, though there is a body that monitors the position of children within a society, still, there is a rampant discretion over the malfunctioned implementation of these forces. To address this, the Department of Education and Skills had conveyed some proposals that might change the widening gap of outcomes regarding children care. Most of the proposals have come from central and local government.2 Background A government seeks to understand the needs of its citizens, which in turn would help them continue the service towards things that they need to change. Childhood should have the complacency of children’s motivation towards a common goal: to make a pace of change in preparation for a better childhood and a better future.3 Commitment exists between entities of pursuing the time of delivering care and the satisfaction of building knowledge. Hence, the Green Paper made by this government agency has the proposals of making childcare, not a failure in bridging the gaps on the outcomes generally appearing but also becomes a significant manifestation of commitment. The Green Paper Through the years of progress, Childcare has been modified in order to provide a sufficient understanding of goals. Some of these achievements are the increase among the educational attainment of several teenagers aged 19 standing at 87%, young people gaining A*-C GCSEs at eleven percent, the dedication of citizens on the Sure Start agenda doubling than in 1997, which gave 894 Children Centres and reforms on legislative practices among childcare: Quality Protects in 1998 The Care Standards Act 2000 The Prime Minister’s Adoption Initiative The Children (Leaving Care) Act of 2000 The Social Exclusion Unit 2003 Report on the Education of Children in Care The Duty in the Children Act 2004 concerning local government in education of Children Care. However, these improvements have disadvantageous counterparts. One of which is the attainment in education among children in care. For instance is in 2005 where only eleven percent had attained good performance on five GCSEs compared to 56% before Key Stage 4. Moreover, the statistics show that children in care on the long term basis had undesirable effects like more out-of-school youth, employment and training at the age of 16, teenage parents, young offenders, drug users and prisoners.4 Though the improvements resulting from these legislations have happened gradually, still, the rate of change stays at a difficult level. For instance, when the Children Act have come in 2002, the rate of young citizens participating in employment, education, and training at the age 19 has increased by 8%.5 The government has emphasized their duty only correlate to those children who really need foster care and see that children with parents should have their own parents to take care of them. Proposals Another complication seen by the government in this respect are the children coming in and out of local care for a short period. Hence, before childcare encounters local authorities, they best think of foster parents or the family to take care of the child. To address this problem, they have made Every Child Matters Programme, which gives reforms ultimately identifying early complications and give them families to resettle with – response offering sustained and multidisciplinary support.6 The government has four proposals regarding this programme:7 Procedures and principles that will characterize and respond to neglect; Sampling a model called intensive whole-family therapy, a project that aims to strengthen family ties; Enhancing the connection between adult and children services that will manifest of servicing the family as a whole; In addition, creating National Centre for Excellence in Children Services that aims to provide evidence based solutions to problems experience by most families of children on the edge of care. Because the local authorities see these projects as an essential part of restructuring and maintaining quality children care, they employ debate over the future of care on a national level. To address these concerns, it is important to know who care is for, if there is an appropriate response to the present childcare, and which things matter in future childcare.8 Significantly, childcare needs an adult supervision, which is an evident response from most children in care. Such proposals made are:9 Looking at the feasibility of beginning social services in care focusing on independence, small groups functioning to improve services in child care in contact with the local authority; Putting into practice of independent budgets for each child in care – provided with a lead professional, which is the social worker. Distinctive approach on the role and use of care plans. Renewing the policy of independent visitor scheme, that will address provision of ‘independent advocates’ among children in care. Much evidence has showed that care placements put an effect on the capability of children and youth concerning their success in education and training. At present, moving of placements among children in care is far too frequently addressed. Thus, it is essential for children to have placements on residential children’s homes and focusing on the number and quality of foster carers. With these policies, the assurance of having quality care in children will transpire. In response to this advocacy, the local government proposes:10 Introducing a tiered framework on foster placements, which will respond to the various levels of need, supported by qualifications framework, fee structure, and national minimum standards. Giving younger children the utility of intensive foster care combined with multi-agency support. Reinforcing recruitment campaigns that will hire specialized foster carers; Providing a more specialized foster care on children with complex needs; Moreover, to evaluate new regional commissioning units giving security on budget and placement choice for children. In addition, it is important to look at how the education system has been a helpful tool in providing children security among themselves especially those in children care. There should be monitoring of teachers and school staff works upon the children’s educational institutions. Subsequent reports evaluated children in care give poor performances on education, receive education from one school to another and experience insufficient support for their studies. It is the objective of the government to seek out what premises should have a deeper inclination to children in care education. Some of the proposals are:11 The policy of ‘virtual head teacher,’ which will monitor the performance of schools in each local area having children in care; Giving local authorities the power to permit schools of admitting children in care on their custody, which prescription regarding budget is sufficient; The policy of free transportation that will ensure of non-migration whenever there is a change of school; Aid in schools admitting children in care that will not give them reasons of excluding a child in care. An independent budget for each social worker identified with a child in care. Though education is important among children in care, it is also vital to make corresponding policies on their positive access to other activities besides training and education. Hence, some proposals included in the Green Paper are: Encouraging other agencies to provide children free access in leisure centres, sports grounds and youth clubs. A new Model of Health provision in each child in care; Comprehensive training for professionals, most especially pediatricians with children in care; Improved access of children in care and their foster parent through Children’s Centre Provision; Providing more opportunities of children in care on stimulating and rewarding personal development activities. Finally, the local government knows how things work out after a long term stay at children in care. Hence, the local authorities wants to pursue a aversion of leaving child care at the age of 16 and giving focus on activities essential to a young person’s preparedness on their transition to adult life. Some of the proposals include: Introducing a veto among child in care below the age of 18 such that they will learn how to take care of themselves after foster homes; Giving them the chance to get support from their foster parents until the age of 21, most especially on education. Creating a national fund for child in care going to universities; A supported accommodation on older young people. What are they designed to achieve Significantly, these proposals need to achieve a similar reaction from most government policies on childcare. These reactions should coincide with the transformation and improvement of children in accordance to their rights. However, such miscalculations on childcare should not be solely blamed to the government because these mistakes already appeared beforehand. Five reasons support this claim, in which the influences and social constraints are culprits to the inefficient child care service. Critical Appraisal How Childhood and Adulthood are being constructed in the Green Paper It is common for most Western countries to look at 18 years old as a time for leaving care, which means that care should be gradually lifted up because of the transition to the adult life. Relatively, children entering childcare shortly experience the positive treatment among them rather what they experience is the ‘leaving care’. The critical evidences of children not complying to leave care is the continuing dependence until the age of 24. They leave their families but still know that help from their parents is just a phone call away. Moreover, most children entering the age of 18 are not ready tgo by themselves but still wanted to focus more on studying. It is important that these children entering adulthood should know when they are ready. These children entering the course of leave care should have more options coming from the government. Evidence Base In the paper, Care Matters, 60,000 children in care are observed of their experiences in childcare. The average length of stay concerning these children is less than 2.5 years.12 The implication becomes apparent that a minor frame would affect a little or not even an aspect of their future life. In addition, 10% of the 60,000 children leave the care on the age 16 to 18, wherein the lower age group, 10-15 years old has poor economic and educational background.13 Hence, these children have backward progress, which means they cannot have a treatment similar to those of their age. Finally, is the survey carried out in the New York University, wherein only 3-5% of the group leave the care and become highly professional workers in the future.14 Normative Assumptions about Care Recent studies at the New York University indicate that the aforementioned reasons of failing childcare have relevance to the individual’s family life, quality of care they experience, the transitions they experience and the support after care.15 Hence, care should be administered at an early age, wherein the intervention comes efficiently when they start from the families of these children. Quality care, stability, continuity and overcome educational deficits would likely diminish the growing negative assumptions on childcare. Moreover, support should be placed on children who are mentally disabled, children with complex needs, and children who are about to leave childcare. Summary of Implications Seeing through the proposal, it is better to care for the early stages of childhood rather than administer it on children who are about to experience leave care. For those children undergoing transition, it is better to give them security on their position in the society, particularly educational funds, where they will grab their foundation. Overall, the design of the green paper to improve stability, quality of care and give part to comprehensive responses will reduce the experience deprivation from most children in care. Conclusion Children in care do not receive much attention from the government. The policy of leaving care is not an assertive way to conclude how children should receive proper care. It is a pressure for most children to undergo transition, especially in the age of total independence. Children should be given the chance to choose to independent or not. Moreover, the society should learn more about how the children cope up with transition, the importance of early childhood, and the proper education needed by these children. References Department for Education and Skills. “Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young Children in Care.” 16 page Summary. Flink, J. “Care: Personal Lives and Social Policy.” P. 77-75. Read More