The Promise Scotland is pleased to see MSPs support important amendments to the Children (Care, Care Experience and Services Planning) (Scotland) Bill

This week marks the sixth anniversary of the promise being made, and today MSPs debated which changes to make to the proposed Bill which will make significant legal changes to help keep the promise.

Currently, the Bill is going through a three stage process. It is in the second stage of this, which is when the Scottish Parliament can make changes by putting forward amendments to be voted on. This means, if it becomes an Act (which means it is the law and everyone has to follow it) it will make as much positive change as possible for children, families and care experienced adults.

We welcome MSPs from all parties putting forward amendments in important areas. Today, amendments were considered relating to strengthening available help and support for kinship carers and children living in kinship care, improved employment opportunities for care experienced young people and ways to uphold children's rights. Next week, further amendments will be debated on a range of issues including adoption, data collection, and the Children’s Hearings System.

We were particularly pleased that the Minister indicated she will bring forward legislation at the last stage of the Bill relating to restraint in care settings. The Promise Scotland has worked alongside the Children and Young People’s Commissioner for Scotland, EHRC and SHRC to call for clear, legally binding rules around restraint in place for all settings where children are.

You can read more in our Stage 2 briefing here.

Return to care

One of the most significant amendments debated today was relating to the children and young people being able to return to care—the promise calls this the 'right to return' to care. MSPs Willie Rennie and Martin Whitfield put forward amendments to the Bill, and we were pleased to see the amendments from Nicola Sturgeon accepted by the Committee.

These will help to make important changes to the lives of young people, and help the law support the promise that “young adults for whom Scotland has taken on parenting responsibility must have a right to return to care and have access to services and supportive people to nurture them”.

This is something that any young person should be able to have. Many young people move out of their family homes in young adulthood and often return home for a while before leaving again. Moving towards independence is often a gradual process.

This should be the same for children and young people who have been in care. We want to see any young person be able to return home to a safe and appropriate setting of care if they need to.

Ensuring that children and young people have a clear and accessible right to return to care when they need it will help prevent really difficult situations that young people can find themselves in when a move on from care has not been successful.

This right will enable care experienced young people to access the support they need, improving their stability and strengthening their ability to move on from care successfully over time.

What is the problem at the moment?

Although certain rights already exist through the Children (Scotland) Act 1995, they are not always fully understood by those applying them. Pressures around funding, or lack of suitable accomodation also mean care experienced young people who find themselves without a home after leaving care are directed to homelessness services or local housing associations.

This can lead to young people being placed in unstable, unsuitable adult temporary homeless accommodation for extended periods and do not have planned, relationship based support they deserve. We think this needs to change, so that:

• Young people are always given the right to return to care.
• Children and young people are not be made homeless on leaving care and forced to live in unsuitable accommodation.
• The duty to accommodate and provide continuing care is extended.

To make this happen in law, the amendments agreed will:

1. Strengthen the duty to accommodate children in terms of s25 of the Children (Scotland) act 1995.

   This will reduce the risk of care experienced children and young people being required to remain in inappropriate or unstable living arrangements with family members, or to rely solely on universal services, at a point when a return to care would be better for them.
   
   

2. Strengthen return-to-care rights for young people aged 18-21.

   This will mean that young people would move on from care when they are ready, not because of capacity or resources issues in the system.
   
   

3. Create a route to Continuing Care for care experienced children who return to care and care experienced young people who return to accommodation.

   Young people who return to care will be able to access support that is available to other care experienced young people, including continuing care and aftercare.
   
   

4. Create a right to remain in and return to continuing care up to the age of 26.

   This will align with the vision set out in the promise, which states that “young people must be encouraged to ‘stay put’ in their setting of care for as long as they need to.

You can read our full position on the right to return here.