Children In Care Council

Children in Care Council

Voices Matter

These are the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2009

CHILDREN IN CARE COUNCIL - ‘VOICES MATTER’

Present
Young People:
Kelly, Jordan, Dullal
Adults:
Gordon Jeyes (arrived at the end of the meeting), Councillor Martin Curtis, Tessa Bailey, Caz Dunne (Chair), Mary Ogden (participation worker) Valerie Gerrard (Minutes)

1. 0 APOLOGIES
Elaine Petch, Sam, Martin, Cherry, Gina, Stacey, Annie, Julie

2.0 NOTES & MATTERS ARISING FROM MEETING HELD ON 4th August 2009

2. 1 The minutes from the last meeting were accepted.

2.2 Caz said that a training day for the young people took place three or four weeks ago, at which the aims of the Children in Care Council were discussed. At that time the young people asked where the views expressed by the group go and if they were going to change anything. There was concern that the group be taken seriously. Caz suggested that the group ask for terms of reference which outline where the information goes and who is accountable. Councillor Martin Curtis agreed that terms of reference would be useful. He added that he finds the Voices Matter group very informative as he is able to gain information direct from the ‘horse’s mouth’. Gordon said the Voices Matter Council is a good, forceful group and it is important to know what the group achieves.

Martin Curtis Agreed to complete this

3.0 UPDATE ON WEBSITE

3.1 Caz told the group that she had looked into getting tenders for creating the web platform. She contacted the Child Protection Educational Team who have set up a platform for schools, called the Stars system. She was told that the Team could copy the system onto the Voices Matter website, where it can be trialled. The group will monitor how much it is used. The platform will be accessed through the avoice4us website. Caz has already discussed this with the Just Us Groups. Sam will meet the web designer on 25 November 2009. It is hoped that the platform will be set up by mid-December.

4. 0 UPDATE ON CONSULTATIONS RE SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS

4. 1 The young people are attending the various Just Us groups to get feedback on this topic.

4.2 Dullal spoke to the Cambridge group and found that most of them thought it was a bad idea to have a policy to not exclude Looked After Children when appropriate as this separates them from other children. They felt that Looked After Children should be treated the same as everyone else. They suggested that the three levels of punishment (exclusion at school, exclusion out of school and expulsion) should be accompanied by three levels of warning – yellow card, green card and red card.

4.3 It was noted that carers might have a problem with exclusion. Councillor Curtis said that when parental relationships break down, exclusion is often the final straw. Therefore exclusion has a potential impact on Looked After Children in terms of stability.

4.4 Jordan said that if there were another person involved, this could cause problems.

4.5 Tessa stated that communication with schools regarding using other disciplines is needed. A discussion followed regarding alternative disciplines. Caz mentioned that a school in Bristol is running a pilot scheme in which a panel of young people decide on punishments. As a result there has been a large reduction in behavioural problems at that school. Caz suggested that this would be worth looking at and Councillor Curtis agreed.

4.6 Sam spoke to the March Just Us Junior Group. Some of them thought it a good idea to not exclude Looked After Children, whilst others preferred to not be seen as different from the other pupils.

4.7 The Wisbech Group generally felt that not excluding Looked After Children when appropriate was not a good option.

4.8 Councillor Curtis suggested that the Restorative Practise used by Victoria Road could be looked at.

5.0 DISCUSSIONS AROUND POINTS 5 & 6 ON YOUNG PEOPLE’S PLEDGE/PROMISE

5.1 Kelly referred to Point 5 and said that it would be beneficial for a child who is coming into care or moving placement to meet the potential carers to get an idea of what they are like. Sometimes people know immediately if they will not get on.

5.2 Caz said that it is a matter of having a bit of choice. If it is immediately obvious that a placement will not work there is no point in the child moving in. She said that work is currently being done on getting foster carer profiles up to date.

5.3 Point 6 refers to children having a say about their Care Plan and where they will stay after they are 18. Martin said that it was a matter of motivation.

5.4 Councillor Curtis told the group he has asked for a piece of work to be undertaken regarding Looked After Children and apprenticeships and getting into work.

5.5 Caz mentioned that a level of support is currently provided by the 16+ Service.

5.6 Dullal suggested that when a person comes out of care at 18 Social Services remain available to help with finding a job, etc, until the person reaches 20. Councillor Curtis said that is the aim of the 16+ Service to help people move away from care. He felt that young people need support until they are ready to be on their own, rather than on an arbitrary date.

5.7 Jordan and Dullal felt it is important for young people to be involved in their Care Plan so that they know what is going on and are kept ‘in the loop’. Both Councillor Curtis and Tessa agreed that this is vital.

5.8 Caz suggested that the above thoughts be fed back to the relevant teams.

5.9 Tessa said a mechanism is needed whereby young people can look at the Pledge and feed back if the promises are not being fulfilled. That information could be collated and made available. Gordon agreed, saying that if things are not okay, he needs to know.

5.10 Gordon urged the group to get the pledge out there, rather than spend much more time trying to make it perfect. He felt that an action plan is needed.

6.0 DISCUSSIONS AROUND RESPECT MATTERS TASTER IN AREA TEAMS

6.1 The group were invited to present a taster session to a post-qualifying Social Worker course at Anglia Ruskin University. Four members of the group went and filled a 1 ½ hour slot.

6.2 Jordan and Dullal said the taster went very well. 25 people attended and all got involved. The activities went very well. Mary added that there was a very good open discussion at the end.

6.3 Caz said that the young people managed to get a lot across in a short time. She suggested that the group might come out to Area Teams to do similar tasters in half-term or holidays. Tessa and Councillor Curtis thought this an excellent idea, as it is often difficult for people to find time to do the full 2 day Respect Matters course. Tessa agreed to hold a Respect Matters Taster in the February 2010 half-term and she will email a date.

6.4 The young people agreed that a ratio of approximately 25 attendees per 4 members of the group works well and they would be happy to have more attendees if more group members participate.

7.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

7.1 Caz reported that there will be another Question Time event on 12 April 2010 at The Junction in Cambridge. She hopes to launch the Voices Matter Panel at the same time. The event will be a drama-based conference with members of Just Us Groups presenting performances related to being in care. There will also be art work on display.

7.2 Tessa referred to Point 7 of the draft Young People’s Pledge/Promise which refers to young people receiving support when leaving care and going to University. Councillor Curtis said that there are schemes for this in place through the 16+ Service, but the information needs to be made more generally available. Gordon said that a written guarantee that young people will be supported in further education after coming out of care is desirable. It should be made clear that every Looked After Child will get support to take their education as far as they want. Caz will look into that.

7.3 Gordon said that the recent Ofsted Inspection showed that the 16+ Team were sometimes a bit slow in getting back to people. With regard to transitions, some young people said they were not in a place where they felt safe. The responsiveness of the 16+ Team will be looked into.

7.4 Caz advised that the Awards Night will be on 21 November 2009.

8.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Date – tba
Time – tba
Venue – tba

Contact Caz To find out more info

Following are the minutes of the meeting of the

Children in Care Council - ‘Voices Matter’

4 August 2009

Present:
Young people : Julie, Martin, Jordan, Jade, Annie, Gina
Adults : Gordon Jeyes, Councillor Martin Curtis, Elaine Petch, Mary Ogden, Michelle Ide-Smith, Caz Dunne (Chair), Rachel Walls (Minutes)
1 Apologies : Niki Clemo, Stacey, Kelly, Cherry, Sam

2 NOTES & MATTERS ARISING FROM MEETING HELD ON 8 APRIL 2009

2.1 Caz was unable to contact Sue Hains about the website as she is currently off sick. She has however worked with Michelle Ide-Smith.

2.2 Elaine has given Caz the list of the different languages the current asylum seeking young people use. There are 18 languages in total. Caz has spoken to CINTRA, it will cost £38 per language per Voices Matter leaflet, making a total of £684 for 1 leaflet of each language. Elaine has money for costs associated with Children in Care so Caz to approach Elaine.

ACTION- Caz

3 A VOICE 4 US WEBSITE

3.1 Michelle passed round a handout detailing the website. She had met with Caz, Mary, Cherrie and Councillor Martin Curtis and they had discussed their views. They discussed the current website, which is 9yrs old and the requirements of the new version.

3.2 There are 3 options available, a gold, silver or bronze option:

Gold – A new site with a private forum.
Silver – Keep the current site and add the Ning.com tool (only available to 13yrs+)
Bronze – Keep current site and add a basic forum using an online tool (may still only be available to 13yrs+)

3.3 The group discussed the functions available with each option as well as the pros and cons. It was mentioned t hat if the Silver or Bronze options were used then the current website would have to be usable for disabled people.

3.4 The website would work by the user creating an account, there were concerns over the information that the user would have to put in. Michelle informed the group that as little or as much information could be used as long as it confirmed that the user is who they say they are. The young people decided they would like to have a Username and have their real names in a hidden field.

3.5 Gordon asked that more work was done on looking into what is happening in other areas and nationally in terms of a website for Looked After Children.

ACTION: Michele

3.6 The young people agreed that the Gold option would be the best choice. The way forward is for Michelle to provide Caz with a ‘shopping list’ for the young people to pick out what is most important for them at their next JustUs Meeting in September. Michelle will then use their feedback to create a specification. Michelle will inform Caz who she can approach for the 3 required quotes, and the specification can be distributed to them.

3.7 The gold option would have an estimated one off cost of £10,000-15,000 and then an annual fee of £300. Elaine and Gordon will find the money for the one off cost and there is a budget for the annual cost.

3.8 The young people had looked at a risk assessment for the website, it was agreed that Caz and Mary would monitor all posts that were put up. It was recognised that this would be a lot of work for Caz and Mary and that there needed to be an element of trust. A discussion was then held over the option to have a ‘Report Abuse’ button, which would temporarily delete the post until the administrator had had chance to look at it.

ACTION: Michelle, Michelle & Caz

4 PROMISE/PLEDGE

4.1 The Just Us group have put together a handout called ‘Shared themes for the promise from young people on 4 Just Us Groups’. This is aimed at young people from 7yrs+, to help them understand the promise/pledge that looked after young people are entitled to. The idea is that there is then a more detailed version for the carers, called ‘Cambridgeshire Promise to their Looked After Young People’, so that the young people can ask their carers if they want more information.

4.2 Martin had an idea that if a young person felt that the promises/pledges were not being met then they could hold a panel for this issue to be discussed and a way forward looked at. It was suggested that the website would be a place for the young people to get support initially and then any key themes could be brought to the panel for general discussion. The website address will be put onto the bottom of the promise/pledge document.

4.3 The group discussed point 3 ‘To love and respect and care for them all at all times when in care’. This was focussed mainly on looked after young people being placed in respite whilst the family took their own children on holiday/trips. Gordon thought that this point needed to be looked at again and broken down further.

ACTION: Just Us Groups

4.4 The group discussed point 4 ‘Minimise the moves and listen to young people more’. The young people felt that there needed to be more clarity, flexibility and open and clear communication around placements. There is frustration when an emergency placement becomes a short term placement and as the young person becomes settled they then get taken out and put into another placement.

5 SCHOOL NON-EXCLUSION FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN

5.1 It was queried whether this was a subject that was still up for discussion. Gordon confirmed that he would welcome discussion on it. The strongest argument against this idea is that looked after children will be singled out. The main argument for it is to ensure that the Children & Young Peoples Service is working as a team and on behalf of the young person. To go onto next agenda.

ACTION: Caz

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Date – 29 October 2009

Time – 2.00pm – 4.00pm Venue –

To be confirmed, Wisbech

If you want to tell Caz what you think please use the contact page

These are the minutes of the first meeting of the

Children in Care Council - ‘Voices Matter’

Wednesday 8 th April 2009

Present:
Young people : Kelly, Stacey, Gina, Cherry, Jordan, martin, Jade, Annie and Sam
Adults : Gordon Jeyes, Councillor Martin Curtis and Elaine Petch
Chair and Support : Caz Dunne and Mary Ogden
Absent : Nikki Clemo

Young people discussed the planning day they had on 6 th April please see notes. They all agreed their roles for the council
All agreed to the name for the council ‘Voices Matter’ as suggested by the young people.
Agreed this council will also act as the school council for the virtual school.
All agreed the meeting needed to be an hour and half next time
All agreed to having the meeting across the county to save on transport etc.
Discussed how the young people on the council will approach other young people in care in order to represent their views at the meetings. Discussed leaflets, Just Us, visits to children’s homes and website. Young people keen to set up a secure page on the avoice4us.com website in order that only young people in care will be able to safely find out about the council and email their views.

ACTION- Caz to contact Sue Hains from the virtual school to arrange a meeting with their web designer the young people and Maureen to look at setting this up.

Discussed the need to include asylum seeking young people.

ACTION Elaine to give Caz a list of all the languages the current asylum seekers use so we can get quotes for translating the leaflets etc.

Brief discussion about how to make sure that social workers as well as young people know about the pledge (Promise) suggested agenda days, induction visits to Just Us, Respect Matters training.
Started to discuss the pledge (promise) point 1 and 2 to show the meaning behind the statements from the young people.

1. Stop promising and start doing – the importance of relatives, being kept in the loop, being honest, workers keeping young people informed and getting back to the when they say they will even if its bad news.

ACTION Elaine to take back to social worker the importance of relatives and all above.

2. Work on preventing young people coming into care

Lots of different projects underway to support families, have we done enough?

Try to bring the right young people into care. There are new groups being set up for young people on the child protection list like Just Us so the council can hear their views and ideas.

10. Discussion about how there are so many rules for looked after young people that make them feel different and separate from foster family members.

11. Brief debate about possible new policy about school exclusion and looked after young people. The council wish to improve young people in cares experiences and attainment at school so are working at preventing them being excluded to try and improve continuity for the young people. The young people at panel were quite passionate that this might lead to bullying and discrimination.

ACTION young people to find out if all looked after young people share their views on this subject. Discuss again at next meeting.

Agenda for 4 th August 2009

Progress on actions from last meeting.

1. Agree minutes from last meeting.

Continue discussion about schooling and how to help looked after young people achieve more.

2. What happens if the pledge is broken?

3. Points 3 and 4 on the pledge expanded

4. Set agenda for next meeting.



	Children in Care Council Voices Matter These are the minutes of the meeting held on 30 October 2009 CHILDREN IN CARE COUNCIL - ‘VOICES MATTER’ Present Young People: Kelly, Jordan, Dullal Adults: Gordon Jeyes (arrived at the end of the meeting), Councillor Martin Curtis, Tessa Bailey, Caz Dunne (Chair), Mary Ogden (participation worker) Valerie Gerrard (Minutes) 1. 0 APOLOGIES Elaine Petch, Sam, Martin, Cherry, Gina, Stacey, Annie, Julie 2.0 NOTES & MATTERS ARISING FROM MEETING HELD ON 4th August 2009 2. 1 The minutes from the last meeting were accepted. 2.2 Caz said that a training day for the young people took place three or four weeks ago, at which the aims of the Children in Care Council were discussed. At that time the young people asked where the views expressed by the group go and if they were going to change anything. There was concern that the group be taken seriously. Caz suggested that the group ask for terms of reference which outline where the information goes and who is accountable. Councillor Martin Curtis agreed that terms of reference would be useful. He added that he finds the Voices Matter group very informative as he is able to gain information direct from the ‘horse’s mouth’. Gordon said the Voices Matter Council is a good, forceful group and it is important to know what the group achieves. Martin Curtis Agreed to complete this 3.0 UPDATE ON WEBSITE 3.1 Caz told the group that she had looked into getting tenders for creating the web platform. She contacted the Child Protection Educational Team who have set up a platform for schools, called the Stars system. She was told that the Team could copy the system onto the Voices Matter website, where it can be trialled. The group will monitor how much it is used. The platform will be accessed through the avoice4us website. Caz has already discussed this with the Just Us Groups. Sam will meet the web designer on 25 November 2009. It is hoped that the platform will be set up by mid-December. 4. 0 UPDATE ON CONSULTATIONS RE SCHOOL EXCLUSIONS 4. 1 The young people are attending the various Just Us groups to get feedback on this topic. 4.2 Dullal spoke to the Cambridge group and found that most of them thought it was a bad idea to have a policy to not exclude Looked After Children when appropriate as this separates them from other children. They felt that Looked After Children should be treated the same as everyone else. They suggested that the three levels of punishment (exclusion at school, exclusion out of school and expulsion) should be accompanied by three levels of warning – yellow card, green card and red card. 4.3 It was noted that carers might have a problem with exclusion. Councillor Curtis said that when parental relationships break down, exclusion is often the final straw. Therefore exclusion has a potential impact on Looked After Children in terms of stability. 4.4 Jordan said that if there were another person involved, this could cause problems. 4.5 Tessa stated that communication with schools regarding using other disciplines is needed. A discussion followed regarding alternative disciplines. Caz mentioned that a school in Bristol is running a pilot scheme in which a panel of young people decide on punishments. As a result there has been a large reduction in behavioural problems at that school. Caz suggested that this would be worth looking at and Councillor Curtis agreed. 4.6 Sam spoke to the March Just Us Junior Group. Some of them thought it a good idea to not exclude Looked After Children, whilst others preferred to not be seen as different from the other pupils. 4.7 The Wisbech Group generally felt that not excluding Looked After Children when appropriate was not a good option. 4.8 Councillor Curtis suggested that the Restorative Practise used by Victoria Road could be looked at. 5.0 DISCUSSIONS AROUND POINTS 5 & 6 ON YOUNG PEOPLE’S PLEDGE/PROMISE 5.1 Kelly referred to Point 5 and said that it would be beneficial for a child who is coming into care or moving placement to meet the potential carers to get an idea of what they are like. Sometimes people know immediately if they will not get on. 5.2 Caz said that it is a matter of having a bit of choice. If it is immediately obvious that a placement will not work there is no point in the child moving in. She said that work is currently being done on getting foster carer profiles up to date. 5.3 Point 6 refers to children having a say about their Care Plan and where they will stay after they are 18. Martin said that it was a matter of motivation. 5.4 Councillor Curtis told the group he has asked for a piece of work to be undertaken regarding Looked After Children and apprenticeships and getting into work. 5.5 Caz mentioned that a level of support is currently provided by the 16+ Service. 5.6 Dullal suggested that when a person comes out of care at 18 Social Services remain available to help with finding a job, etc, until the person reaches 20. Councillor Curtis said that is the aim of the 16+ Service to help people move away from care. He felt that young people need support until they are ready to be on their own, rather than on an arbitrary date. 5.7 Jordan and Dullal felt it is important for young people to be involved in their Care Plan so that they know what is going on and are kept ‘in the loop’. Both Councillor Curtis and Tessa agreed that this is vital. 5.8 Caz suggested that the above thoughts be fed back to the relevant teams. 5.9 Tessa said a mechanism is needed whereby young people can look at the Pledge and feed back if the promises are not being fulfilled. That information could be collated and made available. Gordon agreed, saying that if things are not okay, he needs to know. 5.10 Gordon urged the group to get the pledge out there, rather than spend much more time trying to make it perfect. He felt that an action plan is needed. 6.0 DISCUSSIONS AROUND RESPECT MATTERS TASTER IN AREA TEAMS 6.1 The group were invited to present a taster session to a post-qualifying Social Worker course at Anglia Ruskin University. Four members of the group went and filled a 1 ½ hour slot. 6.2 Jordan and Dullal said the taster went very well. 25 people attended and all got involved. The activities went very well. Mary added that there was a very good open discussion at the end. 6.3 Caz said that the young people managed to get a lot across in a short time. She suggested that the group might come out to Area Teams to do similar tasters in half-term or holidays. Tessa and Councillor Curtis thought this an excellent idea, as it is often difficult for people to find time to do the full 2 day Respect Matters course. Tessa agreed to hold a Respect Matters Taster in the February 2010 half-term and she will email a date. 6.4 The young people agreed that a ratio of approximately 25 attendees per 4 members of the group works well and they would be happy to have more attendees if more group members participate. 7.0 ANY OTHER BUSINESS 7.1 Caz reported that there will be another Question Time event on 12 April 2010 at The Junction in Cambridge. She hopes to launch the Voices Matter Panel at the same time. The event will be a drama-based conference with members of Just Us Groups presenting performances related to being in care. There will also be art work on display. 7.2 Tessa referred to Point 7 of the draft Young People’s Pledge/Promise which refers to young people receiving support when leaving care and going to University. Councillor Curtis said that there are schemes for this in place through the 16+ Service, but the information needs to be made more generally available. Gordon said that a written guarantee that young people will be supported in further education after coming out of care is desirable. It should be made clear that every Looked After Child will get support to take their education as far as they want. Caz will look into that. 7.3 Gordon said that the recent Ofsted Inspection showed that the 16+ Team were sometimes a bit slow in getting back to people. With regard to transitions, some young people said they were not in a place where they felt safe. The responsiveness of the 16+ Team will be looked into. 7.4 Caz advised that the Awards Night will be on 21 November 2009. 8.0 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Date – tba Time – tba Venue – tba Contact Caz To find out more info Following are the minutes of the meeting of the Children in Care Council - ‘Voices Matter’ 4 August 2009 Present: Young people : Julie, Martin, Jordan, Jade, Annie, Gina Adults : Gordon Jeyes, Councillor Martin Curtis, Elaine Petch, Mary Ogden, Michelle Ide-Smith, Caz Dunne (Chair), Rachel Walls (Minutes) 1 Apologies : Niki Clemo, Stacey, Kelly, Cherry, Sam 2 NOTES & MATTERS ARISING FROM MEETING HELD ON 8 APRIL 2009 2.1 Caz was unable to contact Sue Hains about the website as she is currently off sick. She has however worked with Michelle Ide-Smith. 2.2 Elaine has given Caz the list of the different languages the current asylum seeking young people use. There are 18 languages in total. Caz has spoken to CINTRA, it will cost £38 per language per Voices Matter leaflet, making a total of £684 for 1 leaflet of each language. Elaine has money for costs associated with Children in Care so Caz to approach Elaine. ACTION- Caz 3 A VOICE 4 US WEBSITE 3.1 Michelle passed round a handout detailing the website. She had met with Caz, Mary, Cherrie and Councillor Martin Curtis and they had discussed their views. They discussed the current website, which is 9yrs old and the requirements of the new version. 3.2 There are 3 options available, a gold, silver or bronze option: Gold – A new site with a private forum. Silver – Keep the current site and add the Ning.com tool (only available to 13yrs+) Bronze – Keep current site and add a basic forum using an online tool (may still only be available to 13yrs+) 3.3 The group discussed the functions available with each option as well as the pros and cons. It was mentioned t hat if the Silver or Bronze options were used then the current website would have to be usable for disabled people. 3.4 The website would work by the user creating an account, there were concerns over the information that the user would have to put in. Michelle informed the group that as little or as much information could be used as long as it confirmed that the user is who they say they are. The young people decided they would like to have a Username and have their real names in a hidden field. 3.5 Gordon asked that more work was done on looking into what is happening in other areas and nationally in terms of a website for Looked After Children. ACTION: Michele 3.6 The young people agreed that the Gold option would be the best choice. The way forward is for Michelle to provide Caz with a ‘shopping list’ for the young people to pick out what is most important for them at their next JustUs Meeting in September. Michelle will then use their feedback to create a specification. Michelle will inform Caz who she can approach for the 3 required quotes, and the specification can be distributed to them. 3.7 The gold option would have an estimated one off cost of £10,000-15,000 and then an annual fee of £300. Elaine and Gordon will find the money for the one off cost and there is a budget for the annual cost. 3.8 The young people had looked at a risk assessment for the website, it was agreed that Caz and Mary would monitor all posts that were put up. It was recognised that this would be a lot of work for Caz and Mary and that there needed to be an element of trust. A discussion was then held over the option to have a ‘Report Abuse’ button, which would temporarily delete the post until the administrator had had chance to look at it. ACTION: Michelle, Michelle & Caz 4 PROMISE/PLEDGE 4.1 The Just Us group have put together a handout called ‘Shared themes for the promise from young people on 4 Just Us Groups’. This is aimed at young people from 7yrs+, to help them understand the promise/pledge that looked after young people are entitled to. The idea is that there is then a more detailed version for the carers, called ‘Cambridgeshire Promise to their Looked After Young People’, so that the young people can ask their carers if they want more information. 4.2 Martin had an idea that if a young person felt that the promises/pledges were not being met then they could hold a panel for this issue to be discussed and a way forward looked at. It was suggested that the website would be a place for the young people to get support initially and then any key themes could be brought to the panel for general discussion. The website address will be put onto the bottom of the promise/pledge document. 4.3 The group discussed point 3 ‘To love and respect and care for them all at all times when in care’. This was focussed mainly on looked after young people being placed in respite whilst the family took their own children on holiday/trips. Gordon thought that this point needed to be looked at again and broken down further. ACTION: Just Us Groups 4.4 The group discussed point 4 ‘Minimise the moves and listen to young people more’. The young people felt that there needed to be more clarity, flexibility and open and clear communication around placements. There is frustration when an emergency placement becomes a short term placement and as the young person becomes settled they then get taken out and put into another placement. 5 SCHOOL NON-EXCLUSION FOR LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN 5.1 It was queried whether this was a subject that was still up for discussion. Gordon confirmed that he would welcome discussion on it. The strongest argument against this idea is that looked after children will be singled out. The main argument for it is to ensure that the Children & Young Peoples Service is working as a team and on behalf of the young person. To go onto next agenda. ACTION: Caz DATE OF NEXT MEETING Date – 29 October 2009 Time – 2.00pm – 4.00pm Venue – To be confirmed, Wisbech If you want to tell Caz what you think please use the contact page These are the minutes of the first meeting of the Children in Care Council - ‘Voices Matter’ Wednesday 8 th April 2009 Present: Young people : Kelly, Stacey, Gina, Cherry, Jordan, martin, Jade, Annie and Sam Adults : Gordon Jeyes, Councillor Martin Curtis and Elaine Petch Chair and Support : Caz Dunne and Mary Ogden Absent : Nikki Clemo Young people discussed the planning day they had on 6 th April please see notes. They all agreed their roles for the council All agreed to the name for the council ‘Voices Matter’ as suggested by the young people. Agreed this council will also act as the school council for the virtual school. All agreed the meeting needed to be an hour and half next time All agreed to having the meeting across the county to save on transport etc. Discussed how the young people on the council will approach other young people in care in order to represent their views at the meetings. Discussed leaflets, Just Us, visits to children’s homes and website. Young people keen to set up a secure page on the avoice4us.com website in order that only young people in care will be able to safely find out about the council and email their views. ACTION- Caz to contact Sue Hains from the virtual school to arrange a meeting with their web designer the young people and Maureen to look at setting this up. Discussed the need to include asylum seeking young people. ACTION Elaine to give Caz a list of all the languages the current asylum seekers use so we can get quotes for translating the leaflets etc. Brief discussion about how to make sure that social workers as well as young people know about the pledge (Promise) suggested agenda days, induction visits to Just Us, Respect Matters training. Started to discuss the pledge (promise) point 1 and 2 to show the meaning behind the statements from the young people. 1. Stop promising and start doing – the importance of relatives, being kept in the loop, being honest, workers keeping young people informed and getting back to the when they say they will even if its bad news. ACTION Elaine to take back to social worker the importance of relatives and all above. 2. Work on preventing young people coming into care Lots of different projects underway to support families, have we done enough? Try to bring the right young people into care. There are new groups being set up for young people on the child protection list like Just Us so the council can hear their views and ideas. 10. Discussion about how there are so many rules for looked after young people that make them feel different and separate from foster family members. 11. Brief debate about possible new policy about school exclusion and looked after young people. The council wish to improve young people in cares experiences and attainment at school so are working at preventing them being excluded to try and improve continuity for the young people. The young people at panel were quite passionate that this might lead to bullying and discrimination. ACTION young people to find out if all looked after young people share their views on this subject. Discuss again at next meeting. Agenda for 4 th August 2009 Progress on actions from last meeting. 1. Agree minutes from last meeting. Continue discussion about schooling and how to help looked after young people achieve more. 2. What happens if the pledge is broken? 3. Points 3 and 4 on the pledge expanded 4. Set agenda for next meeting.