Looked after Young People tell it like it is

Greta Sherry and Stephen Rogerson from the Listen2Us project painted a vivid picture of life growing up in care as they made a presentation about the project to councillors at the start of the Social Work Committee on Thursday 22 August.

The Listen2Us project was set up to listen to the views of young people who are, or have been, Looked After to evaluate and influence the services they receive. Supported by a development worker, around 12 young people are carrying out a consultation with Looked After young people across the region. If you would like to get involved, contact listen2us@dumgal.gov.uk or phone and ask for development worker Irene Rodgers.

Stephen said, “This is about improving lives. I have been through the system and I want to make sure that people going into care now have a better experience than I did. The group want to know both the good and bad experiences of people in care. It’s important to say that there are lots of positive things. I had some great foster carers that I wouldn’t swap. Our next project is to make a video with the help of Cree Studios. We will also visit Dundee’s champions’ board to bring back the best of their ideas for our area. ”

Greta said, “Stephen and I are grown up now and moving into employment, but we are determined to make things better for the next generation of Looked After Children. We want to take away the stigma and the assumption that when something bad happens in a school or a community that it is done by a child in care. We want to stop young people feeling that it is their fault they are in care and to help them become more confident. I have already gained a huge amount by being part of the project. I am more confident and able to express my views. One of the improvements I would like to see is the involvement of young people in training foster carers.”

Earlier this year a group of young people recruited to be part of the project went to the Time to Listen event in Edinburgh where more than 2000 young people from around Scotland came together with representatives from Scottish Government. They signed a pledge to support young people and stamp out the stigma of being in care. The group came back from the meeting determined to do something here in Dumfries and Galloway. They arranged a meeting with public sector chiefs and councillors in May. At the meeting, our Chief Executive and Chair of Social Work Committee signed a pledge to set up a champions’ board for Looked After young people.

Chair of Social Work Committee, Councillor Andy Ferguson, said, “I was very impressed with the young people at the pledge signing. They pinned senior managers to the wall with their questions and proved themselves to be articulate. We received an excellent presentation before committee, so I can see that those who joined the group are still growing in confidence. Their words were moving and honest. I would like all councillors in Dumfries and Galloway to hear what these young people have to say. The shape of the champions’ board should be formed by the young people’s views.”

As well as arranging for the pledge signing, the project has distributed survey postcards to young people at Youth Beatz. The group managed to gain the views of quite a few young people and is compiling the results. The cards will be distributed around other Looked After young people in the region to gain as many views and experiences as possible.

Some of the comments from Looked after Young People from the postcards are:

‘It was good that I got to meet different people and enjoy more activities like football.’

‘I didn’t like that the foster carers treated me differently than their children.’

‘Family ties are difficult – it is hard to make relationships.’