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Home is the place your heart resides

Home is the place that you decide

Home is the womb that holds the soul

Home is the place where one is whole

Home is the glow you hold in your eye

Home is the emotion that makes you cry

Home is safe and a place of peace

Home is where all strivings cease

Home is protective against the others

Home is full of sisters and brothers

Home is where you find your rest

Home is where you feel your best

Home is a memory that follows your being

Home is a dream for those that follows your being

Home is a dream for those agreeing

Home is the place where reserves fall

Home is where the family meets

Home is a place of restful retreats

Home is the place you know you’ll be heard

Home is the place where nothing blurs

Home is all these wonderful things

Home is the place you develop wings

Home is the place that you’ll find one day

Home is the place where you heart will stay

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On my first day when I arrived at my care home, my carer from my old

home drove me here. I met my key worker and the manager. They

showed me around, I had a meeting with my social worker and I got to

know the place. I was feeling very scared, upset and a bit freaked out,

but after a bit I was fine because they were really friendly to me. They

helped me unpack my clothes and belongings then they gave me a tour

of the house. We also went to play football outside with staff. They took

me outside for cigarettes break and also encouraged me to quit smoking.

In the first month I met a lot of staff and the directors of the care home.

There were a lot of meetings and new things to get used to — like the

house and even the daily routine. We tried to sort out family contact, I

went on some activities and really got to know the staff. I struggled with

the change and got really angry— I remember I was too badly behaved to

go on activities or get into education and I kept breaking all my

belongings.

In my first 6 months I was getting worse with my behaviour because I did-

n’t want any help and I was always angry, but they didn’t give up on me

like the staff at the other home did. And that made a big difference. Also

staff helped me quit smoking so I could be fitter to do more sports.

After a year I’m now in college doing a Catering course three days week. I

plan my own meals on a weekly basis and sometimes I cook a meal for

the staff and I. I know how to use a washing machine and dryer and I am

ticking things off my ILP (Independent Living Plan). As a reward, I do a lot

of activities like horse riding and I even joined a boxing club. I see my

family every 1-2 months. I haven’t been restrained in the last year and I

get on really well with every member of staff. Now I class this as my

home and I really can’t think of anywhere I would rather

be.

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“Despite what people think, kids don’t always

come into care because they are bad. In fact,

in my experience, care is what happens to kids

whose parents aren’t up to the job”.

The first step into care is easily the scariest for

everyone, not just you. When I got put into a care

home, it was because my foster care placement

broke down and it was an emergency placement. I

was terrified and didn’t really know anything about

care homes like most kids don’t. But it ain’t as scary

as it seems. It will be hard to adjust without your

family. But in most care homes, they will try as hard

as they can to make you feel safe and welcome. And

hopefully this booklet should answer your questions

and fears about the care system.

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‘A bully is a person who uses his strength or power to hurt

or frighten or intimidate others’

Every care home operates a zero tolerance on bullying and they

will do everything to ensure that the young people have the right

to live , learn and work in a safe environment free from

victimisation and fear .

Both staff and young people have a responsibility to ensure that

bullying does not take place and if it does that it is recorded and

dealt with immediately. If you feel that you are being bullied you

must tell a member of staff in your home straight away so that

they can deal with it as soon a possible

If you are ever found bullying, staff will inform your social worker

and they will arrange a meeting to see what action will be taken

This meeting will be as soon as possible as bullying is taken very

seriously .

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Straight when you go into a care home they will try

and find you a school or college placement and if

that’s not possible they will make sure you have some

form of education, such as home tutoring or teaching

by some of the staff. My experience with this is - I was

a child who was kicked out of many schools when I

was young so no schools would take me in. They

provided a home tutor but they still kept looking for a

education placement and eventually found a private

college that worked with kids that got kicked out of

school. I did Sports and Music and even for a short

time Game Design. Now I’m in college doing a catering

course and doing really well, so don’t get worried—

they will try their hardest to get you in a education

placement because they always have your best

interests at heart .

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There are quite a lot of meetings such as education

meetings, Looked After Children (LAC) meetings,

health and wellbeing , health assessments and

social worker meetings. Your social worker will be

at every meeting and she will come and see you

every 6 weeks to check you’re okay and talk

through any problems you might have about

yourself or the care home. Your carers will be there

and they will have reports about your behaviour

and talk about how you are doing in the care home

and activities in your “free

time”

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As a young person you are entitled to certain rights which should

always be available to you:

The right to be protected from harm.

The right to be able to express your wishes and feelings in the

knowledge that your concerns.

The right to be given information about your family and other

important people, and the right to have contact or an explanation

of why if this is not possible.

The right to be told clearly what you are not allowed to do.

The right not to be discriminated against for any reason.

The right to education and health care that suits your needs.

The right to opportunities to develop your skills and interests.

The right to be encouraged to participate in making decisions and

plans for your future.

The right to know how to complain if things go wrong and for your

complaint to be dealt with properly.

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If you need to make a complaint about

anything, don’t ever be scared to speak up and

put your points and views across to the staff at

your care home ,who will inform your manager

or your social worker. If you feel that it isn't

getting taken seriously, you can contact Roger

Morgan—Head of Children's Rights for Ofsted.

His number will be on the back of this booklet,

but go through the staff, manager and social

worker because they should take the complaint

seriously. So don’t be scared to make a

complaint if you feel the need to.

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In most care homes they have 4 different types of

staff—there are bank staff that work when they

are needed. There are support staff that will work

on a normal rota. There are senior support staff

that will overlook any decisions that need to be

made about you and the care home, and there is

a manager who will normally work 9-5 and they

are the people who you can talk to about any

problems and about anything—they will help and

support you almost all the time . And all the staff

in care homes work together to make a great care

team which will help and support you.

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Normally you will have two keyworkers. Keyworkers are

staff that will support a little bit more than all the other

staff and they are people you can go to have “key work

sessions”. Key work sessions are little chats about how

you are getting on in and out of the care home like

family issues, bullying, requests and any other issues

that are bothering you. If you don’t get on with your

keyworker, you can request a change with your manager

or staff and they will appoint a new one. I have a key-

worker who I have got along with for about 2 years now

and we have a lot of key work sessions. Every time you

have a planned or unplanned key work session, your

keyworker will record this and ask you to read it to see if

it’s ok with you. We have arguments but we get through

them.

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Growing up in care isn't that bad. Where I am I class

them as my family because I’ve been there for so

long— hopefully you will too in your care placement.

The care system isn't easy to grow up in though

because you’re obviously going to miss your family

loads and your friends, but hopefully the pain will pass

and you will start getting used to life in care—it ain’t all

that bad. You get pocket money, clothing money and

other types of money - it depends on your care home.

There are a lot of rules in care homes but they are all

in your favour really because if you follow them you

should be fine and get rewarded for good behaviour.

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You may wish to go to church or temple to worship or

celebrate festivals. They will make sure that you are

able to observe and practice your culture or your

religion . This might mean that you need the correct

food to eat or clothes to wear .

When you first arrive in your care home, your

keyworker should go through this with you and ask you

if you follow any religion. If you do, they should also ask

you if need any special types of clothes and the

correct foods.

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In my care home they call it “free time”, but at

first I was out of my area so I had to make

friends from school and college and “free

time” was earned. At first I was only allowed 1

hour on my own in the local town, but now I’m

always out on free time. Your carers will want

you to meet friends but you have to

understand—this takes time and not everyone

is entitled to free time because of different

needs. If you’re allowed they will encourage

you to make friends and have a good time

while you are in care.

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Hello, my name's Liam and I am 19. I want to tell my story so that I can show that people's idea of teenagers in care isn't always right. Despite what people think, kids don’t always come into care because they are bad. In fact, in my experience, care is what happens to kids whose parents aren’t up to the job.

I have never met my mum. She left my dad when I was very young. To be honest, I don’t really know what happened. She was very young when she had me – she was only 18 – and she suffered from mental health problems.

A long stretch My dad brought me up for the first few years of my life, but when I was six he got into trouble with the police and ended up going to jail. I don’t really want to go into the details, but he got quite a long sentence which meant that I was put into a long-term foster placement.

Even though I found it really difficult to begin with, I think care was a positive experience for me. I was placed with really nice carers and they looked after me for the whole time I was in care. They are still there for me now, even though I’m living in my own place.

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Criminals in waiting I know that people think kids in care are criminals in waiting. And I know that because my dad went to jail people expect the same to happen to me. You know the kind of thing: “oh, it runs in the family… his dad was no good, so he’s bound to turn out the same.”

To be honest, it’s something that I’ve worried about myself. Whenev-er you hear people talking about taking after their mum or their dad, I think to myself well if I’m like my mum I am going to have problems with my head and if I’m like my dad I’m going to have problems with the police.

But because of my fantastic carers, I don’t think either of those things are true. They made me study really hard and made me appreciate how important school would be. The result is that I left school with all my GCSEs. I decided not to do A-levels, but started an apprentice-ship with a builder and decorator. My plan is to set up my own busi-ness and I’m getting lots of help with this.

Moving on I suppose I just want other kids in care to read this and understand that whatever has happened in the past, and whatever your parents are like, you’re not automatically going to follow in their footsteps.

Care might mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but it gave me a chance to put some really difficult things behind me and move on in my life. My dad is the criminal, not me.

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‘Most young people leaving care fear

homelessness which they are right to do because

30% of homeless people have been in care’.

Normally you stay in your placement till you are

16-18 and social services help with self

Accommodation, but you will still get support on a

limited scale and you get a personal adviser till

you are 21. You will hopefully have completed

your ILP (Independent Living Plan) which helps

you with cooking, cleaning ,budgeting and much

more. You can normally choose where you want

to live but this depends on

your situation.

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Ofsted : 0300 1231231

Childline : 0800 1111

NSPCC: 0808 800 5050

Children's Advice and Representation Service :

A) Connexions: 0161 476 6336

B)YOT: 0161 476 2876

Police: 0161 872 5050

Ofsted Children's Rights Officer Roger Morgan : 0300

123 1231