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This paper was delivered at the recent Young Scotland Programme organised by the SR team. In view of the sensitivity over family issues, we are publishing it anonymously.
When you look at me, what do you see? Do you see a 20-year-old girl who works with young, disadvantaged people? Someone who loves Angerfist and Hard style music, a football fan…I could go on.
But what if I told you that I have spent most of my teenage life in the care system? What do you see now? A victim, trouble-maker, drug user, bad person? Has your opinion of me changed? I believe that young people in care are stigmatised in education, employment and by the police and people in the community. This has to stop.
So how did the care system help me?
As a young person this affected me hugely. Seeing my mum behave like this with alcohol made me think that it was all right for me to do it too. Soon I was out every night and by the age of 14 I had an alcohol addiction worker. Alcohol soon led to drugs.
But now, at the age of 20, I have done so much with my life. I can look back and now say that moving into the care system, which I decided to do voluntarily, was the best decision I ever made. The love and support I got from my social worker and unit staff drove me to study and fulfil my dreams of what I wanted to do. This included taking and passing all eight Standard Grade exams that I sat.
This year I started working for South Lanarkshire Council as a social care assistant. This involves working with vulnerable adults who have no control over their own lives. They are dementia sufferers. I love my job because I like the feeling of helping people and seeing a result in them.
Young people in care do have a choice and also have a voice. Some people don’t listen to young people accommodated in care in South Lanarkshire. Young people can find themselves in care for lots of different reasons. These include:
1. Their parents are drug-users or alcohol dependent.
2. Their parents have abandoned them.
3. Their family could be serving time in prison.
These are only a few examples. There are lots more.
If you don’t give a young person a chance, they get let down time and time again. They might turn to crime, drugs or alcohol. There are 60 young people who have left care in South Lanarkshire and have ended up in prison and 60% of the young women who leave the care system become pregnant quickly after. Only 1% of young people who leave care go on to further education. This has to change.
All young people in care are often on the wrong path before they come into care and they are so far down that road, it is harder to bring them back.
I am involved with a group called Young Voice which is supported by social work and Who Cares Scotland. It includes care leavers and looked after and accommodated young people. The seven young people in the group support each other with barriers that we may come across in life. We also do interviewing for residential staff for the children’s houses and we are involved in consultations such as the corporate parenting event which is held every year. We cover many different areas such as housing and sexual heath.
The group meets once a month. We have something to eat at the start to find out what everyone’s been doing from the last time we met and it gives us a chance to give each other advice if we have any problems.
I think that people in the community and the authorities should give young people a chance to achieve their hopes and dreams. This should involve lots of support, communication, and dedication. My local authority uses Who Cares Scotland, which is an advocacy service. We also use Barnardos. There are a lot more services out there to support and help young people. If I hadn’t have had that support, I wouldn’t be standing here today.
You should never give up on a young person. Give them a chance.