Children in care

seaspray10

Hi,
Last night I watched a documentary which included a new mum to be and her boyfriend, both living in a squat.


The story unfolded that they were both recovering heroin addicts, he was now an alcoholic and she was on methadone. Both parents obviously had huge issues and it was hart rendering to imagine a child being born into these circumstances.

The reason I’m posting this is because they kept on mentioning that they had both grown up in care, as if this explained why they were the way they were, which left me wondering. Do we intervene too late, when the damage has already been done to children, or is it being brought up in care that causes the problem?

I guess it may be a combination of both but I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone with experience in this area.

sweetilemon

No-one should be written off. It's maybe not the fact they were 'in care' but possibly what they witnessed/ were treated like prior to being in care? If they had unresolved issues from those experiences it maybe explains why they turned to addictions. It also depends on the standard of care and support they received to help overcome their personal issues.

AnotherJoe

Plenty of people who weren't brought up in care end up in such circumstances. Though statistically there is a pattern. Maybe too much emphasis on keeping with the parents and not putting in a stable family at an early age. Damned if they do dammed if they don't.

heuchera

Brought up in care implies instability, going from foster home to foster home, perhaps.

I didn't see the programme but I'm surprised she was allowed to keep the baby. Normally they're born dependent, but even if they're not, the child could be at risk if the father's still shooting up, and the mum's still around drugs, even if she's (apparently) not taking them.

nimbo

What was the documentary? Was I on the Beeb?

carefullycautious

It was called 'Keeping up with the Khans' about immigration. I watched it at 1.45 am as I couldn't sleep. On channel 4. It was really interesting

seaspray10

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Plenty of people who weren't brought up in care end up in such circumstances. Though statistically there is a pattern. Maybe too much emphasis on keeping with the parents and not putting in a stable family at an early age. Damned if they do dammed if they don't.

That’s what I was thinking, although like you say “damned if you do and damned if you don’t”.


I agree we shouldn’t give up on anyone, after all its a “there but for the grace of god” situation but what’s the answer? Is there one?


They did take the baby away, said it may be temporary, although I found it hard to imagine these damaged people ever being able to cope (hope I’m wrong).


Maybe it’s my age, having grandchildren etc, things like this pray on my mind.


My partner says I should stop watching them but I think we need to be aware, I wasn’t born an Ostridge.

itsanne

The outcome for children in care in this country can be shockingly bad. Many of the victims in the various grooming and abuse scandals were in care at the time. The huge discrepency in attainment between those in care and everyone else has a knock on effect on the rest of their lives. This is from Scotland, but the rest of the UK fares no better:

In 2009/10, the proportion of
school leavers who were looked after
away from home and gained five or more
qualifications at level five or above on
the Scottish Credit and Qualifications
Framework (for example, Standard Grades
at 1-2, Highers at A-C or Advanced
Highers at A-C) was 4.7%, while the
equivalent rate for all school leavers
was 55.9% (Scottish Government, 2011b)

Supporting such children within their own families gives an even worse outlook:

The proportion of those looked after at
home gaining this level of qualification
was a negligible 0.5%


Other countries, in particular Scandinavian ones, manage far better.

seaspray10

itsanne wrote: »

The outcome for children in care in this country can be shockingly bad. Many of the victims in the various grooming and abuse scandals were in care at the time. The huge discrepency in attainment between those in care and everyone else has a knock on effect on the rest of their lives. This is from Scotland, but the rest of the UK fares no better:

In 2009/10, the proportion of
school leavers who were looked after
away from home and gained five or more
qualifications at level five or above on
the Scottish Credit and Qualifications
Framework (for example, Standard Grades
at 1-2, Highers at A-C or Advanced
Highers at A-C) was 4.7%, while the
equivalent rate for all school leavers
was 55.9% (Scottish Government, 2011b)

Supporting such children within their own families gives an even worse outlook:

The proportion of those looked after at
home gaining this level of qualification
was a negligible 0.5%


Other countries, in particular Scandinavian ones, manage far better.

That’s interesting, do you know what they do differently in Scandinavia?

sheramber

seaspray10 wrote: »

Hi,
Last night I watched a documentary which included a new mum to be and her boyfriend, both living in a squat.


The story unfolded that they were both recovering heroin addicts, he was now an alcoholic and she was on methadone. Both parents obviously had huge issues and it was hart rendering to imagine a child being born into these circumstances.

The reason I’m posting this is because they kept on mentioning that they had both grown up in care, as if this explained why they were the way they were, which left me wondering. Do we intervene too late, when the damage has already been done to children, or is it being brought up in care that causes the problem?

I guess it may be a combination of both but I’d be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone with experience in this area.

If this was about immigrants then these people wouldn't have been in the care system in this country.

Social workers have an impossible job- they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

seaspray10

sheramber wrote: »

If this was about immigrants then these people wouldn't have been in the care system in this country.

Social workers have an impossible job- they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

It was a four part series, looking at how people in the area got along with their multi-cultural neighbours, the final series focused on the “born and bred British”, which included the couple I mentioned.