We've signed the National Youth Advocacy Service’s (NYAS) ‘My Things Matter pledge’, to ensure that care-experienced children and young people have their precious belongings treated with dignity, care and respect whenever they move home.
NYAS say:
1 in 3 care-experienced children will move home in 2023. That is over 26,000 children in England and 2,200 children in Wales. Every single one of those children deserve to move with dignity and respect, which is what My Things Matter is calling for.
Our commitment to every child who we care for is that we will:
- help you keep your most precious belongings with you safely during your move and promise they will not be moved in bin bags
- provide written guidance for you and anyone helping you to move
- never move or throw away your belongings without your consent and will always respect your personal belongings
- support you to make a complaint if any of your belongings have been damaged during your move
- communicate with you about your move and ask you how it went
We'll achieve this by taking the following steps:
- providing appropriate suitcases or hold-alls
- when you are moving, your foster carer is responsible for ensuring appropriate suitcases/hold-alls for your belongings
- you must be supported by your foster carer, social worker or other trusted adult to pack you own belongings
- when packing, you must be asked if you have any particularly precious belongings and these should be pointed out
- the social worker helping you to move must ensure that you know where any precious belongings are during the move
- the social worker helping you to move must report any concerns you or they have to their team manager
- the social worker will support you to make a complaint or, if you prefer, they will support you to access Speak Up! our children’s rights and advocacy service, in order to make a complaint
- any complaint which highlights concerns about a move should be shared with the Head of Service Corporate Parenting
Also see
Fostering Team
Children’s Social Care
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