FAR more needs to be done to ensure children placed in care are given love, opportunity and a sense of belonging, a charity which champions the rights of young people in the care system has said in an open letter to the three politicians vying to be the next Chief Minister.
Jersey Cares has urged Deputies Lyndon Farnham, Ian Gorst and Sam Mézec to implement a four-point action plan if they are elected.
The letter, which is signed by the charity’s chief executive, Carly Glover, acknowledges that some progress has been made since the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry found that the States had been a “neglectful and indifferent” corporate parent and had “singularly failed” young people in care. It added that there was an urgent need to rebuild trust and change the care system for the better.
Mrs Glover said it was essential that the government ensured “that those children experience love and care rather than the ‘hard edges’ of the various bureaucracies which now govern many aspects of their lives”.
“Now, for whomever is Chief Minister, you must move at pace to action,” she says in the letter. “A child who was six when the care inquiry report was published is now 13. There has been some progress from a starting point described by the care inquiry as ‘neglectful and indifferent’, but there is still much to do.”
She calls on the next government to develop a vision and for the Chief Minister to “lead from the front” to ensure the care system is good enough.
The second point of the action plan calls on ministers to work together so that the government, as corporate parent, is not a cold bureaucratic machine, but works “across portfolios so children have loving homes, a good education and good relationships with people who love them”.
The letter argues that a “strong cross-portfolio plan” is created to prevent silo thinking and foster collaboration in the best interests of children.
The fourth and final point on the action plan urges the new Chief Minister to “listen, learn and stay focused”.
“Your Council of Ministers will be offered training around their responsibilities to children in care and ways to hear directly from those with experience of care,” Mrs Glover says. “Ask your ministers to prioritise this, recognising that the care of children when they are not under the protection of family members is the most sacred duty of all.”
She adds: “By working together with a steadfast focus as a Council of Ministers, you can build on the resources of goodwill, understanding and addressing the bureaucratic barriers which exist so that the children who are in your care do indeed experience love, belonging and opportunity.”
You can read Jersey Cares open letter to prospective Chief Ministers in full here: https://jerseycares.je/jersey-cares-publishes-open-letter-to-prospective-chief-ministers/
