‘Help make Kids in care
Children in care have asked Stirling councillors to accept no less for them than they would for their own children in a harrowing letter.
A group of young people - including those in foster and residential care - came together to plead for more support and heartbreakingly stated “we are not bad children”.
Their letter reads: “None of this is our fault. “We have often suffered abuse, neglect and mistreatment and statistics tell us that having such a poor start to our childhood means we’re probably going to have a poor future too.
“We are seeking your help to change this and make our future brighter.”
It ends with a call for the council, as their “corporate parent” to treat them as they would treat their own.
It is signed “Stirling’s Champions Board” which is made of young people who are looked after or supported by the council.
Tracy Degan, development officer for the Champions, recently gave a presentation to the council’s children and young people committee on members’ responsibilities as corporate parents.
She highlighted a training module which has been developed to raise awareness of the needs of vulnerable children and young people.
She added: “We listened to what all the young people were telling us and believe we’ve done our best to capture that.
“The young people have asked us to think about the language we use. For example, ‘not engaging’ is a phrase we use often, but young people tell us we’re not ‘not engaging’ we just haven’t built that trusting relationship yet.
“The module will be good to go once any changes are made on their say-so.
“We want this to be mandatory.”