Does “every child matter”?

In 2003 the Government of the day introduced a Green Paper called “Every Child Matters”, an aspirational commitment to seek ways to improve the life chances of the most vulnerable children in our society.  In the forward to the Green Paper the Prime Minister of the day, Tony Blair wrote

“For most parents, our children are everything to us: our hopes, our ambitions, our future. Our children are cherished and loved. But sadly, some children are not so fortunate. Some children’s lives are different. Dreadfully different. Instead of the joy, warmth and security of normal family life, these children’s lives are filled with risk, fear, and danger: and from what most of us would regard as the worst possible source – from the people closest to them.”

The aspirations espoused in the Every Child Matters document were actually nothing especially remarkable.  It was basically saying that every child, irrespective of their circumstances, should expect and receive the same nurturing and developmental experiences that children from safe, secure and loving families receive.  For those children placed away from their birth families, such as those placed with New Chapters, this was always going to be a huge challenge.  But lets just take a moment to ask why.

Every Child Matters introduced key outcomes that every child deserved to have met.

“Staying safe” was really saying that every child deserved and needed to be protected from preventable harm and abuse but also that they should be taught how to keep themselves safe.  In the rapidly developing world of social networking this is becoming an ever more challenging issue for those of us charged with this task.

“Being healthy” referred to physical and mental health as well as general lifestyle.  Emotional wellbeing definitely falls into this outcome and one of the greatest challenges for caring organisations like New Chapters is doing everything possible to ensure placements don’t come to an unplanned or unexpected end because the sense of rejection this engenders is so damaging to the child’s emotional wellbeing.

“Enjoying and achieving”.  Isn’t that what being a child is all about?  A major element of this outcome though has not been given the focus it needs, namely preparing a child for adulthood and the challenges that come with independence and legal responsibilities.

“Making a positive contribution” was really about making sure a child acquires self-esteem, self-confidence and a self-belief that they can achieve whatever aspirations they may have.  The phrase “one small step at a time” is particularly pertinent because so many vulnerable children who have been emotionally damaged cannot see how their contribution matters at all.

“Economic well being” was described in the Green Paper as “not being prevented by economic disadvantage from achieving their full potential in life”.  This is perhaps the one outcome that is least understood by Social Care professionals.  Not being economically disadvantaged from achieving our potential is linked with an ability to cope with the independence and legal responsibilities that comes with adulthood.  The success in meeting this outcome can perhaps be measured to some extent by the fact that around 40% of care leavers are not in education, employment or training (that awful term NEET) and about 6% go on to higher education.  The comparable figures for all 18-21 year olds are 15% and 33%.

I asked the question “Does every child matter?”  Consider for a moment the fact that 20-25% of those who are homeless have previously been in care or that over 40% of men under 21 who have come into contact with the criminal justice system had experience of being in care.  Female care leavers are significantly more at risk of becoming teenage parents.  Lastly, remember my point about emotional well-being?  How well can we say we are addressing this when looked after children and care leavers are reported to be up to five times more likely to self-harm in adulthood.

New Chapters was chosen as the name for our agency because we know too well the challenges and barriers that continue to undermine the aspirations set by the Every Child Matters agenda.  But as we said in a previous blog (titled “it’s the difference that makes the difference”) unless we speak up for the child and constantly strive to break down the barriers then we too will be guilty of allowing aspirations to remain pipe dreams.  And that is simply not acceptable.

(Figures given are from the Gov.uk website)