Plea to be fair to children in care

Members of the public have been urged to sign a pledge to help lift the stigma against young people in care amid claims that they face some of the worst marginalisation and discrimination in Scotland today.

An event in Edinburgh to launch the Give Me a Chance campaign saw the pledge backed by Minister for Children and Young People Aileen Campbell and social work chiefs from across the country.

The campaign is being run by the charity Who Cares? Scotland, which gives a voice to young people who have been taken into care by local councils because their own families are struggling to look after them.

The charity said the rights of children in care are barely recognised in Scotland, despite its work tackling discrimination and supporting the rights of many minority groups.

As a result, it said, many of Scotland’s 25,000 young people under 25 from a care background face a bleak future.

Who Cares? Scotland is now calling on people to listen to children in care rather than judging them or making assumptions about them being trouble-makers or bad influences.

Duncan Dunlop, Who Cares? chief executive, said: “These children deserve better. After being separated from their families, their friends, the place they called home, the last thing they deserve from the rest of us is to be judged or labelled or discriminated against because they are in care. Yet this is what happens.”

Mr Dunlop said many people are unaware they are prejudiced about children in care, adding: “They see them for the problems that they have, or for the behaviours they hold – instead of realising that most of these stem from the emotional impact of being in care.”

He said government and councils were now very conscious of the barriers facing looked-after children that can prevent them from succeeding in education or avoiding poor health. Crime and imprisonment are also risks.

But he argued there were limits to what could be achieved without a change of culture in wider society, saying: “It is the ordinary Scot who can make the difference for these kids.”

Backing the campaign, Peter MacLeod, president of the Association of Directors of Social Work, said: “It is time to stand up for Scotland’s looked-after children against the discrimination they face.”

Ms Campbell said: “We have a particular responsibility to looked-after children and young people.

“Looked-after children can face problems around negative stereotypes and low expectations, which is why the Scottish Government is supporting the Who Cares? Scotland anti-stigma campaign.”