The Scottish Kinship Care Alliance has submitted its first consultation response – to the Scottish Human Rights Commission’s consultation on the top Human Rights priorities for Scotland which they should include in a National Action Plan on Human Rights.
Our response focuses on the Human Rights issues affecting children in Kinship Care in Scotland. The full response is below.
North Kinship Carers demand Justice at Kinship tea party event in Scottish Parliament, October 2010
On 15th April the Scottish Kinship Care Alliance will officially be launched at a high profile event in Glasgow’s City Chambers hosted by the Lord Provost Sadie Docherty. A range of MSPs, MPs, councillors, civil servants and other policy makers, Social Work and NHS professionals, journalists, major charities..and of course hundreds of Kinship Carers from across Scotland will be present.
The launch will take place in Glasgow City Chambers’ Banqueting Hall from 11am till 12.30pm on the 15th of April 2013 . It will coincide with the launch of the second part of Buttle UK’s groundbreaking report on Kinship Care in the UK – which uses 2011 census data to give the most up to date figures available on the scale of the Kinship issue in the UK.
Glasgow Kinship support groups have responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the proposed Kinship Order suggested in the Children and Young People Bill. The responses point out the need to address the discrimination that currently exists against children in Kinship Care and ensure that more, not less, children in Kinship Care are able to access support, services and allowances to provide the very basics to the vulnerable children in their care. The responses highlight that:
* Access to the proposed Order and allowances, support and benefits that should come with it must be available to non-looked after as well as looked-after children. Services and support must follow the child rather than the placement. (ie no matter what legal order the child is under they still get help if they need it).
* Though there should be the option for more parental rights and less statutory involvement if that’s what the Kinship family want and the child is happy and settled, social work should remain as a support when needed for example with contact time with parents etc.
* The proposed Kinship Order must come with a legal obligation to provide support to the child. This should include financial allowance, psychological and educational services and respite for the kinship carers.
Scottish Kinship Care Alliance 