Education and Culture Committee – Inquiry into decision making on whether to take children into care
The committee sought experience from ‘looked after children’ (the term refers to children/young people who are adopted, in kinship care, or ‘looked after at home’ – living with parents, but with social work intervention). To do this, it worked closely with the charity Who Cares? Scotland, drawing on their expertise.
WC?S facilitated two private meetings with young people in Glasgow and Edinburgh, which made a strong impression on MSPs. Towards the end of the inquiry, the committee organised a conference-style event at Parliament, inviting the young people, and also a range of professionals involved in social work and care. Some of the young people opened by performing a short play based on their experiences of being in care which enabled deliberation and learning. Following this, group discussions were held to develop policy recommendations.
Many teams from across the Parliament work together to support committees seeking the lived experiences of people, community groups and organisations across the country to feed into the work that they do to ensure decisions are made that will bring about a benefit to the lives of the people of Scotland.
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