Children’s Commissioner submits report to United Nations on rights of care-experienced children

Date: 8th July 2021
Category: Family Environment and Alternative Care

---

The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland (CYPCS) has submitted a report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ahead of 2021’s Day of General Discussion on Alternative Care. The submission focuses on the challenges to human rights faced by care-experienced children and young people and those at risk of entering care in Scotland.

The report finds that the current alternative care system in Scotland is not sufficiently rights-based and consequently, care-experienced young people face multiple barriers to their human rights.

Barriers include separation of siblings due to limited resources or placements for siblings, insufficient sibling contact, and inadequate access to necessary supports, including for their mental health.

The Commissioner has met with many care-experienced young people, who have consistently told him of feeling unloved, living in uncertainty, and being moved before feeling ready, not being listened to, and not knowing or understanding their human rights and how to access them. Other concerns they have raised include the age of leaving care, poor understanding from some professionals of care entitlements, being in conflict with the law due to the low age of criminal responsibility, access to education, healthcare, and housing.

To read the full CYPCS submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child click here.