the pinky

promise
1
 What is this
report about?
In October 2016, Scotland’s
First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon,
promised care experienced
people that Scotland would do
better. She said Scotland would
come together and love its most
vulnerable children and give
them the childhood they deserve.

To figure out how to do this, she said

the Independent Care Review should
be set up.

The Care Review had to hear everyone’s

voices. It needed to hear from the children
and families who knew the ‘care system’
best – the people who had experienced it.

2
 So for three years, between February
2017 and February 2020, the Care Review
travelled all across Scotland to listen
really carefully to over 5,500 people.

More than half of these people were children

and adults who had been ‘in care’. They told
the Care Review what needed to change.

Lots of families also spoke to the Care

Review about their experiences. So did the
people who worked in the ‘care system’.

Everything the Care Review did was based

on what it heard. Everything you read in
this report is based on what it heard.

Scotland already has a promise that

children grow up loved, safe and respected.
The Care Review heard this does not always
happen. That needs to change.

3
4
 Scotland’s
Promise
The Care Review heard that
Scotland needs to change how
it cares for children.

The Care Review has taken

everything it heard and organised
it into different groups. Each of
these groups tells Scotland how
it can better care for children.
The Care Review calls these
groups the ‘Foundations’.

5
● Voice: When children speak, adults
must really listen to them. Adults must
make sure that children are included in
decisions about their lives.

● Family: If children are living with their

family and are safe and feel loved, they
should stay there. Their family should
be given all the help they need to stay
together. If they need extra help when
things get difficult, they should get it.

● Care: If children cannot stay with the

adults in their family, they will stay with
their brothers and sisters. The home
they live in together will be a place where
they feel safe and loved. It should be their
home for as long as they want and need
it to be.

● People: Relationships are important.

Adults must make sure children are
able to stay close to the people they
want to and keep in contact with them.
Adults must also help children make new
relationships as they grow up. Sometimes
adults need some help too. The adults
who are close to children must get the
help they need to make sure they can
do their best for children.

● Scaffolding: Help and support must be

there for children and families whenever
they need it. It must also be there for
the adults who are close to children
and families. It is important everyone
knows where to go for help and that
it is ready when it is asked for. 6
 Voice
When children speak, adults
must really listen to them.
Adults must make sure that
children are included in
decisions about their lives.

7
 Children should be able to bring the people
they trust into the places where decisions
about them are made and people should
listen to what they say too.

The Care Review heard from lots of children

and families that they had not been listened to.
This made them feel like other people’s opinions
about their lives were often more important
than theirs.

People who work with children and families told

the Care Review how difficult these decisions
are, and that often they were also not heard.

That needs to change.

Scotland must make sure that all decisions

are based on what children want and need.
That means that organisations and people
who make decisions need to change the way
they think and how they listen to children.

It is important that the right information

is shared at the right time and that those
close to children are heard.

What needs to happen to protect the

relationships that are important to children
should always be part of the decision.

Children who have lived in the ‘care system’

told the Care Review that they want to be
loved but have often not felt they were.
That needs to change too.

8
 Scotland does not need rules about love.
Love is not about rules. What is really
important is that children are loved and
feel loved. Children said that they want
the relationships that are important to
them to be protected and allowed to grow.

The Care Review heard that children felt

that other people had too much control
over the information about their lives.

Children and young people must own

their stories so that they can be in charge of
what people know and when they know it.

The Care Review has helped with

developing some digital tools that can help
with how information is shared safely.
Scotland must continue with that work.

9
 The Care Review heard from many
people who look after and help children.
They said they often did not know when
they were allowed to share what they knew.
They were also confused about who they
were allowed to share what they knew with.
When information was shared, people told
the Care Review it was not always listened
to. That must change.

It’s not just people who look after

children that need to listen better – it is
organisations and the Scottish Government
too. People with power need to keep
listening to children, so that Scotland should
never have to do a Care Review again.

The Care Review heard a lot about The

Children’s Hearings System with many
children and families sharing that they
found Hearings very difficult.

The Children’s Hearings System needs

to change. The focus of the system must
be the children and families who appear
before it.

Scotland must make sure it protects the

legal rights of children, especially when
they are making decisions about brothers
and sisters. Children must know when
decisions are being made about their
brothers and sisters.
10
 The Care Review heard that children are
not always able to make their voices heard
at Hearings for lots of reasons. Children
must always be heard at Hearings and if
they need help to make their views heard
they must get that.

Sometimes the wrong decisions can be

made. When this happens, children must
know who to speak to have this looked into
and they must get the help they need to
make sure this happens.

At the moment it is only children who have

to go to Hearings. Scotland needs to think
very hard about whether Local Authorities,
families and social workers also need to be
made to go to Hearings. This would mean
everyone who is told at a Hearing to do
something, knows they have to do it and
can make sure it happens.

The Care Review heard from children and

young people who had been in difficulty
with the police. Sometimes, this had been
made much harder that it needed to be.
Most children and young people need to
have their case dealt with by The Children’s
Hearings System. The Sheriff Court is not
the right place for children.

11
 Scotland relies on volunteers to make
decisions at Hearings. The Care Review
heard that this meant things did not
always work as well as they should.
Scotland must look at other options.

Scotland must make sure The Children’s

Hearings System supports children and
families early so that decisions aren’t rushed.

12
 Family
If children are living with their
family and are safe and feel loved,
they should stay there. Their family
should be given all the help they
need to stay together. If they
need extra help when things get
difficult, they should get it.

The Care Review heard from lots of children

and families who said that the help they
get at the moment is not enough. They
sometimes feel like they are being judged.
Some families need more help than others.
This is ok. No one should make anyone feel
bad for asking for help.

13
 The Care Review heard from children and
families who believed they could have
stayed together if they had been given
more help when they needed it. They felt
that sometimes help had come too late.

There must be more support for all

families so that Scotland really helps
families thrive together.

Every community in Scotland needs to

have places where families can go to make
friends and get help if they need it.

The Care Review heard how difficult it is for

families who are worried about not having
enough money to live on. Families told the
Care Review they had often had to make
very hard choices because there was not
enough money.

Scotland must work harder so every family

has enough money to live on.

The Care Review heard a lot about mental

health and how difficult it is to get help.
That must change. Children and families
should not have to wait so long to get the
help they need.

There must be more help ready for all

families if and when they need it. Even if
children are taken away from their families,
that family must still get the help they need.

14
 The Care Review listened to what all
families need. Families said they need:

● help to be near to where they live:

Help should be where families are.
It should be in their communities
and close to where they live.

● help to be there when it is needed:

Help must not only be there Monday
to Friday between 9 in the morning
and 5 at night. Help must be there when
families need it. This can be at any time
of day and on any day of the week.

● people to understand what they are

good at: The people that help families
must listen to families to understand
what is already working well, not just
what isn’t.

● more control over their lives:

Children and their families must have
a say about the people who help them.
Relationships are important and it is
important children and families like
and trust the people who help them.

15
● help to change when their needs
change: Families need different things
at different times. Sometimes things
are hard and sometimes they get better.
Help must change too. Families must be
able to say what they need and then get
the help they need to make it happen.
Sometimes that will mean help looks
different and that is ok.

● help for whole families: The whole

family must get the help they need.
If only one person is getting help,
everyone else will still be finding it hard.

● help to understand their stories:

People in families might have had bad
things happen to them in the past. They
might still find it hard to do some things
because of this. Help should not just
focus on what is hard right now, it has
to also understand why it is hard.

16
 ● not to feel judged: People who help
families must think about how families
feel. They must not use words that are
hard to understand. They must not turn
up in cars with organisations’ names
on them and they must not wear name
badges. These sorts of things make
children and families stand out as
different. Everyone needs some help at
some point. Children and families who
are getting help are not different and
must not be made to feel like they are.

● help to be there as long as it is

needed: Help must be there for as long
as a family needs it. It is ok for a family
to stop needing help and then need it
again later.

● help to make sure children get what

they need: Children have legal rights
and entitlements. Help must always be
based on legal rights and entitlements
to make sure children and their families
get them without having to ask.

17
18
 Care
If children cannot stay with the
adults in their family, they will
stay with their brothers and
sisters. The home they live in
together will be a place where
they feel safe and loved. It should
be their home for as long as they
want and need it to be.

19
 The Care Review heard from lots of children
who felt loved. But many others said they
did not feel loved.

Scotland must make sure everyone who looks

after children knows that the most important
thing they do is to love and care for them.

Wherever children live, in kinship families,

foster families, adoptive families, residential
care or secure care, they should feel loved
and cared for.

20
 If children are taken away from their
families, Scotland must make sure:

children’s rights are met: Children have

legal rights and entitlements. It is not up
to children and families to make sure the
people who help them know about these.
It is up to the people who look after children
to know about these rights and entitlements
and to make sure they happen.

children do not move home lots

of times: The Care Review has heard from
lots of children that they have moved about
a lot. That has to stop.

21
Scotland must make sure children live in
places that are safe and caring with people
who love them. Children should not be
moved about. They should stay in one place
so they can make friends and go to the
same school right through their childhood.

Scotland must not move children about.

This is very important. If Scotland has done
its best but a child does have to move,
they must know what is happening, why it is
happening and when it will happen. Children
must be given lots of time to meet the new
people they will be living with and get used
to the new place they will live. This should
never happen in a hurry. Children must be
able to stay in touch with people that are
important to them and take everything with
them that they need and love.

children are able to keep relationships

that are important to them: Children
have lots of important relationships, with
their family, with their brothers and sisters,
with friends and with people they have lived
with. These relationships are important and
Scotland must make sure that children are
able to keep in touch with all the people
they want to.

22
 children have help to understand
their story: When children are not able
to live with their family it can be very hard
to understand why. It can feel very sad
and upsetting. Children must be given lots
of help to understand what has happened
and how it feels.

children get all the help they need

to learn and grow: The Care Review has
heard what a special place schools can
be for children and how important the
relationships they have at school are to
them. These relationships are important
to making sure children can do their best
at school.

Children must get all they need to learn and

to thrive and support for the relationships
that help them achieve.

children have someone to turn to:

The most important thing children need is
to know that someone who cares for them
has got their back. Children need to know
they have someone they can trust who will
help them when things get hard. All of the
people in Scotland who care for children
need to know being a very good trusted
friend is the most worthwhile thing they
can do.

23
24
 children are always treated fairly:
The Care Review has heard from lots of
children, young people and people who
work with them about being restrained.
Lots of children told the Care Review
how scary, embarrassing and painful
restraint is. The Review has been told
of restraint being used not to keep
children safe, but as a punishment.

Scotland must work hard to stop

restraint happening.

Everyone who works with children needs

to be supported to cope with situations
that can be difficult, but restraining children
often does not help.

25
 children understand what is being
said: Children told the Care Review they
do not like a lot of the words that are
used to describe them, their families and
their homes. These words, like ‘contact’ to
describe seeing their mum and ‘units’ to
describe where they live, are very different
to the words everyone else uses to describe
families and homes.

Being spoken about like this makes

children feel bad and does not help children
feel good about themselves. Scotland must
stop using these words.

Children told the Care Review that ‘respite’

was one of those words that made them
feel different. Children said it was often
used when they were being sent away so
their carers could go on holiday. Children
told the Care Review they did not always
know where they were going or who was
going to look after them.

Scotland needs to stop using the word

‘respite.’ If children go away for a short
break, they should get to choose who they
spend their time with. It should be a time
of treats and fun with people they know
and enjoy spending time with.

26
 children are helped to be healthy:
The Care Review heard a lot about how
people who have been looked after
away from their families do not always
have good health.

Scotland must make sure people who

look after children know that teaching
healthy habits and noticing changes in
their health is a really important part of
caring for children.

children do not get into trouble with

the police: The Care Review knows that
children who are looked after away from
parents are currently more likely to come
into contact with the police, even though
they’re not doing anything different to other
children and teenagers. That needs to stop.

Everyone who looks after children or who

has contact with children needs to know
that getting them in trouble with the police
and courts does not help them (or their
communities) and can have a big impact
on their future.

27
 children from other countries are
looked after: The Care Review heard from
children who had come to live in Scotland
from places overseas that were not safe
for them. Sometimes horrible things had
happened to them and they had a really
hard journey to get to Scotland.

Scotland must make sure those children are

cared for and they get everything they need.

when children become adults,

help does not stop: The Care Review
heard that becoming an adult often felt
scary and confusing. Adults told the Care
Review that they seemed to get less and
less help as they got older. They did not
feel ready to become adults or able to do
all the things adults have to do.

Young people who Scotland cares for must

be able to get help for as long as they need
it. It is ok to not need help for a while and
then need it again. This is ok even if help
has not been needed for years. It does not
matter what age you are or what help you
need, help must be there and adults must
know how to get it.

28
 People
Relationships are important.
Adults must make sure children
are able to stay close to the
people they want to and keep in
contact with them. Adults must
also help children make new
relationships as they grow up.
Sometimes adults need some
help too. The adults who are close
to children must get the help
they need to make sure they can
do their best for children.

The Care Review heard from lots of

people who have chosen a job working
with children, young people and families
because they value helping people.

29
 Many told the Care Review how much they
love the children and young people that
they care for or work with, but that they
feel frustrated and anxious when they try
to do the right thing and the rules do not
let them. They often feel overwhelmed.

Scotland must make sure the people who

work with children and their families get all
the help they need to do the best job they can.

They must have proper time to think about

whether they are doing a good job and talk
to people about their work. People who
work with children must know that they can
be themselves and be natural. They must
not behave in too formal a way. Children
want to have real, genuine relationships
with those around them.

People who are leaders must make sure

they are behaving in a way they expect
people close to children and families to
behave. Leaders must be the best leaders
they can be.

Doing the same job as someone else does

not mean you do it in exactly the same way.
It is important that children and families get
the help they need no matter who is giving
them it.

30
 Scaffolding
Help and support must be
there for children and their
families whenever they need it.
It must also be there for the
adults who are close to children
and their families.

31
It is important everyone knows where to
go for help and that it is ready when it is
asked for.

The Care Review heard that care can feel

confusing and complicated. Children and
families do not always get the help they
need and sometimes get forgotten about.
That needs to change.

Everything needs to be much simpler so

that children and families know what is
happening and they can get what they
need when they need it.

It is important that everyone is listening

to children and families, understanding
what they need and working out how to
make sure it happens. What is important
to children and families should also be
important to the people who help.

32
 So what next?
The Care Review listened carefully
to figure out what has to change.

Now Scotland must make this

change happen.

33
The Care Review has produced some other
reports to help with this change.

The Plan shows Scotland how it can make

sure that these things happen.

The Money shows Scotland how it can

invest to make sure children and families
thrive and The Rules show how complicated
today’s rules are and what needs to change.

34
 Designed and produced by www.StudioLR.com

“We grow up loved, safe,

and respected so that we
realise our full potential.”
Scotland’s Ambition for children and young people