Children share experiences of life in the care system

By Janaki MahadevanTuesday, 15 November 2011

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The importance that children in care place on relationships and routines are among the insights revealed in 100 personal diary entries published by the children's rights director.

Children in care wrote diaries for a week. Image: Office of the Children's Rights Director

Dr Roger Morgan has published the diary notes of 23 children who are in care, leaving care or living in boarding schools or residential special schools.
The young volunteers filled a diary for a week, with 100 accounts recorded in the report. One 11-year-old wrote: "Foster care isn’t as bad as people say it is because I always thought I would die if I came into care but I loved it. Some days weren’t good, but others were the best days of my life.

"The sad thing about being in care is when it comes up to Mother's Day or Father's Day but if you see them then that isn’t as bad but even if you don’t you can get your foster carers something as they are like your mum and dad."

In children’s homes, a lot was written about food and cooking together, a theme that was also prevalent in other settings. One 14-year-old wrote: "We had tea then me and Chris baked cakes and we really enjoyed ourselves. We spent 30 minutes preparing time, 30 minutes cooking time, 15 minutes cooling time and 30 minutes decorating time. Then I tidied up and went to bed at 10."
Among the noted experiences of children in secure units were friends leaving and instances of restraint. One 15-year-old wrote: "Lock down! We didn’t have enough members of staff to deal with all 11 of us – so breakfast in bed for us... Annie left today – she’s been in secure for 18 months – I gave her a hug and she broke down in tears, I’m going to miss her."
Morgan said the diary entries gave "a clear insight" into the lives of children in the care system.
"As the diary entries have not been amended we can understand clearly the emotions, thoughts and concerns of the children and young people, and the children speak for themselves," he said.
"When reading the diary entries it is clear there are some recurring themes, such as relationships between children, the experience of living in a group, the importance of staff support, food and routines. Some of those in care wrote about the impact it had on their lives and some offered advice to other children if they ever found themselves being placed in care."