A ground breaking new project, giving young people who have been in care a chance to inspect local authority children’s services will be launched tomorrow, Wednesday 6 June at the House of Commons.
The LILAC (Leading Improvements for Looked-After Children) project trains care-experienced young people to inspect statutory, voluntary and independent children’s services - particularly looking at how young people are involved in key decision making processes including their choice of school and their placement. The inspections are based on standards that the young people themselves have devised. Services that meet the agreed standards will be awarded the LILAC kite mark to recognise their good practice in participation.
The LILAC project has been successfully piloted at York City Council and West Sussex County Council. The evaluation of the pilot inspections highlights that looked-after children and young people are more willing to open up and share truths with care-experienced inspectors.
LILAC was initiated by A National Voice (ANV). It has been managed by the Fostering Network with support from the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the National Leaving Care Advisory Service (NCLAS).
Speaking about the project, LILAC project co-ordinator and Chair of A National Voice, Lucinda Smith, said:
"When I was in care the local authority involved me very closely including in the decision to choose my foster carers, as a result my placement was really successful. However, I know from talking to other people that I was very lucky and that lots of children in care don’t always have such positive experiences. I wanted to help improve the system and believe the LILAC project will do this.
"The pilot inspections have shown us that care-experienced young people have much to offer in assessing and supporting the development of a service’s planning, reviewing, complaints and participation procedures. The young people involved have been fully trained and developed a robust framework of standards to inspect against. Now we’re looking to take LILAC forward and role it out at a national level but to enable us to do this we need the government to invest further in the scheme."
Chief Executive of the Fostering Network, Robert Tapsfield, said:
"Children and young people in care have the right to be heard, to influence how services are delivered and to take part in decision making - their futures depend on the services they receive and they are the experts on these services. LILAC provides the means for young people in care to have a real influence over the services that affect their lives. With the LILAC project, inspectors will act as advocates and champions of looked-after children - ensuring their views make a difference and change services for the better."
Chair of SCIE, Allan Bowman, said:
"It is vital that children’s services actively involve the young people who use them in their development. Although this has increased in the last few years, some services only consult on one aspect – ticking the participation ‘box’ but not necessarily developing as a result. The LILAC kite mark of approval will encourage services to raise their game – spreading the messages of good practice and involvement. "
The report from the LILAC pilot project will be launched at Portcullis House by David Kidney MP on 6 June. For more information about the LILAC project and to download the LILAC report visit LILAC.
Media contacts
Claire Dickinson, Media and Communications Officer, the Fostering Network, on 020 7620 6441 or email media@fostering.net.
Annie Goss, Media and Communications Officer, SCIE, on 020 7089 7117 or email media@scie.org.uk.