Your location: Children's hearings response
By: Shelter Scotland Published: October 2008
Shelter Scotland welcomes the opportunity to comment on the proposed reforms to the Children’s Hearings system.
- Children's Hearings response (PDF 81.1 kb)
Summary
- From Shelter’s experience of working with families with children, housing and homelessness departments tend not to be well integrated into children’s services. This can lead to gaps in the services provided to children to meet their needs. The Scottish Government and proposed new body therefore needs to ensure local governments include housing and homelessness services as key partners for providing appropriate support and assistance to meet the needs of vulnerable children and their families involved in Children’s Hearings.
- Shelter agrees children should be able to share their views / information with the Reporter and the Children’s Hearing in the knowledge that it does not have to be shared with their parents. It is important that children are fully aware when sharing information prior to and during the Children’s Hearings that information can be withheld from their parents, as well as what information will be shared with their parents.
- There is a need for better information and support for children and parents before their hearing to help them understand the process and their rights, along with a commitment to use language that is easily understood but not patronising.
- Further measures are needed to make sure children have opportunities to express their views, in ways suited to their abilities and experiences, and that adults involved in the process listen to children’s views and take them seriously. This also requires that children have access to suitable advocacy support when they want it, that they understand what advocacy support entails and that adults also have a clear understanding of the advocacy support role.