We promise that we will…
- Allocate you a qualified social worker as soon as you become looked-after and make sure you always know how to contact your social worker (or the Emergency Duty Team out of hours)
- Make sure you have access to the Children’s Rights Service so you know what your rights are whilst you’re in care and who to contact if you need to know more or want to complain
- Make sure you can see your social worker at least once a month if you want to. We’ll try not to change your social worker if it’s not necessary unless you request it and make sure your social worker speaks to you alone during every visit
- Make sure you know why you are in care
- Make sure you have an up-to-date agreed care plan or pathway plan, that it is reviewed every 6 months and that it has involved you, your wishes and your feelings
- Make sure you have a copy of your plan, make sure it is in language you understand and that you are happy with it
- Make sure your social worker talks to your parents when making plans for you and ensure a family placement is always the 1st thought
- Keep you with your brothers and sisters unless it’s not safe
- Make sure you can stay in touch and have safe, planned, supervised contact, if appropriate, with your family
- Do our best to offer you information about a choice of placements
- Make sure you get enough support if you are returning home to live with your parents
- Make sure the children’s residential homes are as much as possible like a family home
- Help you develop an awareness of risk and let you take reasonable risks in a safe and supported environment
- Move you onto adult services if you need them when you are 18
- Give you information about personal safety and boundaries
- Get you an independent advocate if you need something stopped, started or changed in your life
- Offer you an Independent Visitor so you have someone you know you can rely on and always be able to talk to them
- Make sure you have life work books to record your memories of your time in care
If you feel any part of this Pledge is not working or that the council hasn’t kept these promises for you then you can contact the Children’s Rights Service on 01482 396828 or email rights4u@eastriding.gov.uk and we will come out and see you if this is what you want. We can try to help you find out why this has happened and make sure things change for you.