We need to take a children’s rights approach to integration

• Written by: Juliet Harris — Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) — Director
• Published: 17th June 2018

Juliet sets out how working in partnership with children and young people is leading to improvements in health and social care services.

Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) has consistently emphasised the need for a children’s rights approach to be taken to the integration of health and social care. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) sets out the basic human rights that children everywhere have. This includes the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. The UNCRC sets out standards in health care, education and social services which are inherent to the human dignity and development of every child. Through the UK’s ratification of the UNCRC the Scottish Government is obliged to take a children’s rights approach to develop and deliver legislation, policy and practice. As such, the principles and provisions of the UNCRC should be at the heart of the planning, delivery and evaluation of all health and social care services. This is reiterated through the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 which – as well as introducing new requirements for joint planning of children’s services – also places a duty on Integration Joint Boards (IJBs) to report every three years on the steps taken to further children’s rights.

Within integration it has been left to Partnerships to decide whether to include children’s services alongside the minimum requirement to integrate adult services.  Twenty Partnerships have chosen to delegate children’s health services, of which eleven have delegated some of their children’s social care services.  There is wide variation as to what services have been delegated – even if children’s health services have been delegated, some Partnerships have only delegated school nursing, whereas other have delegated all functions.  Regardless of whether a Partnership has opted to include children’s services, integration care has a significant impact on children in many ways.

It’s obvious that changes made to the planning or delivery of children’s health and social care services are likely to impact on the children’s rights.  However, it’s important to remember that changes to adult services can also have a significant impact on children and young people, particularly those who have a parent, guardian or other family member who accesses health and/or social care services.  Research published in 2015 highlighted four specific groups of children who were most likely to be affected by the integration of adult health and social care: young people transitioning to adult services, young carers, young people leaving care, and children whose parents use adult services.  Together’s 2017 State of Children’s Rights report reflected on several initiatives being taken forward by IJBs that support the rights of these children and young people.

One case study explores how integration can impact on care experienced young people as they leave care.  Throughcare services provided by local authorities usually include personal, social and emotional support, health services, social security advice, accommodation and tenancy support, practical skills training and education and employment support.  The Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) has been working with Who Cares? Scotland to develop an e-learning module for use by up to 9,000 professionals across Glasgow, from various services including children and families, criminal justice, homelessness and adults and older people.   The Partnership set up a Corporate Parenting Steering Group, made up of representatives from across social and health services, who all worked collaboratively with a Corporate Parenting Officer from Who Cares? Scotland.  In line with Article 12 of the UNCRC, every element of the module was discussed, reviewed and edited collaboratively with children and young people who informed and influenced the work.  The resulting training module is mandatory for all professionals in the partnership.

“Each partner was able to offer insights into the range of work that happens with care experienced young people across the city, and the combination of that shared knowledge has led the group to produce a very informative, engaging and valuable module that will benefit all of our staff. This piece of work has been a highlight of recent times because it started from a shared desire to create something that would do justice to the principles of Corporate Parenting for our young people.” Principal Officer for Learning and Development at Glasgow City Council.

Another example being taken forward by GCHSCP is an initiative with Families Outside to raise awareness of the impact of imprisonment on families.  The project explores how the Glasgow and North Strathclyde Community Justice Authority and practitioners can support families and includes multi-agency training sessions.  The training materials were developed with children and young people affected by family imprisonment and explore the challenges they face.  Children and young people spoke about their experiences of stigma and how this can be a barrier to them accessing support.  Health and social care professionals that have taken part in the training have said that it really increases their knowledge and understanding of the issues faced by children and young people affected by imprisonment and enables them to change their practice. Because of the initiative the Partnership has strengthened networks with a range of practitioners.  These networks have provided Families Outside with the opportunity to increase awareness of the support available to families and professionals and, importantly, to voice the needs and experiences of children affected by imprisonment.

Examples such as these show the value of taking a children’s rights approach to integration.  Whilst these are just two examples, there are many more promising areas of work across Scotland through which children and young people are involved in the planning, delivery and evaluation of health and social care services and consulted in relation to any decisions affecting them.  It’s clear that many Partnerships understand that involving children and young people is more than just a statutory duty – most importantly, it’s the right thing to do and improves the experience of health and social care services for children and their families.

Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights) can be found on Twitter at @together_sacr (this link will take you away from our website).

Juliet’s Opinion is part of the ALLIANCE’s ‘We Need To Talk About Integration’ anthology which is available at the link below.

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