Press Release on Looked After Children

Mike Hedges AM weclomes New plan to help looked after children reach their potential

A new action plan to help looked after children in Wales to fulfil their potential at school and beyond has been launched by the Welsh Labour Government.

Mike Hedges said… I welcome this news for we all have a responsibility to ensure that Looked After Children are supported to achieve their maximum potential. These children who are often in care through no fault of their own, deserve every opportunity to flourish. In addition to this it is good news that there is extra support for foster carers and family members as part of this package.

Raising the ambitions and educational attainment of children who are looked after in Wales’, which is jointly led by Welsh Labour’s Education Minister, Huw Lewis and Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford,  identifies key areas in which the Welsh Labour Government and its partners will work to better support  children in  care in achieving better academic success.

While the primary focus is on supporting looked after children of compulsory school age, the strategy also looks at supporting children as they make the often tricky transition from school to further education, higher education and employment. The strategy sets out how the Welsh Labour Government and its partners will:

• Raise educational      aspirations and attainment of looked after children and the ability of those      who care for them (i.e. foster carers) to support their educational      development;
• Reinforce collective      accountability for looked after children and effective leadership across      the Welsh Government, regional education consortia, local authorities,      schools  and further and higher education institutions;
• Make education a      priority and point of focus and stability for looked after children,      especially during periods of upheaval and uncertainty
• Ensure necessary      support is in place to enable positive life and career choices and reduce      the chances of looked after children entering the youth justice system;
• Identify data to aid      practice, policy making and monitoring of educational outcomes, and
• Ensure excellent      practice is identified, promoted and shared wherever it exists.

The strategy is supported by a detailed action plan and the Welsh Labour Government will monitor delivery against the plan on an annual basis. It can be found here.