2008 signalled
Who Cares? Scotland’s 30th anniversary, marked by
a year of activities on the theme of Celebrating Success
and Challenging Stigma. We ended the year with a
consultation of nearly 200 children and young people looked
after away from home.
Caring about Success – Young People’s Stories captures what
success means to the children and young people
in care we consulted,
both their own and other people’s, and what they aspire to
in the future. Critically, it also explores what they see as
barriers to being successful, what supports they find
helpful and how their achievements are recognised,
celebrated and facilitated. Finally, it describes the advice
they offer to others in care and to adults who can help them
achieve success.
The report
contains key messages about what influences how children and
young people view and experience success; the importance of
family, relationships and mental wellbeing in achieving
success; the need to find ways to promote individual success
in group settings; and the adverse impact of stigma and
other people’s low expectations of children and young people
in care.
Who Cares? Scotland calls for action to build on the
recommendations of other key reports, and to move closer
towards meeting the aspirations in current Scottish
Government policy to help children and young people looked
after away from home achieve their full potential. The
report contains a series of recommendations inviting
different stakeholders to trigger changes needed to help
realise success, including the call for a national
anti-stigma campaign.
