Blog entries

Blog to mark the 10th anniversary of the CLA

w_hull@hotmail.co.uk — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:07:28 +0100

To mark the 10th anniversary of the CLA, we will be holding our annual event in London on the 13th November 2010.

This year we are hoping to hold a bigger event than usual. As part of this, we plan to invite along some speakers and also, to hold workshops on issues that care leavers are interested in. We think this will help people find out more about the CLA and the work we do, but it will alsRead More...

Access to Records Made Easier: Updated CLA Guide

victoria@careleavers.com — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:56:20 +0100

The CLA has recently updated its guide to accessing childhood care records. The aim of the guide is to help care leavers who are trying to gain access to their files from their time in care. It explains what the law says about accessing files of these kind, what you are entitled to see, what you are not and what to do if you think your request has not been dealt with properly.

Hopefully, the new guide will be more reader-friendly and easier to follow but we would like your feedback on tRead More...

Care Leavers' Keep In Touch Events: Your Views

victoria@careleavers.com — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:45:10 +0100

On Monday, Zachari and Jim held a 'keep in touch' meeting for care leavers in Glasgow. It was well-attended, with people travelling from as far afield as Edinburgh and Perth. It was an informal gathering, for a few hours, in a cafe in central Glasgow and gave people a chance to meet with other care leavers and find out more about the CLA. The age of the people there ranged from 18 to mid 60's.

In October, Will held a 'keep in touch' event in London, which also had a great turn-out and hRead More...

Australia Apologises to 'Forgotten Children'

victoria@careleavers.com — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:09:46 +0100

On Sunday 16th November 2009, Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, delivered an apology to the child migrants and thousands of Australian orphans who were abused in care in Australia as children.

It was also announced by the British Government that Gordon Brown would apologise for the programmes that sent hundreds of thousands of British children to Australia, Canada and other Commonwealth nations.

Read more about this story here: Australian Apology

John Goldup's Appointment as Social Care Director at OFSTED - Have Your Say

victoria@careleavers.com — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:32:06 +0100

Phil Frampton, a member of the CLA and former Chair, has written the following article calling on OFSTED to rescind John Goldup's appointment as Social Care Director. The reason behind this is that Mr Goldup held a senior position at Islington Council's Children's Services department during the 1980s and 1990s. The department was later criticised in a series of official reports, after whistleblowers revealed that a child sex ring had operated throughout Islington’s care hRead More...

Should more babies be taken into care?

victoria@careleavers.com — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 11:01:01 +0100

Over the weekend, Martin Narey, Chief Executive at Barnardo's made a statement in which he called for more children to be taken into care as babies from "families who can't be fixed" in order to prevent them from being harmed.

Narey, who is a former director general of the Prison Service, made the comments in a response to last week's court case involving two young brothers from Doncaster who viciously attacked an 11-year-old boy and his nine-year-old nephew. Read mRead More...

Should a conviction for conspiracy to commit murder prevent someone from being a social worker?

victoria@careleavers.com — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:35:03 +0100

That is the hot question in the media and in the social care blogging sphere this week.

The question centres around the case of Lynda Barnes, a child protection social worker from Bath and North East Somerset Council, who was convicted of conspiring to murder her husband.

Barnes' former conviction became public recently when her professional practice and conduct was severely criticised during a child protection case. In 1995, Barnes met with a hiRead More...

Public opposition to the opening of a children's home - Have your say

victoria@careleavers.com — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

The following story recently featured in Children &Young People Now magazine. Apparently, some councillors and members of the public were concerned about a children's home opening in their midst.

I experienced something similar whilst in care, when residents in my local area launched a (fairly offensive) campaign to try to prevent a children's home opening on their road. In the end the home opened, without problem.

To me, Mr Blatchford's comment that the 'community is too Read More...