The document describes a young person's experience transitioning to and living in a care home over the course of a year. In the first few months, they struggled with changes and behavioral issues, but the caring staff helped them adjust. After a year, they were attending college, cooking meals, doing activities as rewards, and considered the care home their home.

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Home is the place your heart resides
Home is the place that you decide
Home is the womb that holds the soul
Home is the place where one is whole
Home is the glow you hold in your eye
Home is the emotion that makes you cry
Home is safe and a place of peace
Home is where all strivings cease
Home is protective against the others
Home is full of sisters and brothers
Home is where you find your rest
Home is where you feel your best
Home is a memory that follows your being
Home is a dream for those that follows your being
Home is a dream for those agreeing
Home is the place where reserves fall
Home is where the family meets
Home is a place of restful retreats
Home is the place you know you’ll be heard
Home is the place where nothing blurs
Home is all these wonderful things
Home is the place you develop wings
Home is the place that you’ll find one day
Home is the place where you heart will stay

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On my first day when I arrived at my care home, my carer from my old
home drove me here. I met my key worker and the manager. They
showed me around, I had a meeting with my social worker and I got to
know the place. I was feeling very scared, upset and a bit freaked out,
but after a bit I was fine because they were really friendly to me. They
helped me unpack my clothes and belongings then they gave me a tour
of the house. We also went to play football outside with staff. They took
me outside for cigarettes break and also encouraged me to quit smoking.
In the first month I met a lot of staff and the directors of the care home.
There were a lot of meetings and new things to get used to — like the
house and even the daily routine. We tried to sort out family contact, I
went on some activities and really got to know the staff. I struggled with
the change and got really angry— I remember I was too badly behaved to
go on activities or get into education and I kept breaking all my
belongings.
In my first 6 months I was getting worse with my behaviour because I did-
n’t want any help and I was always angry, but they didn’t give up on me
like the staff at the other home did. And that made a big difference. Also
staff helped me quit smoking so I could be fitter to do more sports.
After a year I’m now in college doing a Catering course three days week. I
plan my own meals on a weekly basis and sometimes I cook a meal for
the staff and I. I know how to use a washing machine and dryer and I am
ticking things off my ILP (Independent Living Plan). As a reward, I do a lot
of activities like horse riding and I even joined a boxing club. I see my
family every 1-2 months. I haven’t been restrained in the last year and I
get on really well with every member of staff. Now I class this as my
home and I really can’t think of anywhere I would rather
be.

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“Despite what people think, kids don’t always
come into care because they are bad. In fact,
in my experience, care is what happens to kids
whose parents aren’t up to the job”.
The first step into care is easily the scariest for
everyone, not just you. When I got put into a care
home, it was because my foster care placement
broke down and it was an emergency placement. I
was terrified and didn’t really know anything about
care homes like most kids don’t. But it ain’t as scary
as it seems. It will be hard to adjust without your
family. But in most care homes, they will try as hard
as they can to make you feel safe and welcome. And
hopefully this booklet should answer your questions
and fears about the care system.

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‘A bully is a person who uses his strength or power to hurt
or frighten or intimidate others’
Every care home operates a zero tolerance on bullying and they
will do everything to ensure that the young people have the right
to live , learn and work in a safe environment free from
victimisation and fear .
Both staff and young people have a responsibility to ensure that
bullying does not take place and if it does that it is recorded and
dealt with immediately. If you feel that you are being bullied you
must tell a member of staff in your home straight away so that
they can deal with it as soon a possible
If you are ever found bullying, staff will inform your social worker
and they will arrange a meeting to see what action will be taken
This meeting will be as soon as possible as bullying is taken very
seriously .

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Straight when you go into a care home they will try
and find you a school or college placement and if
that’s not possible they will make sure you have some
form of education, such as home tutoring or teaching
by some of the staff. My experience with this is - I was
a child who was kicked out of many schools when I
was young so no schools would take me in. They
provided a home tutor but they still kept looking for a
education placement and eventually found a private
college that worked with kids that got kicked out of
school. I did Sports and Music and even for a short
time Game Design. Now I’m in college doing a catering
course and doing really well, so don’t get worried—
they will try their hardest to get you in a education
placement because they always have your best
interests at heart .

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There are quite a lot of meetings such as education
meetings, Looked After Children (LAC) meetings,
health and wellbeing , health assessments and
social worker meetings. Your social worker will be
at every meeting and she will come and see you
every 6 weeks to check you’re okay and talk
through any problems you might have about
yourself or the care home. Your carers will be there
and they will have reports about your behaviour
and talk about how you are doing in the care home
and activities in your “free
time”

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As a young person you are entitled to certain rights which should
always be available to you:
 The right to be protected from harm.
 The right to be able to express your wishes and feelings in the
knowledge that your concerns.
 The right to be given information about your family and other
important people, and the right to have contact or an explanation
of why if this is not possible.
 The right to be told clearly what you are not allowed to do.
 The right not to be discriminated against for any reason.
 The right to education and health care that suits your needs.
 The right to opportunities to develop your skills and interests.
 The right to be encouraged to participate in making decisions and
plans for your future.
 The right to know how to complain if things go wrong and for your
complaint to be dealt with properly.

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If you need to make a complaint about
anything, don’t ever be scared to speak up and
put your points and views across to the staff at
your care home ,who will inform your manager
or your social worker. If you feel that it isn't
getting taken seriously, you can contact Roger
Morgan—Head of Children's Rights for Ofsted.
His number will be on the back of this booklet,
but go through the staff, manager and social
worker because they should take the complaint
seriously. So don’t be scared to make a
complaint if you feel the need to.

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In most care homes they have 4 different types of
staff—there are bank staff that work when they
are needed. There are support staff that will work
on a normal rota. There are senior support staff
that will overlook any decisions that need to be
made about you and the care home, and there is
a manager who will normally work 9-5 and they
are the people who you can talk to about any
problems and about anything—they will help and
support you almost all the time . And all the staff
in care homes work together to make a great care
team which will help and support you.

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Normally you will have two keyworkers. Keyworkers are
staff that will support a little bit more than all the other
staff and they are people you can go to have “key work
sessions”. Key work sessions are little chats about how
you are getting on in and out of the care home like
family issues, bullying, requests and any other issues
that are bothering you. If you don’t get on with your
keyworker, you can request a change with your manager
or staff and they will appoint a new one. I have a key-
worker who I have got along with for about 2 years now
and we have a lot of key work sessions. Every time you
have a planned or unplanned key work session, your
keyworker will record this and ask you to read it to see if
it’s ok with you. We have arguments but we get through
them.

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Growing up in care isn't that bad. Where I am I class
them as my family because I’ve been there for so
long— hopefully you will too in your care placement.
The care system isn't easy to grow up in though
because you’re obviously going to miss your family
loads and your friends, but hopefully the pain will pass
and you will start getting used to life in care—it ain’t all
that bad. You get pocket money, clothing money and
other types of money - it depends on your care home.
There are a lot of rules in care homes but they are all
in your favour really because if you follow them you
should be fine and get rewarded for good behaviour.

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You may wish to go to church or temple to worship or
celebrate festivals. They will make sure that you are
able to observe and practice your culture or your
religion . This might mean that you need the correct
food to eat or clothes to wear .
When you first arrive in your care home, your
keyworker should go through this with you and ask you
if you follow any religion. If you do, they should also ask
you if need any special types of clothes and the
correct foods.

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In my care home they call it “free time”, but at
first I was out of my area so I had to make
friends from school and college and “free
time” was earned. At first I was only allowed 1
hour on my own in the local town, but now I’m
always out on free time. Your carers will want
you to meet friends but you have to
understand—this takes time and not everyone
is entitled to free time because of different
needs. If you’re allowed they will encourage
you to make friends and have a good time
while you are in care.

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Hello, my name's Liam and I am 19. I want
to tell my story so that I can show that
people's idea of teenagers in care isn't
always right.
Despite what people think, kids don’t always come into care
because they are bad. In fact, in my experience, care is what
happens to kids whose parents aren’t up to the job.
I have never met my mum. She left my dad when I was very
young. To be honest, I don’t really know what happened. She
was very young when she had me – she was only 18 – and she
suffered from mental health problems.
A long stretch
My dad brought me up for the first few years of my life, but
when I was six he got into trouble with the police and ended
up going to jail. I don’t really want to go into the details, but
he got quite a long sentence which meant that I was put into a
long-term foster placement.
Even though I found it really difficult to begin with, I think care
was a positive experience for me. I was placed with really nice
carers and they looked after me for the whole time I was in
care. They are still there for me now, even though I’m living in
my own place.

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Criminals in waiting
I know that people think kids in care are criminals in waiting. And I
know that because my dad went to jail people expect the same to
happen to me. You know the kind of thing: “oh, it runs in the family…
his dad was no good, so he’s bound to turn out the same.”
To be honest, it’s something that I’ve worried about myself. Whenev-
er you hear people talking about taking after their mum or their dad,
I think to myself well if I’m like my mum I am going to have problems
with my head and if I’m like my dad I’m going to have problems with
the police.
But because of my fantastic carers, I don’t think either of those things
are true. They made me study really hard and made me appreciate
how important school would be. The result is that I left school with
all my GCSEs. I decided not to do A-levels, but started an apprentice-
ship with a builder and decorator. My plan is to set up my own busi-
ness and I’m getting lots of help with this.
Moving on
I suppose I just want other kids in care to read this and understand
that whatever has happened in the past, and whatever your parents
are like, you’re not automatically going to follow in their footsteps.
Care might mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but it gave me a
chance to put some really difficult things behind me and move on in
my life. My dad is the criminal, not me.

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‘Most young people leaving care fear
homelessness which they are right to do because
30% of homeless people have been in care’.
Normally you stay in your placement till you are
16-18 and social services help with self
Accommodation, but you will still get support on a
limited scale and you get a personal adviser till
you are 21. You will hopefully have completed
your ILP (Independent Living Plan) which helps
you with cooking, cleaning ,budgeting and much
more. You can normally choose where you want
to live but this depends on
your situation.

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Ofsted : 0300 1231231
Childline : 0800 1111
NSPCC: 0808 800 5050
Children's Advice and Representation Service :
A) Connexions: 0161 476 6336
B)YOT: 0161 476 2876
Police: 0161 872 5050
Ofsted Children's Rights Officer Roger Morgan : 0300
123 1231