We recently invited our Charter Champions to complete a survey on placement change and 44 responded. As you can see from the results (left), opinions on how often children’s views about changes of placement were asked for and how much they were discussed vary from ‘Always’ to ‘Never’.
Who is right? Or does this range of views indicate some fundamental differences of understanding or definition?
The survey results also suggest that the seeking and discussion of children’s views about placement change is not the norm. Is that really the case?
The initial impression from our recent review of 100 case files is that the views of children are not frequently recorded, at least in the case files. However, we know that case files are sometimes not complete. Is it the situation that the childrens’ views are more often sought and discussed than recorded but we lack the evidence to demonstrate it?
Gathering the views of children in an integral part of social work practice. Are you able to share techniques that work with different age groups as some of our survey respondents suggest? What role do carers, teachers or other workers have in finding out and reporting the child’s views and how can their views be gathered?
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