Care-experienced children and young people (CECYP)

• Harm from inaccurate or ill-informed views about what being care-experienced means. This might take the form of poor information (e.g. all care leavers end up in prison) or politicised views of the care system.

Promoting a more balanced picture of the life chances of CECYP within the school environment is important whilst adhering to the individual’s right to privacy and non-disclosure of their in care states. Additionally, emphasising the unique and individual potential of each young person is equally important. Some approaches could include:

• Schools to use the guidance and support of the Local Authority Virtual School worker and Designated Teachers to support them with understanding needs of young person around identity culture and disclosure
• Referring the CECYP to the “In Care Council” within their Local Authority (CECYP’s Social Worker should be able to facilitate this)
• Making images and texts relating to care experiences available within school
• Making good use of positive images of CECYP and those who have experienced care (Lemn Sissay, Ashley John Baptiste, Sophia Alexandra Hall, Jeannette Winterson for example)
• Increasing awareness and recognition of the diversity of family and care experiences within the school settings. This could include partnership working with young adult care leavers and /or virtual schools
• Making sure that there is good availability of literature that explores different care experiences (Benjamin Zephaniah, Ashley John Baptiste, Jacqueline Wilson, and the authors mentioned above all write about different kinds of CECYP)
• Referring CECYP to Become

• Harm from individuals with negative views about children and young people with care experience that seek to stigmatise or negate their identities through aggressive language and othering.

Indicators of progress on these issues could include:

• Be able to be more open and relaxed about their care status;
• Seem more confident and accepting of challenges within their learning;
• Be more ambitious and forward thinking in their planning for the future.

Positive strategies may include:

• Talk to the CECYP about what negative responses (e.g. abuse, intimidation, online hate, online bullying, and harassment) look like and ask if anything like this has happened to them
• Educating CECYP to understand how to create positive online images
• Helping CECYP to know how to use strategies to protect their ‘digital personality’ and online reputation, including degrees of anonymity and privacy
• Helping CECYP to learn how to report negative responses including how to block and/or complain to online platforms
• Helping CECYP recover when things go wrong online by offering support to aid recovery
• If applicable, tell the CECYP what the school/ educational setting will do next to address this
• If applicable, empower and explain that it will be necessary to talk to the Police liaison officers and reporting to the CEOP

• Psychologically and emotionally abusive relationships from people who target those with low self-esteem and low self-worth.

CECYP able to articulate what abusive relationships look like. For some CECYP, the ability to differentiate between abusive and supportive relationships is difficult. Being able to identify harmful individuals or unhelpful relationships is a key area of learning. To also be reflective and aware of when their behaviours could be perceived as bullying towards others.

Other indicators might be:

• CECYP able to demonstrate how to manage privacy settings and filters on social media
• Ability to reflect on the different elements of healthy relationships
• Differentiating between ‘a friend that you’ve fallen out with’ and someone who is intending harm or exploitation
• CECYP aware of ways to use online spaces as a way to generate and maintain healthy relationships and when to remove themselves and talk to an appropriate trusted other

Positive strategies may include:

• Talking to the CECYP about what negative responses (e.g. abuse, intimidation, online hate and harassment) look like and ask if anything like this has happened to them
• Educating CECYP to understand how to create positive online images;
• Helping CECYP to know how to use strategies to protect their ‘digital personality’ and online reputation, including degrees of anonymity and privacy
• Helping CECYP to learn how to report negative responses including how to block and/or complain to online platforms
• Helping CECYP recover when things go wrong online by offering support to aid recovery
• If applicable, tell the CECYP what the school/ educational setting will do next to address this.

• The absence of positive identities/role models for CECYP

• Making good use of positive images of CECYP and those who have experienced care (e.g. Lemn Sissay, Ashley John Baptiste, Sophia Alexandra Hall, Jeannette Winterson who write about different kinds of CECYP)
• Increasing awareness and recognition of the diversity of family and care experiences within the school setting
• Availability of literature that explores different care experiences (e.g. Benjamin Zephaniah, Jacqueline Wilson who write about different kinds of CECYP)
• Link in with the Virtual School and the Leaving Care Teams within your Local Authority for non-famous positive role models

CECYP might:

• Be able to be more open and relaxed about their care status, if they choose
• Seem more confident and accepting of challenges within their learning
• Be able to identify other care-experienced young people or young adults whom they can relate via their local community/school media/ local virtual school or in care voices organisations
• Be more ambitious and forward thinking in their planning for the future

• CECYP using old printed photos, taken at the time of their adoption/entry into care from Life Story Books and/or care records to “reverse image search” in an effort to find, for example, birth family members, previous and/or current carers, old home and/ neighbourhoods.

This is likely to differ for each CECYP, however this may include:

• They might be more open and able to communicate about contact with parents
• They might show increased positive mood and better educational engagement
• May be able to reflect more effectively on their reasons for wanting to contact previous carers
• May become more curious and less anxious about their history
• Would be able to explain to adults currently involved closely with them why these past relationships hold importance in the present

• Being contacted will have different connotations for each CECYP depending upon their care placement, personal history and relationship(s) with their birth family member(s)
• Teaching professional must not take a critical stance on the CECYP’s past and their relationship with their birth family members
• Pastoral work with CECYP could include discussions about previous life story work, including how the person or people contacting them feature in their personal history. This is a sensitive area and needs skilled and careful guidance with work with the Team Around the Child (TAC) so that everyone is working together and clear on their roles
• It is important to be clear about the need to report any safeguarding issues but to do this openly and as far as possible with the consent of the CECYP
• Information and concerns should be passed on to the School Safeguarding lead as soon as possible.

CECYP may choose to share their care status in online spaces. There may be circumstances where this may elicit negative responses (e.g. abuse, intimidation, online hate and harassment).

Like other children and young people, CECYP experiencing abuse online may:

• Spend a lot more or a lot less time than usual online, texting, gaming etc;
• Seem distant, upset or angry after using the internet or texting;
• Be secretive about who they are talking to and what they are doing on digital devices;
• Have lots of new phone numbers, texts or email addresses on their digital devices;
• Be afraid to go to school, being mysteriously ‘ill’ each morning, or skipping school;
• Not be doing as well at school as they have done previously.

When checking the impact of suggestions, CECYP may:

• Be able to identity if they are being bullied online
• Be able to communicate clearly how to block and/or report online bullying behaviour
• Be able to describe and/or show a teacher how they manage their privacy settings
• Exhibit less anxiety about being active online
• Be more open about how they manage contact with others online

• Talk to the CECYP about what negative responses (e.g. abuse, intimidation, online hate and harassment) look like and ask if anything like this has happened to them
• Educating CECYP to understand how to represent themselves online safely
• Helping CECYP to know how to use strategies to protect their ‘digital personality’ and online reputation, including degrees of anonymity and privacy
• Helping CECYP to learn how to report negative responses including how to block and/or complain to online platforms
• Helping CECYP recover when things go wrong online by offering support to aid recovery – If applicable, tell the CECYP what the school/ educational setting will do next to address these experiences
• Being non-judgemental and understanding that CECYP’s past experience(s) may mean they have a different narrative around online sexualise behaviour, allow this to be spoken about

May take the form of targeted systematic attacks. Bullying (including online bullying) can have long lasting effects on physical and mental health which can continue into adulthood

Behavioural changes may include:

• Withdrawn or depressed presentation
• Loss of self-efficacy (a reluctance to engage in activities at school for example)
• Attempts to hide or change appearance
• Not attending school

CECYP may be able to:

• Be more aware of the signs of bullying (including online bullying) and how to report these on platforms and in educational settings as appropriate
• recognise that bullying (including online bullying) is not ‘just banter’ or ‘everyone does it’ and they are knowledgeable and empowered to respond appropriately
• Take a critical perspective on different peoples care journeys
• Be able to challenge generalisations about CECYP – ‘just because lots of care leavers end up in prison doesn’t mean I will’
• Talk about their own experience as an individual rather than being part of a homogenous group

• Ongoing dialogues within school about what bullying (and online bullying) is and what it means for people
• Working with children and young people in PSHE about boundary setting and the right to report and withdraw from bullying (and online bullying) relationships
• CECYP being encouraged to exercise their right to report and complain about online bullying via social media service providers and schools to engage as per their local procedures

• CECYP experiencing anxiety about how they present on social media; Difficulties in setting boundaries for sharing information about their circumstances (e.g. “Do I say I’m in foster care? If I don’t am I lying? If I do will I be rejected or targeted?”).

CECYP may be able to:

• Be comfortable about who they are and how they chose to represent their experiences in online;
• Be able to adjust these representations as they see fit;
• Take a critical perspective on different peoples care journeys;
• Talk about their own experience as an individual rather than being part of a homogenous group.

• Harm through misleading or malicious information about the experiences of CECYP. For example, websites or social media groups that suggest that children in care have been ‘stolen’ from their birth families. (Also well-meaning but unhelpful tropes such as ‘Care leavers are more likely to go to prison than attend University’)

CECYP may be able to:

• Take a critical perspective on different peoples care journeys.
• Be able to  challenge generalisations about CECYP – ‘just because lots of care leavers end up in prison doesn’t mean I will’;
• Talk about their own experience as an individual rather than being part of a homogenous group.

Within the school environment there might be:

• More discussions within the school environment about diverse family structures;
• More open acknowledgement of different kinds of childhoods that people experience, beyond the stereotype of the nuclear family.

The seriousness of harm will vary in accordance with the age, developmental stage, temperament and personality of the child or young person. Not all CECYP will have open or supportive relationships with their carers, and opportunities to talk about sexuality in a healthy and supportive way may be limited. For CECYP who have been sexually abused, this may be particularly fraught and complex.

CECYP might be able to:

• Talk more openly about the potential risks and harms that are associated with looking at pornography;
• Be able to discuss the legal issues related to pornography;
• Feel confident about finding reliable sources of information about their sexuality and sexual development and be able to relate these to an appropriate adult.

This could include the sending of unsolicited pictures of a sexual nature; entrapments to send such pictures (see also grooming); sending emails or messages with a sexual content; making derogatory comments about a person’s sexuality; Unwanted sharing of sexual stories/links to pornography etc. This behaviour is likely to be disturbing to most if not all people, but the severity of impact will be mediated by age, developmental stage and previous abusive experiences. Re-experiencing past trauma is possible in the latter case.

CECYP might be able to:

• Explain and or demonstrate how to block unwanted material to their social media feeds;
• Talk more openly about the potential risks and harms that are associated with sexual imagery;
• Be able to discuss the legal issues related to sexual imagery;
• Feel confident about finding reliable sources of information about their sexuality and sexual development and be able to relate these to an appropriate adult.

Where this occurs CECYP might experience a sense of loss of control, as well as a threat to their sense of privacy and security. There might be concrete negative outcomes for CECYP where they have been carefully managing their status and identity in their social world.

CECYP might be able to:

• Explain and or demonstrate how to block unwanted material to their social media feeds;
• Be more aware of the signs of harassment and how to report this on platforms and in educational settings as appropriate;
• Recognise the signs of coercion and control and are empowered to respond appropriately;
• Be able to communicate clearly how to block and/or report individuals posing a risk

Suicide and self-harm rates are higher amongst CECYP than in the general population. Some websites actively promote suicide and self-harm; CECYP may seek them out or have their attention drawn to them through their social circle. Self-harming, such as cutting, is characterised as a way of managing extreme emotions. It may also have a dual role as signalling distress to others (although self-harming is also associated with deep shame and many people go to great lengths to hide evidence of this).

• CECYP able to talk with carers and/or a key member of teaching or pastoral staff about their need to self-harm
• Reduction in low mood and or signs of self-harming when the CECYP is within the school environment.
• Improved communication about feelings and beliefs within the school environment

Digital self-harm is a behaviour that occurs when an individual creates an online account and uses it to send/post hurtful messages or threats to oneself and/or may deliberately provoke and offend online to receive the negative attention and responses. Self-harming in this way can be characterised as a way of managing extreme emotions and/or a cry for help. Research indicates this is increasingly likely for those whom experience bullying/ online bullying – to which CECYP are more likely to experience

CECYP might be able to:

• CECYP able to talk with carers and/or a key member of teaching or pastoral staff about their need to self-harm;
• Reduction in low mood and or signs of self-harming when the CECYP is within the school environment;
• Improved communication about feelings and beliefs within the school environment.

CECYP may share, receive and store more emotionally sensitive information than their peers . How they manage the sharing and storage of this information is important as it helps them gain a sense of privacy and of control over their online and real world identities.

Issues might include:

• The storing and sharing of photos from the CECYP’s present or their history;
• The management of access to shared computers in care placements.
• Access to reflections that the CECYP has recorded in trying to develop their life story.

CECYP might:

• Be able to describe and or demonstrate how to manage the security and privacy settings on their social media;
• Be able to describe how they go about deciding who to share information with

• CECYP may also be encouraged to use platforms which are aimed at this group which may store emotional/life history information (e.g. Mind Of My Own);
• Talk with the CECYP about how they might manage sensitive information online.

CECYP shares image of themselves/ birth family member/ carer(s)/ Social Worker(s) on social media/ online platform(s)

CECYP might:

• Be able to reflect upon and explain why they posted the image;
• Be able to understand and describe what the possible consequences for themselves and others might be;
• Be able to describe how they might go about doing things differently on another occasion.