New report warns progress has been delayed but 2030 target is still achievable.
A new report has found that unexpected events and systematic barriers have delayed progress on a national promise made to care experienced children, young people and adults.
This year marks the midway point since Scotland made a promise to care experienced children and young people, that they would grow up loved, safe and respected.
However, Report THREE, published by the Oversight Board for the promise, has found issues impacting the workforce and in providing whole family support, that has meant that the promise is not halfway to being kept.
Despite this, the Board - whose role it is to report on whether Scotland is keeping the promise - believe that the progress made, added to the restated commitment of those responsible, mean that it is still possible to deliver by 2030.
The report, published exactly five years after the promise was made, found that too many people cannot access the right family support when they need it, including housing barriers, issues with support for kinship, adoption, and foster carers, and there are gaps in data to understand what really matters to children and families.
Short-term funding cycles have also been highlighted as an issue, with some in the workforce having to repeatedly secure funding, giving less time to concentrate on the families they support.
When looking at the workplace, the Board found that services are stretched and pressure is growing, the cost-of-living crisis has pushed more children, young people and families into poverty and the workforce needs targeted investment and a national strategy, rather than cuts.
There are also continuing issues with social worker retention and recruitment, as well as foster carer numbers.
They also found positive changes happening in every local authority area, and national changes, including work from the Community of Practice for siblings, working to keep brothers and sisters together, and the new national minimum recommended allowance for foster carers and kinship carers.
David Anderson, chair of the Oversight Board, said: “All our Board members know how important it is that the promise is kept, many of us have direct experience of care whilst every one of us strives to keep the promise in our working lives.
“What we need now is action, around spending decisions; bravery to do things differently; to count what matters rather than what is easy or politically palatable.
“Some people, some organisations, and some systems are not yet doing enough, and this risks the country as a whole failing to deliver the promise.
“In saying that, this report recognises and wishes to highlight that many people are keeping promise in their day-to-day work. The changes our report highlights will assist them to ensure the right support is available at the right time for children and families.
“Right now, the journey is behind schedule, but progress thus far - added to the continuing commitment to the journey - makes it still possible for Scotland to deliver by 2030. However, there is not a minute left to lose.
“We remain determined that the promise must be kept. It must be kept. This is about Scotland's children and young people, there is no task which is more important, and not a moment left to waste.”
