Publications
A National Voice often carries out consultation work. Some of our publications are listed below with a summary.
If you would like a copy of any of these publications please contact the Manchester office at this address »
Some are also downloadable in PDF format
Brothers & Sisters
We have produced this report in response to what children and young people from care have told us about their experiences of ‘contact with their siblings’. The data in this report is based on a questionnaire we carried out about both ‘birth’ and ‘foster’ sibling contact.
Here are some key findings:
- 83% of responders who do not live with their birth siblings would like to see more of them. 38% of responders who do not live with their foster siblings would like to see more of them.
- 75% of responders with birth siblings have some problems with seeing them compared to 37% who have problems seeing foster siblings.
- Social workers have been the most helpful and supportive to those trying to maintain contact with birth siblings while those trying to keep in touch with foster siblings believe that foster parents have been the most helpful.
- 75% of responders with birth siblings would like to see them more frequently. 37% of responders with foster siblings would like to see them more frequently.
Download a copy of the Brothers & Sisters report (
pdf 399kb)
Care Matters: ANV Response
We received an amazing response to our survey on the government's ‘Care Matters’ Green Paper, with over 200 young people participating.
Children and young people who have been in Care are clear about what their priorities are for changes to the Care system, in essence they want:
- More information and choice about what happens to them and their opinions taken into account
- To have stability in both Care and school places
- To not have to move to independent living until they are ready
- To have safe and decent accommodation when they leave Care with a package of support
- To have the chance to meet and share experiences with others from Care
- To be able to make mistakes and still get support as young adults, just like their peers
- To ensure the new 'Pledges' (promises) and the 'Children In Care Councils' are constituted, representative and non-tokenistic and that Elected Members and Directors of Children's Services are fully accountable
Really, it's nothing more than anyone would provide for their own child – which is what we want. Politicians, councillors, local authorities and child care professionals should always ask themselves 'Would this be good enough for my child?'
If it isn't then it isn't good enough for children in Care.
The importance of this green paper cannot be underestimated and we are delighted to have had such a great response to form the basis of our report and recommendations.
To get your copy of ‘Care Matters: ANV Response’ please get in touch with us.
You can download our Position Paper ( pdf 174KB)
'PLEASE SIR! Can I Have Some More?'
UPDATED
This 40 page report has been updated with feedback from young people about education which was collected as part of the green paper consultation (Care Matters:ANV Response is now available).
Over 200 children and young people told us what were the main barriers to getting a good education for people in or leaving Care. They tell us what types of support has helped them and make suggestions about what support is needed from carers, social workers and schools to improve educational outcomes.
A further 218 told us their ideas about government proposals to create better financial support, creating a virtual head teacher and what training and support is needed to help more children and young people from care do well at school, college or university
This campaign is based around a survey of top 3 issues carried out last year by ANV. Getting an Education was the top issue from a list of 20+ chosen by over 100 young people.
The ‘Please Sir!’ campaign aims to raise awareness about the barriers to getting a good education and to influence policy makers and Corporate Parents. We want to highlight the gap in achievement between children from care and their non-care peers. Currently only about 2% of Care Leavers go to University compared with approx 50% of other young people. 59% of Looked After children are not entered for a single GCSE and only 9% attain five A to C grades compared with 54% of the wider population.
We want to build on the report by the Social Exclusion Unit 'A Better Education for Children in Care' (Office of The Deputy Prime Minister 2003).
It was clear from our research that Education and Learning is very important to children and young people from Care and one of the main barriers is stability of placement—too many moves can create a lack of continuity and children's education will often suffer. We want to see a direct entitlement for children and young people to access one to one tuition to catch up with any education they have missed out on.
Download a copy of the 'Please Sir!... Report' Initial Findings ( pdf 88KB)
Download a copy of the 'Please Sir...' report. ( pdf 618KB)
'No Place Like Home'
The average age for leaving home in England is 24 and yet many Care leavers have to set up home and make the transition to adult life at a much younger age.
ANV carried out the largest ever survey of the housing needs of Care leavers. We surveyed almost 300 care Leavers around England as well as almost 300 professionals who work with care leavers (Housing Professionals and Leaving Care Workers/Personal Advisors). Thanks to everyone who answered our survey. We have now publishing a full colour report based on our findings. The full colour 40 page report is available from our Manchester office priced at £10 + pp. Call or email us to place your order 0161 237 5577 info@anationalvoice.org
NPLH represents a landmark campaign; it is the first time there has been a national survey linking Local Authority Social Services professionals to Housing Departments to uncover why so many care leavers feel under supported. It is clear that these two departments have historically worked with care leavers in different ways. Since the Leaving Care Act a couple of years ago things have improved but there are still areas of confusion between these two departments - which can leave care leavers 'slipping through the gap' and not getting the support they need, or are entitled to.
ANV published the initial findings from almost 300 care leavers along with a set of recommendations (available on this site). We also launched the campaign on HMS President to an audience of about 100. ANV presented our findings at a conference in London in front of the Housing Minister Keith Hill. We have now produced a full colour 40 page report with recommendations and we will ensure this report goes out to all Directors of social services, the Children's Commissioner as well as voluntary Organisations and senior Government officials including the Minister for Housing as well as Minister for Children and Young people.
To order your full colour 40 page report priced £10 get in touch.
Read/download a brief summary of the 'No Place Like Home' report ( pdf 509KB)
The 'No Place Like Home' Campaign is Supported by:
- NCH
- Fostering Network
- Professor Mike Stein (York University Social Work Dept)
- Rainer
- Bryn Melyn Foundation
- Office of the Childrens Rights Director & ADSS
- Barnardos
- NCB (Childrens Residential Unit)
- SCIE (Social Care Institute of Excellence)
- Centrepoint
- AOAC (Action on After Care Consortium)
- BAAF (British Association of Adoption & Fostering)
- Prince's Trust
- VCC (Voice for the Child in Care)
- Hilton Dawson MP (Chair of All Party Group for Children in Care)
- Who Cares Trust
- Children's Residential Care Unit at NCB
- Ann Wheal, Social Work Division, University of Southampton
Big Thanks to John Dotchin & ReSurv for help with the campaign
Amplify The Report
The amplify event was the largest ever gathering of care-experienced Young People. The event took place at Leicester University Halls of residence during a weekend in August 2002. A National Voice, the only national in-care organisation planned and delivered the event, and wrote the subsequent report.
Over 150 young people from Care between age 13-21 attended from all over England. More than 50 Local Authorities sponsored their young people to attend the event. Big thanks to all those Local Authorities who supported this event.
The weekend was a mixture of workshops and consultations.
Workshops included dance, media, DJing, wheelchair basketball, drumming and more.
There were two consultations carried out. The first was an interactive computer consultation with about 20 questions. The second was a more in depth consultation with topics including: overnight stays, advocacy, complaints, aftercare, reviews, pathway plans and more. All consultation questions were written by young care experienced people from A National Voice.
The amplify report was launched at the House of Commons in March 2003,The Health Minister and all Directors of Social Services received a copy as did all young people who came.
The Adoption Report
This report is a review of the Adoption Process.
The Department of Health employed A National Voice to carry out a consultation of the Adoption Process in Dec 01.
The aims of this consultation were:
- to identify which groups of Children and Young People go through the Adoption Process.
- to collect data on the views of Children and Young People who have been through the Adoption Process.
- to collect data on the views of Children and Young People considered for adoption.
- to collect data on the views of Children and Young People who had a child adopted.
- to provide ideas and examples of how to improve the Adoption Process.
- To find out whether Children and Young People are aware of plans to change the adoption process.
In order to achieve this A National Voice held an event at their Manchester office. This event was very constructive and we gathered a vast amount of information from Young People.
The group of Young People (14 in total) came from all over England. Their experiences of Adoption were varied, including successful adoptions, partly successful adoptions, some Young People's experiences of adoption were as prospective adoptees (considered for, but not actually adopted). One Young Person had their child adopted. The group was aged between 13 - 25. With eight females and six males.
In order to recruit the Young People we contacted over forty local authority Adoption teams and approximately twenty voluntary Adoption agencies via the Department of Health's website. We sent a general letter to workers asking if they knew of any Young People who would be willing to attend the consultation day.
14 Young People attended on the day along with 4 members of staff of A National Voice. The Young People who attended were paid in vouchers for their time. The day began with lunch and then we split up into 3 groups for the consultation sessions. We provided 'postcards' for the Young People to write down any confidential comments that they didn't want to talk about during the sessions.
The Assessment and Action Records Report
This report is a comprehensive review of the Looked After Children Assessment and Action Records.
The Department of Health employed A National Voice to carry out a consultation of the L.A.C Assessment and Action Records.
The aims of this consultation were:
- to Identify in which groups of children and young people the materials are used regularly.
- to collect data on the views of children and young people who have used the forms from a number of different perspectives e.g. disabled children and young people; the involvement of carers; from a young person's point of view and the experiences of children and young people from a range of ethnic backgrounds.
- to find out why some children and young people do not want to complete Assessment and Action Records.
- to provide ideas and examples of how to improve the content and design of the materials for participants to consider.
- to collect examples of innovative use of materials.
In order to achieve this A National Voice held two national events. The first in Bolton for young people aged eleven to sixteen and the second in London for young people aged six to eleven.
These events were very constructive and we gathered a vast amount of information from young people. We targeted young people from ethnic minorities and gave them priority bookings (At the Bolton event we reserved ten places for young people from ethnic minorities and nine of these places were taken).
We employed an expert facilitator and set up a focus group for disabled young people in Birmingham in order to gather their views about the L.A.C Assessment and Action Records. Copies of the full report are available from A National Voice.
Foster Care Campaign
Moving to a new Foster Placement is never easy.
We asked our members how they would improve Foster Care and how moving foster placements can be easier.