Your rights

Children and young people become looked after when parents are unable to provide ongoing care. This could be temporary or permanent.

If you’re in the care of a local council, you will be considered a ‘Child Looked After’.

Care Order

You may be on a Care Order. This means that a decision has been made in court with help from Children’s Social Care that you should be looked after by the local council.

This means we share parental responsibility with your parents. You will remain looked after until you’re 18 years old.

Accommodated

You may be accommodated (this is Under Section 20 of the Children’s Act 1989).

This is a voluntary agreement by your parents and means that the council and your parents have agreed to share responsibility for your care.

Your parents will still be part of any decisions that are made about how you are looked after.

Once you are over 16 you can sign yourself into care under a voluntary arrangement, as long as you fully understand the decision you’re making.

Our pledge

We promise to:

Recognise the importance of your family and friends.

Support you practically, financially and emotionally to prepare for your future when you leave care.

Listen to you.

Support you to be healthy.

Visit NHS Berkshire Healthcare to see how we support your health.

Be honest with you and only promise things we know we can deliver.

Respect you.

Listen and respond to any complaints.

Support you and help you achieve your best.

Keep your information confidential.

What we will do

There are things that the law says Children’s Services must do for you to make sure you are safe and well cared for.

Care Plan

We will make sure you have a Care Plan.

A Care Plan says how your needs will be met, who will be responsible for supporting you and what the long term plans are for your care. We will make sure it includes your views and is up to date. Someone will give you a copy and sit down with you to make sure you understand what it says.

Child Looked After reviews

This is a conversation to see how you are getting on in important areas of your life with the people who support you. These could be family members, your carers, your social worker or your independent reviewing officer. 

We want you to feel part of this as it is about you. At the end of the discussion, we choose actions about how to move things forward.

Find out more about Child Looked After reviews.

Complaints

We’re here to listen to you if you are:

  • unhappy with what’s happening to you
  • think you need more help than you are getting
  • unhappy with a decision that has been made

You can make your comment or complaint by speaking to:

  • the complaints manager
  • your social worker or independent reviewing officer (IRO)
  • your advocate
  • someone you trust to tell us

Who to contact

If you have a complaint, you can contact the a complaints manager by:

  • using our complaint form
  • phone: 01344 351737
  • post: Complaints manager Children’s Social Care, Bracknell Forest Council, Time Square, Market Street, Bracknell, RG12 1JD

You can ask your social worker or IRO for an advocate.

You can also contact:

  • the participation officer : 01344 351 546
  • The Advocacy People: 0330 440 9000
  • Coram Voice Advocacy Helpline: 0808 800 5792
  • Help at Hand helpline: 0800 528 0731

Contact with people that are important to you

We will help you have contact with important people in your life like:

  • parents
  • brothers and sisters
  • extended family members
  • close friends

Health Action Plan

We will make sure you have a Health Action Plan. It is about your health care needs and how those needs will be met.

Independent Advocate

If you want an Independent Advocate we will get one for you.

Independent Reviewing Officer

We will give you an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO).

An IRO is a person who makes sure that the local council is doing their best to take care of you. An IRO will chair your Child Looked After reviews and will work with you to make sure these meetings are useful and include your wishes and feelings. You will be able to chair your own reviews if you want to. Your Care Plan will be reviewed at these meetings.

Listen to you and support you to have your say

There are lots of ways to have your say:

  • talk to your social worker or carer
  • talk to your IRO (Independent Reviewing Officer)
  • use an advocate, someone outside of children’s social care who can listen to you, and support you at meetings to have your say
  • use the free Mind of My Own app to share your views with a trusted adult (download from the iOS, Android or Google app to your smart phone or tablet or visit the Mind of my own website)

Personal Education Plan

e will make sure you have a Personal Education Plan. This can also be part of your Care Plan.

It is about your educational needs and how we will support you to achieve your educational goals. You will have a meeting to talk about this to make sure your views are included.

Placement Plan

Wherever you are living you will have a Placement Plan.

This is done when you first move in and will be updated if you move.

A Placement Plan is part of your Care Plan. It explains why your placement was chosen and how the placement will care for you on a day to day basis.

Regular visits from a social worker

A social worker will visit you regularly at the place where you live - you might hear it called your placement. They will offer to speak with you alone if you want to.

Your identity

When we make decisions about you, will we take into account your:

  • religion
  • ethnic and racial background
  • culture and language

You have the right to keep ties to the things that are important to you and your identity.

Let us know how we are doing

You will have lots of opportunities to tell us how well you think we are keeping our promises.

You can do this:

  • when you meet your Independent Reviewing Officer at your review meetings
  • when you talk to your social worker
  • by contacting the Child Participation Officer
  • by contacting the Complaints Officer

You can also tell us what you think at our annual Bracknell Big Ballot event. You will be invited to attend or can you can fill in the online survey.

Contact information

Your contacts are:

Crisis

If it's a crisis that can't wait until the next day, call Social Care out of hours - phone 01344 351999 from 5pm to 9am.