Care Matters

The Care Matters Partnership Group is about making life better for

• Children living in children’s homes
• Children living in foster care
• Young people moving on from care
• Children at risk of going into care.

Looked after children in Medway are likely to achieve better GCSE results than looked after children elsewhere and are much less likely to miss school.  Care leavers are more likely to be in suitable accommodation than  care leavers living in other areas.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done to help children in care do as well as other children and young people in Medway, and we have listened to what they feel would improve their lives the most. This has resulted in our Pledge to Children in Care:

· Don’t just say it – do it
· Someone who will listen and feedback
· More leisure opportunities
· A better education
· More choice of good accommodation or placements

Additionally, Medway’s Children and Young People’s Plan promises to

· Further improve the health and learning outcomes for Looked After Children to give them the best possible future life chances

· Ensure that preventative services focus on those on the edge of care, and enable families to have easy access to effective family support services when they are needed

Chair: Helen Gulvin, Assisstant Director Children's Care, Medway Council

For more information please contact Helen Gulvin on helen.gulvin@medway.gov.uk or 01634 331215.