Minutes:
When preparing Care Plans, staff are using language that young people understand and events are being described in ways which are familiar to the individual young person. For example, if a young person refers to their grandmother as ‘nanny’ then that term is used their Care Plan. The feedback from young people is that these small changes mean a great deal to them.
The Strategic Manager highlighted that this is an ongoing exercise and the young people continue to challenge and encourage the service to use ‘young-person friendly’ language, where it is appropriate, as an alternative to professional terms.
As a result the term ‘family time’ is used as an alternative to ‘contact’ and the word ‘home’ is used instead of ‘placement’. The Strategic Manager asked the Panel to consider the term ‘Corporate Parent’, and how the young people looked after feel about being corporately parented. She asked the Panel to bear in mind that young people mirror language and how sensitive they are to non-verbal cues, such as eye-contact, facial expressions and body-language. The Panel also noted the impact of trauma on young people may impair their attention and focus, making effective communication even more important in these circumstances.
Councillor Gunn thanked the Strategic Manager for highlighting the importance of this work and she asked whether consideration is being given to the language used by young people through social media. Referring to the good efforts by the young people to make these changes, she asked if Members could do more to improve how they communicate with young people. Caitlyn Gray of the Children n Care Council referred the Panel to the language guide produced by Durham County Council in conjunction with the Children in Care Council which details the terms young people prefer and would like to be used.
Councillor Hunt asked if work is done in schools to encourage education staff to adopt these terms. The Virtual School Head confirmed that the young people of the Children in Care Council attend regular meetings with Designated Teachers and policy changes have been made as a result of their discussions.
The Head of Children’s Social Care spoke of how the service is committed to improving the use of language in liaison with young people and this is subject to continuous review.
Councillor Deinali informed the Panel that during the recent joint meeting with the Children in Care Council, the young people shared their concerns that complex language can create barriers and negatively impact how they perceive themselves and may exacerbate stigma and discrimination. As a result, as a member of the National Education Union, she has put forward a motion to campaign for schools to address stigma and discrimination.
Recognising the importance of this matter, the Panel agreed that an update on language should become a regular agenda item.