Taking a leap of faith
“Bold, brave…or just plain bonkers?” As she joins CYCJ as Practice Development Advisor for Secure Care, Ruby Whitelaw ponders new challenges, and what happens when you step outside of your comfort zone. After 25 years of working in residential childcare I was pondering my next challenge, as throughout my career I’ve pushed myself to learn, […]
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Working together to achieve the Rights Respecting dream
The Good Shepherd Centre has achieved its UNICEF Rights Respecting School Bronze Award, which celebrates the work the centre is doing to respect and protect the rights of its young residents. In this guest blog, Leona Donnelly (Deputy Head of Education) and Fiona Haigh (Languages Teacher) share the GSC rights respecting journey – and why […]
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Relationships are the starting point
As we approach the one year anniversary of the publication of Scotland’s Care Review – and three months since the Secure Care Pathway and Standards Scotland launched – Chelsey talks about the importance of building genuine and honest relationships with young people, and the difference this can make. A young person once told a colleague […]
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Securing better futures
October 8, 2020 marks a very important moment for children and young people who experience secure care. That’s because it’s the day the Secure Care Pathway and Standards will be launched in Scotland’s five secure care centres, celebrating the hard work, creativity and passion that children in these centres put into helping to shape this […]
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Deprivation of liberty in Northern Ireland
What can we learn from other countries about how we approach deprivation of liberty? Debbie Nolan shares learning from her recent exchange visit with secure care colleagues in Northern Ireland. Since taking over the secure care practice development advisor post last year, I have been in touch with people across various countries to discuss deprivation […]
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What’s next for Next Steps?
As we celebrated the final stage of the Responding to Offending in Residential Childcare -‘Next Steps’ project, Debbie Nolan reflects back on what we’ve learnt and where we want go next with this important work. For the past two years, CYCJ and Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Forum (Staf) have partnered on the Responding to Offending […]
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What road do we want to go down?
Alison Gough, Secure Care National Advisor, shares her reflections on a decade of secure care in Scotland – and why we need to listen to the young people who are showing us the way. Ten years ago in 2008… …Who Cares? Scotland and the University of Strathclyde published a report called: This isn’t the Road […]
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Reflections on secure care
Following the publication of CYCJ’s latest secure care report, Ellen Maloney reflects on her experiences of secure care, what’s changed and why giving young people a voice is so important in bringing about change. Twenty years ago, I entered one of Scotland’s secure units. I didn’t expect to see my 18th birthday, let alone my 35th […]
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‘Spot the difference’: Sweden International Case Study
How does secure care in Sweden differ from secure care practice in Scotland, and what can we learn from our Swedish colleagues? CYCJ’s Practice Development Advisor, Carole Dearie, reports back from a two-day international case study, discussing some valuable insights gained about secure care practice for vulnerable and high risk girls in Sweden, and how this […]
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