First Minister has today signed the new
Corporate Parenting
Charter, committing the Welsh Government to nine promises
when working with care-experienced children and young people.
The Charter sets out principles that all public bodies and their
leaders should follow in the design and delivery of services,
such as eradicating stigma, providing a stable home and good
health and education.
‘Corporate parenting’ is defined as promoting the collective
responsibility of the whole public sector to safeguard and
promote the rights and life chances of care-experienced children
and young people.
Any public body, third sector organisation or business can sign
up to the Charter.
said:
“Our Programme for Government sets out our ambitious vision for
transforming children’s services in Wales.
“I’m pleased to sign the Charter today, which will support all
our public bodies in ensuring that all care-experienced children
and young people have the same life chances as every other child
or young person.”
, the Deputy Minister for
Social Services, who also signed the Charter, added:
“Last December we held Wales’s first Care Experienced Summit,
bringing care-experienced young people and Welsh Ministers
together to develop a radical, ambitious and shared vision for
the future.
“A key message from the Summit, led by the Young Ambassadors, was
that care-experienced children and young people’s rights must be
respected and their voices heard and listened to equally.
“I call on all public bodies, voluntary organisations and
businesses in Wales to join us to ensure that all
care-experienced children and young people have the same
opportunities and life chances that every young person deserves.”
Dr Andrew Goodall, the Welsh Government’s Permanent Secretary,
said:
“Supporting care-experienced children should be the
responsibility of all public bodies. We want our public sector to
understand and develop their responsibilities towards
care-experienced children and young people throughout Wales.
“I welcome the launch of the Corporate Parenting
Charter and I’d encourage public bodies across Wales to sign
up to the Charter from today.”
