Tisha was at the Green Heath Children’s home at the beginning of this study. She is black British of
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discussed her unwillingness to share her story with the youth workers and educational coordinator before she agreed to attend the interviews. She had lived with her single mother in another part of town before coming into care due to misunderstanding with her family. Her mother lived with her partner and regular contact with extended family especially maternal grandparents was maintained. She had a functional relationship with her father but this was fairly minimal. While at the home, Tisha maintained regular contact with her mother and family and spent weekends at home.
R17: “Do you enjoy going home?
T: “It’s alright.
Pause
R: Will you be happy to move back home?
T: “Oh no! Me and mum don’t get on. It is actually me and my mum’s boyfriend. Sometimes it’s alright, nah,
I will rather stay here.”
Tisha came across as a shy and reserved person. She was not loud or boisterous. However, the staff had a completely different perspective. Tisha had been transferred to a number of homes in the last year.
The reason for her transfer was her “bad influence” on her fellow housemates. It was noted that when Tisha became a house member the young people skipped school more and engaged in all-night
activities outside the home. Usually they would attend parties and not return home until the early hours of the morning. The Social workers wanted to move Tisha again.
The educational coordinator explained:
“It is not my decision, I have told her this. The team who also inspect us, they inspect our work and
how we run the home, make these decisions based on what she has been doing.”
“She has to stickto the things agreed in her plans in her educational plan and care package.”
Tisha was not attending school, though there were different strategies to get her to get “her education” by the Team at the home. The LACES team at the Council level was also constantly monitoring her situation.
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T: “School was hard.
R: You could not achieve in school? T: It was boring.
R: You did not go?
Tisha: shakes her head – no answer
T: Didn’t like it at school, it reminds me of home and all that happens in that area (where
her mum lives)”.
Tisha had a particular interest in modelling and entertainment. She placed a lot of emphasis on her
looks, diet and appearance. She said she was confident she would one day be a “star.” This aspiration
for stardom motivated her to work of various pet projects. She applied to modelling agencies; she tried to write lyrics for her own rap songs and she tried to keep up with the showbiz glamour. The
educational coordinator at the home actually supported her:
“I think the modelling is good because it helps them with their feelings about themselves. When
they see the pictures they can say they are important, beautiful and valuable. That is important for young people here. The love, they may not have being loved by family, but things can begin to
change here.”
Tisha also had financial worries. She asked for money from others fairly regularly, she spent a lot of her pocket money buying cigarettes and partying. She sometimes said she had to give her mother some money. This could not be independently confirmed. She therefore lacked the most basic things, such as
money for the bus for example. There were concerns that she could sway her peers to “lend or give her money” as the staff were concerned that Tisha was very manipulative and could convince others to go do her bidding easily. As a result the staff always wanted to be sure Tisha was not borrowing money from others or motivating them to go to place or do things they did not want to.
Tisha used her ability to “talk others into things” quite well for example towards the end of the fieldwork Tisha was able to get herself and some other girls on a photo shoot in London through a
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competition. She involved the staff at the care home and claimed she made a good impression at the photo shoot as well. She proudly displayed her model shots and hoped this was her big break. She seemed to be so distracted by the opportunity and promise that she did not make as much progress with her academic work as hoped.
Arrangements for a taxi service to get Tisha to school were made. The taxi was meant to be incentive for saving time on the bus and arriving in school on time. This did not have the desired effect. Perhaps
because the school was in the same “area”; the area she did not like. Tisha also got into trouble for
disobeying some rules. She was afforded a verbal warning after which she became sober and worried. She tried to attend school frequently and was even more quiet and reserved. The staff at the home and voluntary organisation admitted they felt empathy for her, as no one was sure if the accusations were actually true. In the end Tisha was moved yet again without much notice.
During the course of this research a number of contacts were made with young people between the ages of thirteen and sixteen years who had connived with their parents to orchestrate a family misunderstanding so as to obtain a place in supported living. The young people wanted to gain access to pocket money from the State and a room of their own - usually in hostels. However, the young people were sometimes offered Children’s home accommodation as a temporary measure. This growing problem had come to the attention of the authorities in Riverton and measures were being taken to address this. None of the young people would admit they had gone down such a route in an interview. It is not clear if this is true of Tisha’s situation.
A home that is constantly scrutinised and has rules that limit the ability of its residents to function is far from ideal. The young people may have gained freedom from abuse and neglect but are bound by administrative technicalities that limit their freedoms and functioning
177 need the intervention of mental health services. Like other children in care they retain the risk of not gaining sufficient qualifications, adequate life skills to move into adult living and may interact with the wrong crowd.
5.6.2 Funaley: Looked After Children
Funaley had links with a number of residential units mainly because of the music courses offered at the Centre. Music training helped these clients channel their love for music into creative expression and improved opportunities for a career in entertainment. The courses at Funaley incorporated musical style and arrangement with theoretical aspects of marketing, plagiarism, organisation and management. As mentioned above Funaley offered an advanced post sixteen course for young people that had been excluded and were in supported living. Funaley also catered for a number of clients in foster care; they generally lived with working class White British families. All looked after children in foster care at Funaley were White British. The young people were appreciative of the safe environment, meals, pocket money and friendships they had whilst in care.
“I like the hostel, my family they don’t care about me.” Pause
“They don’t care about me and I don’t care about them.” (Janine).
Another young male at the Funaley Centre explained:
“It’s like you are on your own, you can take care of yourself, no one bothering, you get me. Everyone in the group is my mate now; we hang out together after sessions
178 The youth workers and care workers expressed mixed opinions about the young people’s time in care. A youth worker spoke about how some go without food and need further assistance from the Centres
“Err whether it is the benefit system, money, housing whatever – we have young people come just to say they have not eaten for a week, so then we will go and find them food.
We just offer as much support as we can which is beneficial to that young people.” The foster children were a lot happier to be in homes than in residential units. They had more freedom and could build better relationships with foster parents compared to a number of staff in a residential unit. They also had better choice and seemed relieved to be with parents who cared about them. Living in a home with no front door buzzer or visitors book was a “good experience.” The local community being very closely knit was aware of the foster children’s status, this meant that parents, at least were more sympathetic to them. They also seemed to form good relationships with peers at the Centre. Two foster parents worked at a local school. One of them was a single woman (Tara) in her mid forties who had raised two children of her own and fourteen foster children. During the study she had two female and one male in her care. All three attended the youth club at Funaley and went to an independent school. They had specialist support integrating in school and with their foster mum’s nursery assistant experience they settled relatively quickly. Most of the foster children were in homes where they were the only children at home, and their parents ‘fostered full time’.
Resources in the homes were at least above average. For example, Tara had a reasonably sized house with a small garden, where her son liked to camp out in the summer. The children had access to a computer and the Internet, though they still enjoyed using the computer with others at the Centre. The family did not own a car or take luxury holidays. This situation was more or less the same for young people in foster care around Funaley. Foster families in the
179 Funaley area were often lone parent and working class, but there were middle class parents as well.
The young people in foster care generally integrated well in school. Some of them had missed many years but were catching up. The independent school catered for many of them,
especially those who had SEN statements. A few had their education disrupted by personal circumstances or because of change in foster families. The latter often had trouble getting back into mainstream education and attended alternative provision instead. In general they also had support from the Local Education Authority, particularly when their foster parents were well informed and educated. Ayesha’s story is typical of the young people who lived in supported living accommodation. She and her colleagues had to live on a budget and had little or no family contact.