Press releases

Report reveals people who have been in care are denied information about their past

Issued: 12 December 2005

• Results of the first UK-wide survey on the subject reveal a 'postcode lottery' in access to care files
• Report calls for new laws and national standards for agencies providing information and support to people who have spent time in care
• BAAF calls for all people who have been in care to have a right to information about their birth families

A report to be launched on Monday, December 12 will call for the information rights of the 350,000 people who have spent time in care in the UK to be brought into line with those of adopted people.

The report, co-authored by BAAF, the University of Bradford and the University of Kent, is based on the survey responses of 85 social services departments and voluntary organisations across the UK. It reveals that more than 4,000 people who spent time in care as children request access to files held by social services departments every year and that this number is rising.

These files may contain formal documents and administrative information, details of birth relatives and informal notes made by social workers. Currently they come under the Data Protection Act, which says people have a right to access personal data held by social services within 40 days of a request. However, they do not have the right to third party information, so much of the contents of files - about birth relatives, for example - may be blanked out.

Agencies reported frustration at the lack of guidance on how to interpret the act. Other problems included difficulties associated with previous policies to destroy records, a lack of resources and a lack of training. Information held in these files can be sensitive and evoke strong emotions, yet only 21 Access to Records Officers had received training for this work, while 47 had not.

A Childhood on Paper: Accessing the Child-care Files of Former Looked After Children in the UK, was co-authored by Jim Goddard, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Bradford, Julia Feast, Policy, Research and Development Consultant for BAAF and Derek Kirton, Lecturer in Social Policy and Social Work at the University of Kent.

Jim Goddard says: "Over a number of years, I had come across many adults who had accessed their care files, or tried to access them. I had also accessed my own care file, so I know how important this information is.

"Many care leavers have no photographs from that time, few or no relatives who remember their childhoods and no mementoes or keepsakes. Often, their files are their only way of reaching back and of reclaiming a sense of who they are. These care files are much more than a paper record for social workers and other professionals."

He adds: "Our aim has been not merely to provide a window into current services but also to promote improvements, so that care leavers throughout the UK get the service and support they need as they attempt to reclaim and rediscover the childhoods that have shaped their adult lives"

Julia Feast says: "We believe all people who have spent time in care and request their files should be offered counselling and intermediary services to help them search for birth relatives. Files should be exempt from data protection legislation, as they are for adopted people.

She adds: "The average age of people requesting their files in this study was 35 - and many people were much older than that. The life-long needs of adopted adults have long been recognised, but until now the needs of people brought up in care have been largely neglected."

Derek Kirton says: "At present, former care leavers face a postcode lottery when they attempt to access their care records, whether in terms of the priority their local authority or voluntary organisation gives to this work or the interpretations put on the data protection legislation. This can mean vast differences in waiting times, the services and expertise available and perhaps most importantly, the information that is disclosed."

Felicity Collier, BAAF Chief Executive, says: "It is absolutely unacceptable that adults who have been in care are denied the opportunity to make sense of their past. BAAF fully supports the recommendations in this important new report and calls on Government to take action now."

The report makes wide-ranging recommendations, including exempting personal child-care files from data protection legislation and the introduction of legislation and national standards for agencies providing information and support to former care leavers.

Notes to Editors

For more information, contact Daisy O'Clee on 020 7421 2632 / 07767 444 589 or Lucy Handford on 020 7421 2633 or email daisy.oclee@baaf.org.uk / lucy.handford@baaf.org.uk

• Surveys were sent to 180 social services departments across the UK, with a response rate of 45% (81 responses).
• Case studies and spokespeople are available on request
• A Childhood on Paper: Accessing the Child-care Files of Former Looked After Children in the Uk, will be launched on Monday December 12 at a one-day conference in London. Journalists wishing to attend should contact the BAAF press office (numbers above). View the executive summary report (pdf) found on the Bradford University website