Whose information is it anyway?
Accessing and sharing information from care records
Date:
11 September 2008
Venue:
London Voluntary Sector
Resource Centre
356 Holloway Road
London N7 6PA
Registration times:
9.30am – 10.00am
Conference:
10.00am – 4.00pm
Theme
Sharing memories, photographs and recalling significant events is common place within most families. But people separated fromtheir birth family by local authority care or
adoption can experience enormous difficulty in finding out about their childhood – information which most of us take for granted. Many do not know even the most basic details
about their family history, the reasons why they were separated from their family as children or even where to find such information.
It is estimated that 350,000 adults in the UK have spent
part or all of their childhood in foster or residential care.
Each year, several thousand seek access to their child care
files that have been retained by the local authority. They do
so for a variety of reasons, often seeking to rebuild
fractured identities and resolve deeply personal questions
about their origins.
‘Few of us depend upon official records for our identity or
history. We may throw away old papers about ourselves
but that is our choice. Unlike children who have been in
public care we do not depend on the often fragmented
and formal records of others. Yet, formany adults, such
information can be critical in fully understanding the past.
What records contain or can be found can be vital….’ (Association of Directors of Social Services, 2000:1)
Yet for many post care adults, trying to access and receive
information about their family background and time in
care can be a challenging and frustrating experience. Such
information requests come under the Data Protection Act
1998, which has third party restrictions, and does not take
into account the particular plight of post care adults who
mainly want to obtain a family history, including details of
their parents and siblings.
A survey of local authorities in 2005 also showed that the
practices and policies for accessing information under the
Data Protection Act varied enormously and meant that
some post care adults were receiving a second rate
service. Social workers and access to information officers
struggle with what and how much information can be
shared with the post care adult.
At a time when the Children and Young Persons Bill 2007
– government legislation designed to improve the lives of
children in care – is making its way through parliament,
this conference will bring together many perspectives of
the complexities and challenging issues presented when
sharing information from childcare records. It will provide
an opportunity to hear the experience of post care adults –
the people directly affected. It will seek to address the
ethical, legal and practical issues surrounding the
disclosure of information to post care adults within the
constraints of the Data Protection Act 1998 and explore
how these can be managed to ensure that post care adults
can obtain the information they need about their family
background and time in care.
The conference will address:
- What information can be disclosed and to whom?
- Whose consent is needed? If consent is refused, in
what circumstances can it be overridden?
- What are the consequences for the individual of
disclosing or refusing to share personal information?
- What is the net impact of the Data Protection Act
1998, Human Rights Act 1998 and Adoption and
Children Act 2002 regarding access to information?
- What is best practice?
- Where do we go from here?
Speakers include
- Baroness Barker
- Anita Bennett and Teresa Downy, Catholic
Children's Society (South London)
- Julie Cookson, Wirral Council
- Julia Feast, BAAF
- Dr Jim Goddard, University of Bradford
- Christine Hardie, Hampshire County Council
- David Holmes, Chief Executive, BAAF
- Victoria Hull, Care Leavers Association
- Kate Roach and Trish Scott, Making Connections, Barnardo’s
- Lynne Shackley, Information Commissioner’s Office
- David Wood, Independent Care Leaver & Care Leaver Campaigner
Booking form and flyer
Download the conference flyer (pdf)
Download the booking form (word doc)
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