Staying together and connected: getting it right for sisters and brothers: national practice guidance

9. Innovative and creative practice

In addition to the knowledge, skills and resources discussed in this guidance, the consistent and resounding messages from the broad range of stakeholders who shared their views and expertise to inform and develop this guidance were clear: everyone involved (children with care experience who have brothers and/or sisters, parents, carers, practitioners, managers, leaders and everyone involved in supporting them), want to support Scotland in the vision, determination, and creative thinking needed to make sure brothers and/or sisters stay together whenever this is the right thing for them, and that the relationships between brothers and/or sisters who do not live together can be supported to flourish.

The innovative and imaginative ideas, thoughts, and examples shared with us are woven through the guidance and summarised here. They offer a platform for reflection, inspiration and encouragement to build on as we progress on the journey to fully implement the legislative changes for brothers and sisters.

9.1 The power of enabling leadership

We know that senior leaders play an invaluable role in modelling, promoting and enabling positive practice. We heard that empowering practitioners to prioritise and think creatively about finding solutions to meet the needs of brothers and/or sisters alongside parallel flexibility from partner agencies resulted in good solutions. Stakeholders told us that the enabling context to best support brothers and sisters includes:

• offering practitioners sufficient flexibility, time, funding, and other resources to prioritise how best to support sibling relationships
• offering differing approaches to allocation of families with social workers to ensure the availability of time to support all siblings' needs
• having the same social worker and independent reviewing officer for all children in a sibling group
• local protocols with clear senior sign-off for decisions or recommendations to separate brothers and/or sisters. Examples of good practice that were described include authorisation by the Head of Service who holds the responsibility for the child's care
• supporting practitioners to consistently and continually review whether children could move to live with their brothers and sisters if they have been separated from them
• ensuring prioritisation of the physical proximity of potential carers as a key consideration when matching brothers and/or sisters who cannot live together with appropriate carers
• promoting awareness of the new legislative duties in their organisations, ensuring that these are seen as equally important as other parts of practice.

9.2 Maximising resources

In some local areas, we heard that consideration is given to enabling some foster carers to be on 'stand by', so that they remain available to care for sibling groups at short notice, which can avoid the separation of brothers and/or sisters. While they are not caring for brothers and sisters in their homes, the valuable skills that these carers have can help support children in other ways, such as by supporting other carers to facilitate family time between brothers and sisters. In this way, foster carers still provide essential support to brother and/or sister relationships, whilst also remaining available to care for a sibling group when required.

9.3 Clear expectations and support for carers

To uphold the rights of brothers and/or sisters, we heard from stakeholders about the importance of being clear from the outset of the expectation of carers (and prospective adopters) to prioritise the needs of children with brothers and sisters, care for them together wherever possible, and support them to spend time with one another where this is best. This clarity is indivisible from the other support that carers need, for example to develop their relationships with the parents and carers of children's siblings. This can lead to natural and responsive relationships which meet everyone's needs.

Creative solutions

'Twin brothers were born with significant disabilities, their needs were such that they required separate carers. From their earliest days in hospital, the two sets of carers have been side-by-side caring for the twins. Throughout their childhoods, their carers ensured they all regularly spent time together doing activities, playing, having sleepovers and holidays. They have a children's worker to support both sets of carers, the twins, and the birth children of the carers. The twins are now aged 14, one lives with a greater level of disabilities than the other, but their relationship as brothers is strong.' (Source: Barnardo's Scotland)

9.4 Working together as corporate parents

We heard from stakeholders during our engagement on this guidance that the input of corporate parents outwith the immediate Team Around the Child can often be beneficial. It was described as helpful to approach corporate parents at an early stage, and with a clear picture of what is important to the child, and their brothers and/or sisters, and how the corporate parent can help to make this happen. For example, discussions between a local authority's social work, housing and legal services, to explore options for suitable housing that would accommodate brothers and/or sisters and their carers. Exploring the available options to offer practical and financial support for carers to care for sibling groups might involve a housing or other service offering a grant or a loan to carers to expand their current homes to accommodate caring for several children, or support in finding alternative larger homes.

Creative solutions

'Four brothers were placed together in foster care, and decisions were made that they would not be returning to their mum's care. The carers redeveloped their home to enable the boys to have their own bedroom.' (Source: Barnardo's Scotland)

When brothers and/or sisters do not live together, corporate parents have a key and creative role in providing places and spaces (free of charge) for sibling groups to spend time together. For example, using the local swimming pool or other leisure facilities.

9.5 Schools and other settings

During engagement with stakeholders we heard about many rich examples of creative care planning to connect and support brothers' and sisters' through their school lives. These included where a school or early learning and childcare setting offered the opportunity for brothers and/or sisters who both attend the same place to spend time together before, during or after the school day.

Creative solutions

'We are aware of great practice in Early Learning and Childcare settings where brothers and sisters who live apart come to the same setting. Lunch and session times can be coordinated to enable young children to spend time together in an environment they know well and have fun in. Some settings have done great work with kinship carers to ensure they feel heard and involved.' (Source: Care Inspectorate)

Creative solutions

'When two sisters could no longer live at home with their mum, one was able to live locally with her father and the other went to stay with foster carers, who also lived locally. Both girls attend the same school, who were able to promote and support them to spend time together, both at playtime, and after school: playing board games together and enjoying each other's company.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, both children used the Learning Hub at school, which was promoted as an option by the school even though one of the girls didn't strictly 'qualify' for a place.' (Source: Aberdeenshire Council)

9.6 Commissioning, flexibility and registration conditions

Across all accounts of practice shared in the development of this guidance about how to keep brothers and sisters together, it was highlighted that it is integral to explore, assess and encourage creative solutions, especially when practical barriers arose.

Creative solutions

'Two brothers needed to be cared for suddenly because of their Mum being terminally ill. Rather than staying with separate carers, in the short term they were supported by a staff team in a holiday let accommodation. One of the staff team then became approved to be their foster carer.' (Source: Care Inspectorate)

In developing the guidance we also heard about the importance of creativity when considering possible variations in registration conditions for carers and residential homes to support sibling relationships. For example, a variation might allow an older sibling who is aged 18 to live with their younger siblings if this is in the younger children's best interests.

Creative solutions

'The Care Inspectorate were approached by manager of a fostering service and explained that three siblings had suddenly lost their Mum. One of the siblings was a young person aged 18. While technically this young person was not eligible for an adult care or continuing care placement it was recognised the right thing to do for all 3 siblings was that they should stay together and be in a foster family, so an emergency variation was agreed to facilitate this.' (Source: Care Inspectorate)

Many examples of collaborative working, such as between social work and legal services within local authorities, and with organisations including the Care Inspectorate, were given when describing how creative solutions are being developed and supported.

Creative solutions

'A small Children's House was used to support a group of four brothers and sisters, there was support from residential staff and from extended family. With a variation to the registration conditions, the care home became the family home as the children reached adulthood and they have the option to stay there as long as they want to.' (Source: Care Inspectorate)

Examples also included considering children living together in residential children's homes if it would be in the interests of all the children to do so, for example if one of their siblings already lives in residential care, or for them to be able to live together.

Creative solutions

'When two twins moved in to one of our children's houses, there only was one bedroom available. Rather than ruling the children's house out, early discussions were had about whether the twins wanted to and could share a room together until another bedroom became available, even though they are different genders and aged 15. During the time they were sharing the bedroom, two bedrooms in another house became available and the children were given the choice about whether they wanted to move and they chose not to – this flexibility of approach allowed them to build relationships with their carers and now they both have their own bedrooms in the house and are doing amazingly.' (Source: Glasgow City Council)

We recognise that creative approaches to finding the right home for children, including flexibility in registration conditions, works best when the needs of brothers and/or sisters with care experience are at the heart of a bespoke commissioning process. We heard how important this is to enable brothers and sisters to experience a consistent standard of quality, predictable, relational care, no matter where they grow up or who looks after them. We heard stakeholders' concerns and hopes that this care is not compromised due to financial, or other resource-based, concerns if those who care for them are part of commissioned services.

9.7 Consistent oversight

Good practice was described where it was possible for sisters and/or brothers to have the same social worker and Independent Reviewing Officer. This helped to ensure that their needs and relationships as brothers and/or sisters were consistently considered in care planning and decision-making. Such an approach enabled consideration of a child's plan in the context of their siblings' plans and helped practitioners to be aware of the needs of all the children.

Where siblings are living apart, this approach enabled the social worker and Independent Reviewing Officer to be a consistent 'common link' between the children's parents and carers and helped to build relationships between them.

We know that Independent Reviewing Officers are key to ensuring regular review of care plans for sibling groups. This also applies to children who have important 'sibling-like' relationships; for example, brothers and/or sisters who have formed their 'sibling-like' relationship whilst living together in residential child care. Good practice was outlined where Independent Reviewing Officers supported the planning for a child's needs to be connected to their sisters and/or brothers.

9.8 Setting out clear local processes

We know that clear processes and timescales for decision-making, actions to be taken, and reviewing plans for children's care, are crucial for practice and lead to greater clarity for the children, families, carers, practitioners and decision-makers. We heard how when local practitioners were supported and encouraged to work together to create local guidance, there were resulting useful, practical tools (such as flowcharts and checklists) that enabled them to meet the needs of the children they supported in a timely and collaborative way.

9.9 Retrospective review of children's plans

The new ways of working brought about by these legislative changes will include retrospective review of past decisions about brothers and/or sisters. Viewing the needs of brothers and/or sisters through the lens of the new duties will ensure all children benefit, not just children for whom decisions are being made now.

Reviewing of previous decisions is likely to result in actions distinct from planning or current decision-making, for example there may be more emphasis on understanding and supporting sibling relationships than of children moving to live with new carers. Practitioners described how important this would be to upholding the rights of children with care experience who are brothers and/or sisters, but that they anticipated doing so could be challenging, and would require both encouragement as well as support from management and leadership.

9.10 Data to measure success

We often heard from people who support brothers and/or sisters how important it would be to collect data that best facilitated the support of children's relationships and upheld their rights.

We know that it is important that such data collection is not onerous for already busy practitioners, and that the reasons why the data is being collected is clearly communicated, to gain support for this data collection.

The following suggestions have emerged from the range of conversations and discussions in developing this guidance and may make a useful starting point when considering changes to data collection to support brothers and/or sisters. Helpful questions might be:

• Is the child living with whom they wish to be live? If not, why not?
• How do we know this (feedback from the child, siblings, parents, carers, and practitioners)?
• If the child is not living with their siblings, what arrangements have been put in place to support their relationships with their brothers and sisters?
• How do we know this (feedback from the child, siblings, parents, carers, and practitioners)?
• What do we know about the previous assessment and decisions made?
• What plans are in place for regular review?
• What emotional, practical and financial supports have been offered to help the realisation of the child's plan for the child and their parent and carers?

We recognise that a 'feedback loop' is helpful to ensure that practitioners, parents, carers, and children are aware of the purpose and impact of data collection and can see the improvements to practice and their lived experience as a result. We also know that the ways that data is collected in Scotland need to change and that this commitment is supported in next steps for national implementation.

9.11 Training and learning

We heard consistently that to uphold children's rights and embed change, practitioners need support to fully understand the new legislative duties, including learning and training. When learning, training, mentoring and coaching are carried out together across Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) services (social work, residential care, health, education, and other practitioners who support children and families, such as family support workers), there is a strengthened and shared understanding of what will be required to implement these changes.

Key areas for learning included training to develop practitioners' confidence in assessing relationships between brothers and/or sisters and availability and access to therapeutic support services. We know that across many local areas there is an existing focus on specific training relating to assessing parental capacity. Similar training relating to sibling relationships in the context of child development and their experience of complex trauma is a further area to build on to support practitioners and further strengthen practice.