Corporate parenting

Being a corporate parent means we have a responsibility to uphold the rights of, and safeguard and promote the wellbeing of, Scotland’s looked after children and care leavers. We are doing this by making sure our organisational goals and objectives focus on what we need to do to support those children, and then develop activities to match.

How does our strategy help us be a good parent?

We have put children’s rights at the centre of our strategic themes. Everything that we do has to take the themes into account and all of our activities as an organisation should reflect that. You can read more about the themes in our Business and Corporate Parenting Plan 2020-2021, or by visiting Business and Corporate Parenting Plan 2023-24.

We better protect and uphold the rights of children; deliver consistently high-quality hearings; continue to build an effective, empathetic and well-supported panel; remain well-informed and influential in our environment and communities.

How we are being a good parent

Our recent achievements include:

Launching a Children’s Rights and Inclusion Strategy, to improve how children and young people can be included in hearings, taking into consideration the findings of the Independent Care Review.
Co-designing our annual Panel Member recruitment campaign with young people with lived experience of the hearings system.
Developing our understanding of how the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) can be reflected in our work as an organisation.
Involving young people with lived experience of the hearings system in the recruitment of volunteers as well as staff where possible.

Our shared corporate parenting vision

We are continually striving to be a good parent, and we have created a joint vision with Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA), which tells young people:

You are at the centre of the hearings system and are treated as an individual
The decisions that affect you are based on sound knowledge, clear evidence and with consideration of your views
Your Corporate Parents will work together to make the system work better for you
We will keep asking ourselves if the way we do things is the best it can be

For more information about our shared Corporate Parenting vision, visit the My Corporate Parents website.