Our pledge
We pledge to work together to provide you the best possible care and support. Our pledge is designed to help you be the best you can be in your life - now and in the future. To do this we will:
- Provide you with a safe home to live where you feel happy and taken care of. This means that wherever possible you will have a choice about where you live. You will not be moved from a settled home unless absolutely necessary. Or that it is deemed to be in your best interests.
- Provide you with the support you need to do well in education. This means you'll have the opportunity to go to a school where you can flourish. You'll get support outside of school to do well in exams and have access to college and university.
- Listen to you about things in your own life and about the care that you receive from us. This means you'll always be involved in decisions that are made about your own life. We find ways to help you tell us if you find this difficult. We provide opportunities for you to tell us what you think about the care that you receive. If you have a complaint help you to voice it.
- Be honest with you about things that have happened in your life and the decisions that are made about your care. We know it may be difficult to understand why certain decisions are made about your care. We can't promise that you will always agree with these decisions. However we'll always be honest about the reasons for these decisions.
- Help you to develop good relationships with those who you care for, and those who are most important to you. This means, as possible, we'll provide you with opportunities to see those people.
- Provide you with support and opportunities to enjoy your life. This includes having interests and hobbies of your own. We'll make sure you have access to opportunities and activities outside of education.
- Provide you with the support you need. So that when you leave care you'll be able to live independently and and flourish in adult life. This means that we will make sure that you have choices about how and when you leave care.
We make these pledges to you and will do our best to always fulfil each one. There are many teams involved in helping make these pledges happen - from Children's Services to Housing and Health. We will make sure that we work together to do this.
Harrow Council - Corporate Parenting Panel
Harrow's pledge for children in care is endorsed by the Corporate Parenting panel on behalf of the council.
All policy and procedures relating to children looked after are overseen by the Corporate Parenting panel.
Elected councillors and senior council officers meet to discuss the performance, service delivery and aspirations for the council in respect of Children Looked After and young people leaving care. Beyond Limits representatives also attend the Corporate Parenting panel.
This panel is lead by elected councillors to challenge, scrutinise and support the services for children looked after.