On Monday 4th October, Clan Childlaw was delighted to co-host a webinar with Who Cares? Scotland about the rights of brothers and sisters in Scotland. The webinar was part of a series organised by Stand Up for Siblings to support implementation of the new Scottish laws on brothers and sisters in care.
A recording of the webinar is now available on Vimeo.
The webinar features a Q&A between Thomas Bartlett, National Representative of Who Cares? Scotland, Claire Osborne, Solicitor at Clan Childlaw, and Sarah Bannerman, Solicitor at Clan Childlaw. The questions explore:
- What the new Scottish laws for brothers and sisters are and what they mean
- How to identify different situations where these rights could be relevant for brothers and sisters
- What positive participation could look and feel like for Care Experienced people to have their views heard
- How individuals can get support to uphold their rights
Janet Cormack, Legal Policy Manager at Clan Childlaw, said:
“The law has changed for care experienced brothers and sisters in Scotland and siblings should be starting to see a difference in how social workers and Children’s Hearing panel members support them to see each other and live together. It’s really important that children and young people know that they have rights when it comes to their relationships with brothers and sisters when they are in care. It’s important they know what they can do and who they can talk to if they are not being supported to maintain those relationships. We hope this webinar will help get that message out.”
Stand Up for Siblings launched in 2018 as a group of organisations and individuals committed to driving changes to law, policy and practice to stop brothers and sisters losing touch and keep them living together wherever possible when in care. Clan Childlaw and Who Cares? Scotland were both founding members of Stand Up for Siblings and continue to be active members with colleagues from across the sector. After playing a key role in pushing for changes to the law, Stand Up for Siblings is now focusing on supporting implementation of the new laws and making sure children and families fully benefit from them in practice.
Find out more
The other two Stand Up for Siblings webinars in this series looked at Research into Practice and Implementing Policy and Practice Change.
