Care-experienced young people take their priorities directly to the Welsh Government
Young people and representatives from Voices From Care Cymru met Delyth Jewell MS at the Senedd to discuss the changes care-experienced people want to see across Wales.
The meeting gave young people an opportunity to speak directly about where current systems are still failing to provide consistent support. Their contributions connected personal experience with practical changes that could improve the lives of care-experienced children, young people and families.
Adoption must remain part of the care-experienced conversation
James spoke about the experiences of adopted people and the need for adoption to be better understood as part of the wider care-experienced community. Adoption may change a child's legal status, but it does not remove their earlier experiences or the need for informed, dependable support.
He raised concerns that support can end too quickly after an adoption. Children and families can lose regular reviews and contact with social workers at the point when continuing relationships and professional guidance may still matter.
Challenging stigma and poor communication
Amy spoke about the stigma experienced by care-experienced people and birth parents. She described how unfair treatment and poor communication from local authority professionals, children's guardians and adoption services had affected her.
She also explained why these experiences can create lasting uncertainty, including concern about how she and her children may be treated in the future. Her contribution underlined the need for services to communicate with respect, recognise people's full circumstances and avoid assumptions based on care experience.
Education, employment and safe housing
Brendan focused on the barriers care-experienced young people can face in education, training and employment. Disrupted education, neurodiversity and inconsistent access to financial and practical support can combine to make routes into learning and work harder to navigate.
He also highlighted housing and homelessness. Support varies between local authorities, and care leavers can face very different experiences depending on where they live. While the When I am Ready scheme was recognised as a positive step, VFCC said its delivery remains inconsistent across Wales. Concerns were also raised about care leavers being placed in unsafe or unsuitable accommodation.
Care-experienced young people must not simply be consulted. They must be directly involved in shaping the policies and services that affect their lives.
Keeping the commitment to radical reform
The group discussed the all-party agreement behind the Radical Reform Declaration and stressed the importance of maintaining that political commitment. Agreement across political parties has created an important foundation, but young people need to see that commitment translated into sustained action.
VFCC called for future summits and continued opportunities for care-experienced young people to influence decisions, scrutinise progress and speak directly to the people responsible for change.
A Corporate Parenting Charter with accountability
The Corporate Parenting Charter was another central part of the discussion. VFCC welcomed the charter and the expectations it sets for organisations whose decisions affect care-experienced children and young people.
However, voluntary commitments alone are not enough to guarantee a consistent experience across Wales. VFCC called for clearer national standards, stronger accountability and statutory responsibilities that apply consistently wherever a young person lives.
Putting children's rights at the top
VFCC emphasised that the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child should sit at the top of the accountability framework for corporate parenting. Care-experienced children and young people are rights holders, and those rights must be central to how organisations make decisions, deliver services and measure whether their commitments are creating meaningful change.
Delyth Jewell MS said she wanted to continue working with VFCC and remained open-minded about what stronger statutory responsibilities could look like.
What happens next
The meeting forms part of VFCC's continuing work to ensure care-experienced children and young people have a direct role in shaping policy. The priorities raised at the Senedd show why reform must be joined up: adoption support, respectful services, education, employment, housing and corporate parenting are different parts of the same experience.
VFCC will continue pressing for national consistency, meaningful accountability and regular opportunities for young people to lead the conversation about change.