Vale of Glamorgan Council makes commitment to care-experienced parents.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council is one the first local authorities in Wales to adopt a pioneering charter, enshrining the rights of care-experienced parents.  

15 February 2022

The charter, ‘Supporting Parents In and Leaving Care’ was developed by care-experienced parents working with professionals from charities and local authorities. 

It pledges new standards of support for those starting a family and commits the Vale of Glamorgan to actively tackling discrimination and stigma. 

One of the most significant commitments in the charter is to confirm there will be no automatic pre-birth care assessment referrals, rather a more proportionate risk-based approach. 

Cllr Ben Gray, the Vale of Glamorgan’s Cabinet Member for Social Care and Health and Chair of our Corporate Parenting Panel said: 

“We’re extremely grateful to everyone that has contributed to the drafting of this charter – it has brought the voices of care-experienced parents to the fore. Their courageous and insightful contributions create a compelling case for supporting the rights of care experienced parents and ensuring appropriate levels of support”. 

Crystal, our Care Leavers Champion said:

“This change will help so many young people to think about their future and what they really want. I know many young people, including myself, are worried about starting our own families, as we don’t want the same thing that happened to us to happen to our children.  Getting support and knowing that there are people out there that we can talk to is amazing.” 

The wide-ranging charter also commits the Vale of Glamorgan to helping care-experienced expectant mothers and fathers develop parenting skills, access financial help, advocacy and mental health support. 

‘Supporting Parents In and Leaving Care’ was funded by Cardiff University’s ESRC Impact Acceleration Account and developed by CASCADE in partnership with VFCC, NYAS Cymru and TGP Cymru.

The research underpinning the charter was funded by Health and Care Research Wales.