The Tower Hamlets Corporate Parenting Board
The Corporate Parenting Board meets every three months and has representation from:
- Councillors,
- young people,
- foster-carers,
- partner organisations and
- senior managers from across the Council.
The corporate parenting principles underpin the work of the board, as it takes a strategic approach to the experiences of children we care for and care experienced young people. The board works with partners to meet corporate parenting responsibilities.
Tower Hamlets Corporate Parenting Strategy 2023 – 2028
The Corporate Parenting Strategy outlines a vision for how we can work together, across the whole council, with our partners and with our children and young people, to ensure they have every opportunity to develop, realise their aspirations and thrive.
The Tower Hamlets Corporate Parenting Strategy 2023 – 2028 was co-produced with our children and young people. Through workshops and other events and meetings they shared what matters most to them and makes life good. The ‘key messages’ from them are the foundation for the strategy. The pledge, priorities and actions within the strategy set out how we will respond.
Our pledge to children in our care and care experienced young people
Our Pledge is a set of commitments that we are asking everyone to sign up to – all parts of the council and partner organisations across sectors. The purpose of the Pledge is to challenge everyone to do more. These commitments describe the practical steps everyone can take to contribute to making a real difference to your lives.
Our pledge
- We will ask ourselves ‘what can we do?’ to play a part in making your lives better
- We will join with others (across the whole borough) working together to form a community of support for you
- We will take time to learn more about the experience of care, so we understand you better
- We will work to empower you, open the door to opportunities, and help you to make the most of them
- We will look for ways to make your voice heard in what we do, and how we do it
Care experience as a protected characteristic
Care-experienced individuals often encounter significant barriers around:
- employment,
- housing
- health
As well as experiencing a higher chance of being involved in:
- crime
- poverty
- social exclusion
On the 26 July 2023 the council agreed to protect those who have been in care from stigma and discrimination once they leave by making being in care a protected characteristic in all council decisions.
Find out more about care experience
Coram Voice (a leading children’s rights organisation)
Stories, interviews and articles from care experienced young people supported by Coram Voice
BBC Teach Resources
Videos about supporting care-experienced children in school and their real testimonies
Childrens’ Commissioner - IMO (In My Opinion) a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers