Joint Committee On Human Rights - Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence

Joint Committee On Human Rights Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence

1. Memorandum from ChildLine

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Dr Carole Easton is the Chief Executive of ChildLine. Esther Rantzen OBE is Founder/Chair of the charity. ChildLine was launched in 1986 to provide a free telephone helpline for children in danger or distress. It now has 10 call centres across the UK and 950 volunteer counsellors. ChildLine has records of calls and letters from more then 1,260,000 children and young people and 110,000 adults who have been given help and advice in the last 15 years. The vast majority of these are children who are not known to any other agency which could help and protect them. ChildLine hears from children whose voices do not reach decision makers or the statutory or voluntary sectors.

In addition to the UK-wide freephone service on 0800 1111 ChildLine has dedicated free helplines for children "in care" and others living away from home (The Line), deaf children, children who need advocacy and children who are being bullied (Scotland only). ChildLine has pioneered Peer Support through the CHIPS (ChildLine in Partnership with Schools) programme. ChildLine also offers a Web Site (www.childline.org.uk) providing information and advice about key issues which are important in the lives of young people.

From April 2000 to March 2001, 138,000 children and young people used the service (Annex A), with the most common reasons for calls being physical and sexual abuse (19%); bullying (17%); a breakdown in family relationships (14%); and worries about a friend's welfare (8%). In this period more than 1,500 children and young people were referred to emergency services (Annex B) such as the Police, the Ambulance service and Social Services. Signficant numbers of young people were also referred for advice about pregnancy and for advocacy.

ChildLine has produced ground breaking research based on its records of the lives and experiences of the young people it has helped. Saving Young Lives—Calls to ChildLine about Suicide is an example.

ChildLine has been involved in influential campaigns, including Refuges for children, the Treatment of Sex Offenders, Children "in Care" (especially residential establishments) and Bullying. Current campaigns include the role and treatment of Child Witnesses in Court (UK and European dimensions), Internet Safety and Advocacy for children and young people. In addition to participating in consultation meetings with a range of government departments, currently the Home Office Internet Task Force on Child Safety, and the Department of Health-led National Plan on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, ChildLine has also made written submissions on many issues, including Reports on Teenage Pregnancy (1998) and Young Runaways (2001).

ChildLine is internationally recognised for its pioneering work and has advised, and helped to set up, telephone helpline services for children and young people all over the world. In the last three years a partnership between ChildLine UK and CHILDLINE India to help develop telephone outreach services throughout the Indian subcontinent has been funded by the Lottery (Community Fund). ChildLine co-authored—with Sweden—the publication European Telephone Helplines for Children and Young People—Guidelines for Good Practice (2001) with sponsorship from the European Commisssion.

ChildLine comes up against a number of difficulties in providing services to children and young people, which may be of interest to the Committee. Firstly, it does not currently have the resources to meet the demand for its counselling service. Every day around 4,000 children call ChildLine, but lack of funds means that only 1,800 of them will get through to our counsellor for comfort, advice and protection. Secondly, it faces problems reaching some children, such as those with disabilities, those who do not have access to a phone—young offenders, children in poverty—and children who do not speak English. ChildLine does, however, cater for children who speak Welsh. Evidence available on age and gender reveals that 77% of calls are made by children between the ages of 12 and 18 and that only one in four calls is made by boys, leaving younger children and males under represented in ChildLine's caller group. The BT/ChildLine survey Are Young people being heard? (May 2002) conducted by RBA Research Ltd found that most children (53% of 11-16-year-olds) believe they are not being heard.

CHILDLINE AND THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

ChildLine's evidence to the Committee is based on what children and young people tell us. It is clear from what we hear that there are many instances where children's human rights, as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), are disregarded or violated. This is a section of the community which is unable directly to influence policy at any level, since children have no vote, and no economic power. It is therefore essential that their interests are protected by an authority independent of government, or of any vested interests.

Issues that children phone about which indicate that there are breachs of children's human rights in the UK

ALL FORMS OF ABUSE (PHYSICAL, SEXUAL AND EMOTIONAL)

BULLYING (MORE THAN 20,000 CALLS TO CHILDLINE ON THIS SUBJECT ALONE LAST YEAR), DISCRIMINATION, AND ALL FORMS OF HUMILIATING AND DEGRADING TREATMENT

FAILURE TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION (HEALTH; PREGNANCY; CONTRACEPTION)

FAILURE TO CONSULT ON SIGNIFICANT MATTERS AFFECTING THEIR LIVES (BEING IN CARE; DIVORCE AND SEPARATION)

FAILURE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AND MATERIAL RESOURCES (REFUGES, TEMPORARY CARE, FINANCIAL AID)

FAILURE TO FACILITATE THE PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN IN THE JUDICIAL SYSTEMS (GIVING EVIDENCE IN COURT). THERE IS CONSIDERABLE EVIDENCE THAT THE ADVERSARIAL LEGAL SYSTEM ADOPTED IN ENGLAND IS UNSUITED TO PROVIDING JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY THE VERY YOUNG, OR THOSE SERIOUSLY INJURED BY ABUSE

The main obstacles ChildLine faces in reaching out to children in need—and what a CRC could do to assist this

The main obstacle is the huge demand for ChildLine's service. Every day around 4,000 children call ChildLine, but lack of funds means that only 1,800 of them will get through to our counsellors for comfort, advice and protection. If some of the most common problems, bullying for example, were to be tackled and hopefully resolved through a CRC, the lives of all the children would be vastly improved. Bullying is an example of a problem which might appear on the surface to have been resolved already, by legislation requiring every school to have an anti-bullying policy. More than 20,000 children who rang ChildLine last year revealed that having such a policy does not mean that it is either accessible, or effective. And not all bullying takes place in schools. The CRC could take an independent view on behalf of children, and disseminate information as to the most effective means of combating bullying, using all the resources of the community, including where necessary the police.

The numbers of children contacting ChildLine every year are evidence that our services are generally accessible to chilren—because they can self-refer without the need to go through an adult. In addition, the telephone has a special role in allowing children to communicate in their own way and their own time, allowing them to feel in control, freeing them to discuss dangers and difficulties in a way that would be far too risky in face-to-face contacts.

The creation of an independent Children's Commissioner would allow children to sef-refer to the Commissioner. This would ensure that a particular area of concern, for example bullying, would be brought to the attention of decision-makers. All children who contact ChildLine are "in need". Their own definition of "need" may be very different from the official definition in the Children Act 1989.

There are categories of children who may be particularly vulnerable and "in need". Based on our experience we know that children in need of services include those who live away from their birth parents and other children who are excluded or detached from "mainstream" society in a number of ways. These include street children, runaways, children excluded from school, some disabled children, young carers, children affected by domestic violence, those who have recently arrived in the UK, children who "disappear" from the care system, trafficked children, unaccompanied minors brought to the UK to be abused through commercial sexual exploitation or to be involved in the drugs trade. Other children who are particularly vulnerable are those whose parent(s)/carer(s) are in jail, babies/infants who are in jail with their parent/carer, young people who are in jail with adults, and young offenders—whether on remand or convicted—who are not afforded protection under the Children Act. Their needs could in many cases be met by changes in public attitute, or by legislation, if brought under the remit of a CRC.

Main obstacles

— the huge demand for the service, which means that some children are unable to get through to ChildLine;

— some younger children, under 11, lack awareness about ChildLine's existence and how we can support them;

— some children are detached from school and other community services where they might hear about what ChildLine can offer them;

— young people "living away from home"—in residential homes, in young offenders' institutions, on the streets—often do not have private access to ChildLine services at the moment they need them (abuse, suicide prevention, exiting commercial sexual exploitation or from drug environments);

— poverty may prevent children from having access to a telephone, either within the home or within deprived communities (and may not possess mobile phones, or have out-of-school access to PCs and the internet);

— some may not be able to communicate—or communicate well—in English.

Assistance to overcome them

— although the main obstacle to meeting the demand for ChildLine's service is lack of sufficient funding, the creation of a Commission for Children would allow some of the most common problems to be tackled at source, and that in turn would reduce the numbers of children in need;

— realistic funding for ChildLine would enable all children who need our services to receive a quality response in the quickest possible time;

— support for ongoing information and publicity about ChildLine that reaches all children and young people in all parts of society;

— research to be commissioned to ascertain from children in need themselves how they would like to contact ChildLine, and what additional/new services, if any, they would expect;

— practical and innovative support enabling vulnerable children and children "in need" to make contact with ChildLine (telephone calls, the website, CHIPS).

What ChildLine offers to children who ring—existing mechanisms and how they can be improved, and how ChildLine campaigns could improve what children are offered

— a quality response, whether the need is for information, advice or in-depth counselling;

— a service they trust and where they can self-refer;

— confidentiality unless they or another person are in severe, immediate danger;

— establishing appropriate contacts and referring children to statutory emergency services;

— child-focused help, moving children towards resolution or improvement of the issues which they telephone about;

— ongoing advice and support from a trusted individual where appropriate;

— clear information and advice, in written form and on the website, appropriate to the age of the young person;

— a peer support programme (CHIPS) to enable young people to help their friends (a ChildLine survey of 2,400 14-16 year-olds indicated that more than 30% of young people would tell a friend, in the first instance, if they had a problem).

Improvements

— through more resources (volunteers/paid staff and funding) to answer every call from every child the first time they ring;

— the creation of a Commission for Children, to which ChildLine could refer any ongoing campaigns, or new problems brought to our attention by the children who contact us;

— outreach services in addition to CHIPS (ChildLine in Partnership with Schools) to reach the children who are not or not regularly in contact with the education system;

— using the latest technologies, for example the internet, text phone, with which children communicate, including those disabled children prefer to use;

— public awareness campaign addressed to children about their right to safety, backed up by effective access to ChildLine and other child-friendly services.

The powers ChildLine believes a CRC would need in order to make a difference for children and young people

To be credible and win the trust of children and young people, the Commission needs to be, and be seen to be, independent of "authority" ie government and free to set its own agenda. It needs to be "child centred" and "child friendly", as ChildLine is, so that children can self-refer. (It should not be necessary to point out that this also means it will be "family friendly", since all the children who contact us express the need to be loved and secure, preferably, where possible, in a family context.) A CRC must also develop close relationships with the government in order to be influential. [21]Its establishment should broadly follow the principles relating to the status of national institutions known as the "Paris Principles".[22]

— a commission, established through legislation, headed by a Commissioner with powers and duties to address all issues affecting all children and young people, and to act as a powerful advocate on behalf of all children, promoting respect for their views;

— powers and the duty to monitor, promote and protect the human rights of all children, and to promote knowledge of and respect for the human rights of children throughout society;

— duties to include the promotion of full compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international and national instruments (Human Rights Act);

— powers to child-proof all proposed legislation, regulations etc about their potential impact on children and their families or carers;

— powers to develop Codes of Practice, or Codes of Quality, to which children's services should adhere, complemented by legal regulations to make participation by and listening to children an organisational requirement;

— powers to make accessible full legal advice to children under both UK and international legislation and conventions;

— powers to access children's views and feelings directly, without having to go through adults;

— powers similar to the other commissions to launch formal investigations;

— powers, in exceptional circumstances, to investigate and take up "test" cases and legally represent a child (without revealing the child's identity) eg when bringing a test case under Human Rights Act or other legal instruments;

— powers to bring "class action" without the need to have named applicants;

— powers and duties to review and report freely and publicly on any matter related to children and their rights and interests;

— duty to publish a report annually on the state of children in the UK.

How a CRC could raise awareness amongst children about their own human rights

The creation of a Commissioner for Children will automatically attract a great deal of publicity. The media will obviously be attracted to the most crucial issues affecting children, and will feature individual cases referred to the CRC. This interest will continue, provided that the Commsissioner welcomes this and uses it as the most effective means of reaching and informing children. (ChildLine has used these methods, and 15 years after our launch, is known by 86% of 11-16-year old children, and 94% of adults).

In addition, as issues arise, it will be necessary to conduct public awareness campaigns among children and young people to inform them about their basic human rights and how they can use them to bring about improvements in their lives.

The UK government has signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and has a duty to inform children, and adults, about the rights under the Convention. These include the right not to be abused (eg Article 19), the right to protection from sexual abuse (Article 34) and from any other kind of exploitation (Article 36), the right not to be punished in a cruel way or tortured (Article 37), the right to the best health possible and to medical care (Article 24), the right to help from the government if they are poor or in need (Article 26) and help if the child has been hurt, neglected or badly treated (Article 39), and the right to an education (Article 28). A child-friendly version of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child should be given to every child, for example, as partof an introductory pack upon entering school. This, combined with PSHE discussions and information about where to go for help, including access to ChildLine as a free, confidential, 24-hour telephone helpline; the school-based CHIPS—ChildLine in Partnership with Schools peer support programme; and ChildLine's website, with messages reinforced in each grade as they pass through school life, would act as powerful tools to help children know what constitutes "abuse"; and that it does not need to be tolerated or suffered.

The experience of other countries which already have children's commissioners, or ombudspersons, shows that knowledge about their work spreads quickly among children, usually through child-focused magazines and other information material, particularly when individual (anonymised) cases and their outcomes are reported. Children themselves should be involved in the design and content of child-friendly advice and information. For example, a magazine could cover letters and stories by children about how they identified and helped prevent child abuse and thus lead to the dissemination of good practice models for other children.

In Austria, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, milk cartons carried information about children's rights. Anyone who wrote in received a pack of 14 postcards "Children have rights", illustrated by a well-known artist, and where requested, additional information about specific rights issues.

Denmark has one of the most extensive systems of services for children in Europe. Listening to children has been a main principle of public policy for many years, based on the understanding that even very young children can develop self-determination and achieve a "contributory influence" on their everyday lives. After signing the Convention in 1991, the Ministry of Social Affairs initiated a large-scale information campaign directed towards children and adults. Children aged nine and under received a book by a well-known Danish author, to be read aloud in kindergartens (3-6 year olds) and the first grades of school. Older chidren received either a magazine or a newspaper. (Further information about the Danish experience is available.)

In 1998 the Flemish Parliament voted to establish the Children's Rights Commissioners Office, as an independent ombudsservice for Children, one of its main goals being to advise the Flemish Parliament on the implementation of the UNCRC in the Flemish legislation and policy. Parliament gave them the competence to investigate complaints and guaranteed access to all governmental or non-governmental information or infrastructure. They found that the informal restrictions on children's human rights, expressed in informal rules, regulations or attitudes especially in the Child Protection system, posed particular difficulties. The Ombudsoffice received many complaints about violations of Children's Rights. A young girl, placed in a welfare centre because of her problematic behaviour, was prescribed medicine to keep her calm. She complained that she was no longer able to go to school, as she thought the medication was too strong for her. Although she had the legal right to ask for a second opinion from a physician of her own choice, no one informed her. When she wanted to visit another physician, the staff threatened to let her pay for it herself.

Experience in Europe shows that—as a cautionary note—if children do not see any concrete results, they quickly lose enthusiasm for participation, and initiatives to involve them tend to fizzle out.

Ways in which a CRC could fit in with ChildLine's work (including ChildLine's communication strategy), with particular focus on how children make contact with ChildLine

ChildLine would enthusiastically welcome the opportunity of bringing the voices of children in need to the attention of a CRC. It would enormously strengthen ChildLine's capacity to campaign on behalf of children, and bring their voices to the decision-makers. It would go a very long way towards our ideal, of actually solving some of their most common problems.

Children and young people have used ChildLine services since its inception in 1986 in their hundreds of thousands as a source of comfort, protection, information and advice, as a service they know, trust and—most importantly—can access themselves, without the need to go through an adult. They can telephone ChildLine any time, day or night, 365 days a year, and for as long as they wish. They know they will be listened to with respect. Around 1,500 children in crisis, often calling at night, after having run away or been thrown out, are referred by ChildLine to statutory emergency services every year.

ChildLine anticipates working in active partnership and in a mutually supportive and complementary relationship with the Children's Rights Commission, whilst retaining its own independent and unique role, developed during the past 15 years of existence. The Commission will neither have the resources nor should it aim to duplicate or replace the services ChildLine is providing. Below are some ideas about how the new Commission could use its powers to complement ChildLine services.

Reaching out

ChildLine is a UK-wide service, operating from 10 centres, with one well-known free telephone number. The anticipated regional structure of the Commission may be able to reach into more local communities—and possibly deprived ones. Joint publicity could be undertaken in partnership with locally-based services such as Sure Start, Children's Fund projects, and Connexions, to reach more children in need and ensure that the Commission develops into a truly inclusive service for all children.

Communication

ChildLine's helpline provides child-focused help, working with the children towards resolution or modification of the issues about which they telephone. At the pace, determined by the child, our counsellors enourage and facilitate ongoing advice and support from a trusted individual, or helping agency, within the child's own networks.

Knowledge about ChildLine is spread by our high media profile, and by schools and other youth organisations. It is also spread informally by word of mouth, through friendship circles and between siblings. Despite rare instances of "paid advertising" children also know about ChildLine through posters, leaflets, our website, CHIPS, referral from professionals such as teachers and other voluntary organisations. In partnership with major corporate sponsors, ChildLine has also conducted publicity campaigns, for example on bullying, using commercial products such as breakfast cereals.

ChildLine (as well as other children's organisations), in collaboration with children and young people, could play a major role in the public awareness campaign suggested above

The CHIPS programme could be a vehicle to get the human rights messages into schools, complementing the peer support initiatives as well as the PSHE citizenship programmes.

Information packs containing, for example, a credit-sized card with the key human rights/contact details of the Commission on one side, and information about ChildLine's telephone helpline on the other could be devised. ChildLine has proven expertise in developing such materials.

Campaigning

ChildLine has limited resources to campaign and lobby on behalf of the children and young people. We seek to ensure that maximum resources go towards the direct services to children. Currently we seek to raise public awareness and influence policies and practice relating to children's concerns based on what children themselves say to us, through the media, through publications and active participation in consultations, events and policy development. We also work together with other children's organisations around specific campaigns or areas of concern. Having an independent champion for children would mean that much of the campaigning could be done through the Commission, with continuing and structured input from organisations such as ChildLine, ensuring a greater voice for children and maximising our impact.

New areas

Based on principles which safeguard the anonymity of ChildLine callers, ChildLine could be commissioned by the Commission to carry out detailed research of our extensive database, and produce reports and recommendations which would have the benefit of being entirely evidence-based. Certain research projects could ask ChildLine callers a limited number of specific questions, over a limited time; they would have to be devised sensitively and based on the understanding that helping the individual child would be our paramount concern.

ChildLine could be an important source of filtering calls and referring children to the Commission, assuming that the Commission may not have the capacity to answer all calls from children, around the clock. Our counselling staff could be asked to record such calls, with details of the human rights issues involved, which would enable ChildLine to monitor and report on them to the Commission for possible action. Outcomes could then be reviewed jointly to facilitate evidence-based evaluation of both services, which will be crucial in demonstrating their effectiveness.

As with other Commissions, there will be an anticipated surge in the demand for training. ChildLine has expertise in child-focused training of thousands of volunteers, and could be commissioned to developing appropriate training programmes. These could be multi-agency in nature, tapping into the experience of ChildLine on the issues children call us about, and of others who have greater current expertise in children's human rights. Such training would not only concentrate on developing a variety of skills and knowledge, but also emphasise child protection, especially from the child's perspective, thus helping ensure that people unsuitable for working with children are kept out of the system which provides access to children.

Children and young people have been the first to suggest new ideas and approaches to ChildLine, and it is essential that they are consulted on their views about how services can be most effective. These ideas are often unknown and unfamiliar to adults. A recent example has been the proliferation of mobile phones, and with it the use of text messaging, a world familiar to thousands of young people but unknown to most adults. Young people are now suggesting that text messaging may be a major way of communicating with them. Future ideas are now developing with the next generation of young people, and if we fail to consult them we shall miss unique opportunities to provide them with the help and services they need.

Annex A

WHAT CHILDREN CALL CHILDLINE ABOUT

Our specially trained volunteer counsellors gave in-depth counselling to more than 138,000 children and young people between April 2000 and March 2001. We keep confidential written records of children's calls, enabling us to analyse the kinds of problems they contact ChildLine about and put together the table below.

In addition to these children who need in-depth counselling, many more require fairly straightforward help and information from ChildLine. There were over one million such calls this year. Written records of these brief calls are not made, so they are not included in the table.

The main problems children call about

Concern	Girls	%	Boys	%	Total	%
Abuse—physical, sexual, emotional, risk, unspecified	17,275	19	7,809	29	25,084	21
Bullying	15,368	17	4,901	18	20,269	17
Family relationships (including divorce/separation)	13,105	14	3,519	13	16,624	14
Concern for others	8,555	9	1,061	4	9,616	8
Facts of life	6,946	8	1,942	7	8,888	7
Pregnancy	7,510	8	524	2	8,034	7
Problem with friends	4,892	5	546	2	5,438	5
Health (emotional/physical/suicidal)	4,106	4	994	4	5,100	4
Partner relationships	4,001	4	724	3	4,725	4
Running away/homelessness	1,955	2	1,204	4	3,159	3
Sexuality	1,051	1	1,173	4	2,224	2
Smoking/alcohol/drugs/solvent abuse	1,391	2	574	2	1,965	2
School problem	1,284	1	539	2	1,823	2
In care	402	0	185	1	587	0
Other	4,351	5	1,502	6	5,853	5
TOTAL	92,192	*	27,197	*	119,389	*

* Totals do not add up to 100% because percentages have been rounded off to the nearerst whole number.

Between April 2000 and March 2001, of the 138,000 children whom ChildLine comforted, protected and advised, more than 119,000 contacted ChildLine for the first time, including 498 who wrote a letter. Our counsellors also took 19,353 calls from young people who had first called ChildLine before April 2000, and needed further counselling.

In the table, the "Other" category includes a range of problems which add up to less than 1% each of calls, such as bereavement, domestic violence, criminal behaviour, adoption, racism, financial worries, legal, cultural and religious issues.

Annex B

REASONS FOR REFERRAL TO EMERGENCY SERVICES

(For internal use for info only)

1 April 2000-31 March 2001

Top four reasons for referrals to emergency services were: