Rebekah Pierre

Children’s minister urged to end ‘care-less’ housing for older looked-after children - CYP Now Campaigners have called on children’s minister Josh MacAlister to close a gap in the care system that leaves thousands of 16- and 17- year-olds “without day-to-day care” and vulnerable to exploitation...

With 4 in 10 children aged 16-17 now in care-less accommodation, the government’s assertion that it only be used in “exceptional circumstances” couldn’t be further from the truth.

Read about our open letter to @JoshMacAlister ⬇️.

#KeepCaringto18

www.cypnow.co.uk/content/news...

Article 39 has sent an open letter to @JoshMacAlister, urging an end to care-less accommodation for 16-17 year olds.

No loving parent would leave their GCSE aged child in a caravan alone, or in a hostel with vulnerable adults. The risks are obvious.

#KeepCaringTo18

Article 39 will be a core participant. We will be sharing day by day updates of the hearing on the link below.

Let’s not let them get away with the heinous things they did (including, but not limited to,
deleting/diluting 65

Other professional bodies, such as RCPsych, lead on this with compassion, understanding & good sense.

It’s time to acknowledge that some learning can’t be quantified. I’ll bet my bottom dollar not many social workers and or women were part of drafting this.

Time for a rehaul.

Tending to the needs of an infant who is dependent on you for survival is an indescribable learning curve.

It is a deep-dive into attachment theory, early years development, lived experience of maternity care and more. All of which are immediately transferrable to practice.

Social Work England’s policy toward maternity leave during registration renewal is at odds with social work values.

Not only is it despairing to see the 33% fee hike (with no exemption) but the assumption learning isn’t being “nurtured” during mat leave is patronising & outdated.

'I’ve had bin collection letters with more warmth': Rebekah Pierre on the reality of accessing care records - Community Care Rebekah Pierre discusses the impersonal process of receiving her care records and how councils need to better support care leavers

I am glad I didn’t access them when I first left care - I doubt I’d have coped.

Here are some of the things that would have helped me through the process, and something local authorities could consider for others. Link to full article in community care here: www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/08/08/c...

There was no recognition that this wasn’t just any SAR, but one in which I appealed for fragments of my childhood. No support offered to help make sense of records which were written in haste, seemingly with no thought that one day I could grow up to read them.

'I’ve had bin collection letters with more warmth': Rebekah Pierre on the reality of accessing care records - Community Care Rebekah Pierre discusses the impersonal process of receiving her care records and how councils need to better support care leavers

Subject access request routes for care leavers are unfit for purpose.

I’ve received bin collection letters with more warmth than the communication I had from my local authority when I requested my files.

'I’ve had bin collection letters with more warmth': Rebekah Pierre on the reality of accessing care records - Community Care Rebekah Pierre discusses the impersonal process of receiving her care records and how councils need to better support care leavers

‘I’ve had bin collection letters with more warmth’

I wrote about subject access requests for care files in @CommunityCare

As corporate parents, local authorities have a duty of care; they can’t control the content, but they can control the delivery:

www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/08/08/c...

A reflection on my care files, three years after sharing “An open letter to the social worker who wrote my case notes”, which ended up going viral at the time.

Here’s how my perspective has shifted:

(Original letter available at basw.co.uk/articles/ope...)

So here’s an extract from Free Loaves on Fridays, by Sam Upton, which boldly tells those who need educating who we are.

Get your copy - and share it with your local ignoramus - here (proceeds to Article 39 and Together Trust):

lnkd.in/eK4m9udA

his role on the Cambridgeshire council’s “children’s scrutiny committee” - a position I trust the council will be revoking immediately.

The appallingly comments made by Cllr Andy Osborn about children in care are doing the rounds.

As far as I’m concerned, his words don’t deserve any airtime. Not in this context, or indeed in the context of

My childcare fell through ahead of a keynote presentation this week and I was faced with a dilemma. Here’s what happened:

You can read more about the challenges (and joys) faced by care-experienced parents here, in Free Loaves on Fridays. Written by 100 children & adults with lived experience. Proceeds to Article 39 & The Together Trust: lnkd.in/eK4m9udA /9

What’s more, the ever-challenging act of balancing work and parenthood shouldn’t be airbrushed, but normalised. Grateful to NAIRO for supporting inclusivity through actions, not just words. Hope to model the same values to my son one day! /8

And anyway, as care-experienced parents, we do not always have access to the childcare or resources that our peers do. In bringing alongside my small sidekick, this was a testament to that lived reality. /7

Children don’t wait for a convenient window in which to disclose their truths. Nor do they choose a location which fits nicely into an adult schedule. The duty is on us to accommodate them, not the other way round. /6

Fortunately the organisers at NAIRO were incredibly supportive, and were keen to live their values of child centredness and inclusivity. The fact is, real social work is often loud, messy, and unpredictable. /5

So I took a risk. I decided to call the organisers a week in advance and present my dilemma; present online and risk blunting my message (and missing out on a rare opportunity to meet others in the field in person), or present IRL and risk the baby wailing in real time. No mute button available! /4

Why go to the effort to promote language that cares (both written and verbal) whilst implying that my own child was somehow a burden? /3

But given the theme was amplifying children’s voices in social care, it felt hypocritical to banish my own child from the building. How could I possibly speak about dismantling adult-centric systems, whilst bowing down to the old “children should be seen and not heard” approach? /2

My childcare fell through this week ahead of a keynote presentation. Initially I thought about joining virtually; I was concerned that my little one might cause too much disruption, and detract from my message. /1

But there must be a balance; the onus of success should never fall with individual care experienced people, who often succeed in spite of the system. It should land squarely with our political leaders to fund the sector, get serious about children’s rights, and protect them from institutional harm.

The house was packed. The care genuine. People listened.

It was an honour to play a small role on a panel on success, alongside fellow Free Loaves on Fridays author Kelli Archer.

The recurring theme was the importance champions; someone who believes in a child’s future regardless of the past.

My Care Story: 'Every social worker appeared always to be in a rush' - Community Care Rebekah Pierre discusses not being believed by social workers while in care and what she wished they had done differently

More from me on this today in Community Care: www.communitycare.co.uk/2025/03/27/m...

My advice to social workers would be to metaphorically take your eyes off the clock - to slow down, even when time in scarce. Because assessments and meetings will always be there, but you will never get the time with the child in front of you back.

So you in turn begin rushing (even though you’ve waited weeks for this appt), aware of the time-burden you appear to be?

That’s what it used to feel like as a child in care. Only, you’re not there on your own volition. So you wonder - if you’re so desperate to go, why am I here?