Care Home Kid is a documentary about Neil, a 10 year old boy, who went into care. Neil spoke to other service users about their experiences and reflected back to his time in care.
Neil had access to his case files, which summarised his time in care. We get to know about the notes that were written by social workers about the different situations and meetings. Neil was devastated by some of the terminology used in his case files. One thing I believe I will always remember as a social worker is to write about others, how I would like others to write about me. I aim to apply this to every case record I write to ensure service users feel empowered and supported.
Additionally, there was a young girl called Emma, who had 17 different placements. I can only imagine how devastating it would be for a young child to be moved from one place to another. This led to her being unable to make strong relationships with others. She mentioned feeling “unwanted and rejected” as none of her placements supported her or loved her like their own children.
Neil was looking for a foster parent so he could continue to study and pursue his career. He mentioned making adverts for newspapers. The pain Neil would have gone through is unimaginable as I can never imagine asking for parents.
At the end of the documentary we get to see Neil with all the people he had a strong bond with. A special moment that touch my heart, was when Neil’s friends mentioned him as being family and the glue of their friendship. This showed that despite his negative childhood with his family he was still able to make his own family with his friends, which is simply wonderful.
Nazmin social work 