Campaign documents and briefings
These are some of the issues we're currently campaigning around.
United We Stand: A Voluntary and Community Sector Manifesto for London’s Children and Young People
This manifesto is the work of a diverse coalition of organisations working with children and young people aged 0-25. Never before has such a range of voluntary and community groups come together with one voice to articulate what we need to do to make London better today and for our successor generation.
Download the report United We Stand (PDF)
Every Night You Cry: The realities of having a parent in prison
Every Night You Cry reports on the poor outcomes of children with a parent in prison, and highlights findings from an audit of children's plans that too many local authorities are failing to address their needs. It calls for better identification of children affected, and more timely intervention.
Download the report Every Night You Cry (PDF, 773KB)
Locking up or giving up? Why custody thresholds for teenagers aged 12, 13 and 14 needs to be raised - August 2009
This report outlines the findings from an analysis of the cases of 214 children aged 12, 13 and 14 who were sentenced to a Detention and Training Order in 2007/8 (46% of the total for this age group).
The key findings demonstrate that the Government’s intention that custody should only be used as a measure of ‘last resort’ is not put into practice – the research shows that 35% of the sample Barnardo’s analysed did not meet the criteria for custody and that 22% of them were sent to custody for breaching a community penalty such as a supervision or anti social behaviour order. The research also looked at the background of these children in custody and found that half had experienced some sort of abuse; 22% were living in care and 8% had attempted suicide at some stage in their short lives.
We are calling for:
- strict sentencing rules which reflect the intention of Parliament and Government so that children aged 14 and under cannot be considered for custody unless they have committed a grave crime or unless they have committed a serious offence and are a persistent offender; combined with
- a clear definition of persistency – so that custody is reserved for those whose offending really merits it
- a breach of a community based sentence never to result in a custody sentence for a child aged 14 or under unless there has been a serious or violent offence
- a requirement in national standards for YOTs to support children to comply with conditions of community orders
Download the report Locking up or giving up? (PDF)
School's out, or is it?
This briefing is based on research with 30 young people aged 13-18 years, in three Barnardo's alternative education and training services in the North East - Palmersville Training, The Base and B76.
Download the briefing paper School's out, or is it? (PDF)
Professional briefing on family mediation in Northern Ireland: research and practice - August 2007
This briefing outlines the findings from an evaluation of Newry Family Resource Centre's mediation service. The mediation service offers separating couples the opportunity to reach a shared agreement about child contact and residence that is in the best interests of their child. This briefing provides robust evidence that the mediation service is performing well above the national mean, and quantifies the savings in social work time that the mediation service offers when compared to a full court hearing. Barnardo's is currently a small player in the mediation arena but this evaluation makes a compelling case for extension of the work across Northern Ireland.
Download the briefing paper on Family mediation in Northern Ireland (PDF)
Locking up or giving up - is custody for children always the right answer?
This briefing examines the latest available government data for England and Wales (1996-2006) and reveals that despite continued low levels of violent crime, the use of custody for children aged 10-14 has increased 550%. It shows that these children are increasingly being locked up for less serious offences such as breach, summary offences and burglary. The briefing argues that custody is ineffective, expensive and effectively “writes off” children before the age of 14. Barnardo’s calls for a change in sentencing thresholds so that a child under 15 cannot be sent to custody unless they have committed ‘grave’ crimes or violent offences, and asks for greater investment in early support services for young people and their families.
Download briefing Locking up or giving up (PDF)
It doesn't happen here - The reality of child poverty in the uk
The lives of 3.8 million children in the UK - one in three are blighted by poverty. This report is based on interviews with over 40 families with whom Barnardo's works. These include children in black and minority ethnic families, those in families struggling on low wages, lone parent families, families affected by disability and large families, and other vulnerable groups, including children in asylum-seeking families, children in poor housing and young people living independently.
Download report - It doesn't happen here (PDF 1.69MB)Download executive summary (PDF)Download poverty briefing Northern Ireland (PDF)Download poverty briefing Cymru (PDF)Download poverty briefing Scotland (PDF)
Unfinished Journey
Remembering slavery, working towards equality
On 25 March, Britain marked an important date – 200 years since the abolition of the slave trade. To mark the event Barnardo’s released a report titled, Unfinished journey which focuses on three particular areas – poverty, education and mental health.
Download report - Unfinished journey (PDF, 2.05MB)
Don't push me around! Disabled children's experiences of wheelchair services in the UK
This report has been written by Barnardo's and Whizz-Kidz in order to bring about change in wheelchair service provision for disabled children with mobility needs in the UK. This report is supported by the Children's Commissioners in each of the four nations. Barnardo's and Whizz-Kidz are calling for the voices of disabled children and young people concerning their experiences of wheelchair provision to be heard and acted upon now.
Download report English version (PDF, 1.18MB) Download report Welsh version (PDF, 1.15MB)
'The end of the road' - report on asylum and immigration
This report gives evidence of the serious damage being done to vulnerable children by a new asylum and immigration policy. It examines the impact of Section 9 of The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 on families, and argues that it has a negative impact on the quality of protection available to asylum seekers in the UK.
Download the report summary (PDF)
Download the full report (PDF)
’Give us a chance’: Young people’s views on social issues.
Young people from all over UK call on Government to listen to their views in this new report 'Give us a chance; young people’s views on social issues'. The report outlines the views of 130 young people to politics, politicians and a whole range of social issues from drugs to bullying.
Download the report in English (PDF)
Download the report in Welsh (PDF)
Reduce Speed Now: Stop, Look and Listen:
Barnardo's and Transport 2000 have joined together to produce this report looking at the issues of road safety and the impact it has on children. While drivers protest at the proliferation of speed cameras, the report shows that on average over 250 children die or are seriously hurt each month on Britain's roads, that the poorest children are most likely to be killed by cars, and that children feel intimidated by speeding, bad drivers
More than 150 children aged between 7 and 14, across the UK, were asked about how traffic affects their lives. The report details how children feel speeding, selfish driving and busy roads are preventing them from walking, cycling and playing in their own neighbourhoods and in extreme cases forcing them to stay indoors.
Valuing School Nurses
Nurses are a trusted and necessary part of the school team, but they are under-resourced. The Royal College of Nursing and a consortium of charities, including Barnardo’s, are highlighting this problem. We are calling on the government to recognise the value of school nurses in the light of growing health problems among children and young people.
Download the report on school nursing (PDF, 1MB).
