Your rights as a child or young person in care

Your rights in out-of-home care

• You have the right to have contact with your family and community.
• You have the right to be told why you are in care and to keep a record of your time in care.
• You have the right to ask for any information that is being kept about you, to read your file and to add any information to your file.
• You have the right to be treated fairly.
• You have the right to be treated with respect.
• You have the right to feel safe and not be abused.
• You have the right to complain.
• You have the right to services that promote your health and wellbeing.
• You have the right to ask for extra help with your education.
• If you have to go to court, you have the right to be helped and supported.
• You have the right to do things that you enjoy.
• You have a right to your own beliefs and way of life.
• You have the right to make choices about everyday matters.
• You have the right to say what you are thinking and feeling.
• You have the right to take part in making important decisions affecting your life.
• Before leaving care, you have the right to be involved in planning the kind of support and assistance you may need after leaving care.

Always remember these are your rights. They are meant to protect you and everyone involved in your care has to make sure they are respected. The Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 requires that these rights are supported by carers and caseworkers.

For an easy to understand explanation of your rights, have a look at our resources for 7 to 12 years old children and 13 to 17 years old young people. These include booklets, videos and posters to download.

Charter of Rights for 7 to 12 year old children

Booklet

Your rights explained in a easy to understand language - download the Charter of Rights -  Blue booklet for 7 to 12 years old (PDF, 12.1 MB).

Videos

For quick and simple explanations of key rights check out our videos.

Posters

Bright, colourful, printable posters on your rights as a child in care.

• It's your right to know your family (PDF, 382.7 KB)
• It's your right to ask why you are in care (PDF, 130.9 KB)
• It's your right to feel safe, secure and cared for (PDF, 260.4 KB)
• It's your right to ask for help (PDF, 188.3 KB)
• It's your right to do things that make you happy (PDF, 237.7 KB)
• It's your right to talk about your future (PDF, 200.3 KB)

Charter of Rights for 13 to 17 year old young people

Booklet

Your rights explained in a easy to understand language - download the Charter of Rights -  Green booklet for 13 to 17 years old (PDF, 20.1 MB).

Videos

For quick and simple explanations of key rights check out these videos.

Posters

Bright, colourful, printable posters on your rights as a young person in care.

• It's your right to know your family (PDF, 353.0 KB)
• It's your right to know why you're in care (PDF, 228.4 KB)
• It's your right to feel safe and be treated with respect (PDF, 192.4 KB)
• It's your right to ask for help (PDF, 208.8 KB)
• It's your right to be happy (PDF, 200.5 KB)
• It's your right to be involved in planning your future (PDF, 257.8 KB)

Care Leavers' Charter of Rights

The Care Leaver’s Charter of Rights outlines key principles that The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) will follow in supporting care leavers as they transition to independent living.

It is intended to help care leavers become confident, resilient and independent adults who feel in charge of their own lives.

The Charter uses the voices of young people who are or were in care to say what is important to them, how they should be treated and what they expect from the practitioners who support them.

The Care Leaver’s Charter of Rights can be downloaded as an A3 Poster (PDF, 677.4 KB) or a double-sided A4 Sheet. (PDF, 549.3 KB)

Spending time with your family

No matter what your age, if you're in out of home care, you have the right to stay in contact with your family, including your siblings.

Talk to your caseworker about:

• how you can stay in touch with your family - by phone, online or face-to-face activities
• how often you can see your family
• what activities you would like to do with different family members.

Your caseworker has the responsibility for ensuring you can spend time with family. They will talk about how this can happen, with all the people involved such as your foster carer/s, parents/other family members and others where relevant.

A schedule of family time involving phone, online or face-to-face activities will be developed during case meetings as part of your annual case plan. You and/or your carer will be given a copy of your family time schedule after each case meeting.

Case planning meetings

A case plan records all the actions necessary in order to help you achieve your goals, support your development and prepare for the future. Case plans also list the people who will support you and how they will do this.

During case meetings some important decisions about your life will be made including where you're going to live and for how long, how you'll be spending time with your family and plans for your education, amongst other things.

The law says you have the right to be kept informed, express your views and participate in decisions about what's happening in your life. It's really important that you consider speaking up in these meetings to ensure your views are heard.

How can you participate

Here are some ways in which you can participate in case planning:

• meeting with your caseworker before the case plan meeting so they can explain the process and prepare you for the meeting
  
• writing down or recording your comments and views before a case meeting
• suggesting topics for case meetings
• suggesting a place to have the meeting, where you feel most comfortable
• attending the case meeting to develop your case plan
• bringing a support person with you, to your case meeting
• doing some artwork or a picture to describe your feelings.

The caseworker will ensure you have the opportunity to have input by providing:

• information about decisions that need to be made
• an explanation of the decisions made but also the reasons for each decision.

Read more about how you can prepare for case planning meetings and have a chance to speak up DCJ's Leaving care information for young people.

Support while you are in care

From the time you enter care, your caseworker will be in regular contact. However, you don't have to wait for your caseworker to contact you. You can contact them at any time to discuss any concerns, questions or issues you may have.

Your caseworker will:

• work with you to set goals and plan for your future, and create an action plan that can help you make your goals a reality
• listen to you, help you with concerns or challenges you may have, and support you in the things that are happening in your life
• have contact with lots of people in your community, for example, your school, family and your carers
• work with your carer to support you.

Any additional support you may need will be outlined in your case plan. For example, seeing a psychologists or other medical and health service such as a dentist.

Your caseworker often has to make decisions about your life, but they should always speak to you first to get your input before a decision is made.