Memorandum by The Children's Society
Welfare of Former Child Migrants Inquiry
(CM 121)
SUMMARYKey matters
we wish to discuss in making a response to the welfare of former
child migrants inquiry are as follows:1. A brief history of the
Society's child emigration schemes to Canada (1883-1937), Australia
(1925-c1955) and Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe (1949-c1955).
This provides information about the number of children sent and
outlines aspects of the Society's placement and after-care policies.2.
The measures being taken by The Children's Society to ensure that
child migrants are offered a service based on a sound historical
understanding and professional good practice. The Children's Society
has recognised its former role in emigrating children overseas
and has implemented a two-fold strategy designated to:
(1) discover objective information about
"what happened". To this end the Society has invested
resources to learn about its former child emigration policy and
the impact this has had on child migrants and their relatives.
The learning process has included a fact finding visit to Canada,
the aim of which was to liaise with child migrant pressure groups,
meet child migrants and their relatives and locate relevant records;
(2) offer a range of
professional post-care services to assist former child migrants
and relatives searching for personal and family information. The
post care services available to child migrants which are provided
by The Children's Society's Post Adoption and Care Project and
the Records and Archive Management Section are outlined. In addition,
this discussion highlights the fact that child migrant enquiries
will have an impact on the sending agencies beyond the lifetimes
of the child migrants themselves. Agencies are now beginning to
receive increasing numbers of enquiries from the children and
grandchildren of child migrants.3. Five issues which The Children's
Society considers should be regarded as being central to the welfare
of child migrants. These views are based on the evidence gleaned
by the Society when researching its former child emigration policies
and on the experiences encountered in offering post care services
to child migrants and their relatives.4. Four strategies that
The Children's Society recommends the Government adopt to assist
child migrants, their relatives and the agencies working with
them.
1. INTRODUCTION1.1
From the late nineteenth century through to the early 1960s the
British Government, through the Poor Law Authorities, and many
British child care agencies were actively engaged in emigrating
children to Canada, Australia and the former Southern Rhodesia
(now Zimbabwe), where it was thought they would find better homes
and a better future.1.2 Along with other national voluntary childcare
organisations, The Children's Society1 was involved
in the child emigration movement from 1883 to the late 1950s.
This involvement comprised two phases. The first spanned the years
1883 to 1937 and concerned emigration to Canada via the receiving
homes the Society maintained there. The second phase centred on
emigration between 1925 and the 1950s when the Society used other
agencies to emigrate children in its care to Australia and Southern
Rhodesia.1.3 As a result of this, The Children's Society has a
direct concern with the welfare of child migrants and their families,
especially those who were emigrated to Canada and Australia. Our
staff work directly with this client group, and thus have an extensive
understanding of the difficulties that it faces. We have also
initiated research into aspects of the Society's former child
emigration policy which has demonstrated a continuing need for
change and action on this issue.
2. THE HISTORICAL
CONTEXT: THE
CHILDREN'S
SOCIETY FORMER
EMIGRATION POLICIES
TO CANADA,
AUSTRALIA AND
SOUTHERN RHODESIA2.1
The Children's Society emigrated approximately 3,940 children
to Canada, Australia and Southern Rhodesia between 1883 and the
1950s. The Society was particularly involved in emigrating children
to Canada. Between 1883 and 1937 we emigrated approximately 3,500
children to Canada. These children were sent to receiving homes
in Canada from its residential children's homes in England and
Wales. During the period the Society was active in Canada it maintained
six receiving homes: Gibbs' Home, Sherbrooke, Quebec (girls'
home 1884-97, boys' home 1897-1933); Benyon Home, Sherbrooke,
Quebec (boys' home 1884-97) Our Western Home, Niagara-on-the-Lake,
Ontario (girls' home 1897-1921) Elizabeth Rye Home, Toronto,
Ontario (girls' home 1924-32) Winnipeg Babies' Home, Winnipeg,
Manitoba (home for boys and girls aged 0-5, 1909-11)2.2 Until
1909 the children sent to Canada were aged between five and fourteen.
Most of the younger children emigrated during this period were
girls, whereas the boys tended only to go once they had reached
the age of 14. In 1909 girls gained parity with boys when the
Society increased their lower age limit to 14 years. In 1925 the
age limit for girls was increased to 16.2.3 The Society maintained
a strict policy throughout the whole period it was involved in
child emigration, which required the consent of a parent or guardian
to be given prior to a child being emigrated to Canada. Failure
to receive consent resulted in the child remaining in residential
care in England or Wales. It is not possible to ascertain whether
children without parents or a guardian were more likely to be
proposed for emigration than other children in the Society's care.2.4
The majority of the children sent to the receiving homes in Canada
were eventually placed in paid employment. With Canada being a
largely agricultural country, farming proved the most common source
of work for the boys. For the girls domestic service was the main
source of employment. Employers tended to be local to the homes—in
the Sherbrooke, Montreal, Toronto and southern Ontario regions.
The homes' proximity to the cities of Montreal and Toronto sometimes
worked in the children's favour and allowed for more varied employment
opportunities, for example with a jeweller and in the Bishop of
Quebec's household.
2.5 In the absence of any significant after-care services being
provided by the Canadian government, the Society developed its
own after-care and monitoring systems for its children in Canada.
These services were provided by the staff and supporters of the
receiving homes, and from c1911 to 1937 by a paid Society inspector,
Thomas Keeley. These services worked through local knowledge and
people; as such their effectiveness is difficult to gauge.2.6
The Society's Australian emigration policy was markedly different
to its Canadian counterpart. The policy was limited in scope,
involving approximately 400 children. No Children's Society receiving
homes were established in Australia. The children sent there all
went under the auspices of six emigration organisations: the Fairbridge
Society (from 1934), the Big Brother Movement (from 1939), the
Northcote Children's Emigration Fund (1948), Anglican Swan Homes
in Western Australia and St John's Home, Canterbury, in Melbourne
(1949), and the Rockhampton Homes in Queensland (1952).2.7 Although
the Society's Australian emigration policy formally started in
1934, a small number of children (approximately 35) were sent
between 1925 and 1933. In 1934 the Society's Executive Committee
gave this work its official sanction when it made arrangements
for the emigration of a small number of children to the Fairbridge
Society home at Pinjarra in Western Australia. Small groups of
children continued to be sent to Australia until 1939 when the
Second World War brought a temporary halt.2.8 Emigration to Australia
began again in 19482. This ushered in a brief era of
moderate expansion in the Society's programme which lasted until
1953. During these years the number of children being emigrated
reached their peak, while the number of emigration agencies increased
from two to six. The Society also became increasingly concerned
with the implementation of standards of care. Particular emphasis
was placed on three areas:
(1) Parental consent prior to acceptance for
emigration continued to be required. During this later period,
obtaining consent proved to be the most crucial part of the selection
process, and was one element which often excluded children. There
is also evidence to suggest that at this time few of the Society's
homes were willing to put forward parentless children for emigration.
As a result, the majority of children emigrated had parents and
relatives.
(2) Medical and psychological assessment became
an important feature in the Australian emigration process. If
consent was given, a child's case would then be considered by
the Australian Government's Selection Officers at Australia House.
They demanded that each child and its parents should have a history
of good health, and be given the relevant vaccinations for emigration.
The medical examinations were paid for by the relevant emigration
society and were mainly undertaken by the medical doctor at Australia
House. For children in society homes that were a long way from
London the medical examination was undertaken by a doctor nominated
by Australia House.
(3) After-care became an issue of paramount importance
for The Children's Society. The Society had been developing a
range of after-care services to assist the children in England
and Wales it had cared for in its residential homes or had provided
for through its fostering and adoption service. This was extended
to children who were placed overseas. This concern is evident,
for example, in a memorandum to the Executive Committee dated
4 November 1974 discussing the emigration scheme to the Swan Homes
in Western Australia as put forward by the Church of England Advisory
Council of Empire Settlement. The lack of any "evidence in
black and white as to what After Care facilities are administered
by the Swan Homes in Australia" was seen as a major stumbling
block:
"Without some evidence of this kind, it may
be that the risks, if children proved to be failures, would be
much too great and it is possible to visualise that a child could
of its own volition, and because of some unforeseen eventuality,
break away from the people who had befriended it, and find itself
high and dry, destitute and dependent for a living on charity
or other means far worse"3.The Society also demanded
that it receive regular reports on the children emigrated to the
Northcote School in Victoria. Surviving correspondence dated 1950
and 1951 reveals that the Society received a steady flow of half
yearly reports on each child. These included personal details
and copies of school reports.2.9 Based on research completed to
date, it would appear that the Society's Australian child migrants
scheme ceased in 1955. However, members of the Western Australian
Parliament's Select Committee have suggested the possibility of
Society children being emigrated to Australia after this date.
This evidence has yet to be confirmed.2.10 The Society's Southern
Rhodesian child migrant programme began in 1949. The scheme was
limited with approximately 40 children being emigrated between
1949 and 1954. All of the children were placed with the Fairbridge
Society's Rhodesian Memorial College at Induna. Only boys aged
six to 10 were accepted for the scheme, with preference being
given to boys of the "above average type (IQ of at least
95) and it is important that they will be of the type which will
bring credit to Britain". These requirements were made by
Fairbridge in agreement with the Southern Rhodesian government.
In addition, Rhodes scholarships were available for eduction beyond
school leaving age, there being the expectation that "the
children are brought up and educated chiefly for the professions"4.2.11
The emigration scheme operated on similar lines to the Society's
Australian venture. The children were selected from Children's
Society homes, their passage to Southern Rhodesia being arranged
by the Fairbridge Society. Parental consent and after-care measures
again formed an important element of this work, as did the need
to ensure that medical and psychological standards were applied
to all prospective candidates.2.12 Throughout, the Society emigrated
children in the firm belief that they were being given a new start
in life. The former colonies were seen as "brave new worlds"
where children would have a better future. Such attitudes formed
part of the "child rescue" philosophy of child care
that persisted in Britain until the Second World War. The Society
saw emigration as a way of saving children from their backgrounds
and preventing children that had been taken into residential care
by the Society from returning to their previous communities and
families, where it was thought they would have to confront poverty,
unemployment, immorality and crime. This philosophy was expounded
at considerable length in the Society's supporter magazine of
the day; for example, in its August 1899 edition, it was noted
of emigration that "the child is separated from its former
bad surroundings in a complete a manner as can be"5.
The Society's Annual Report for 1910 recorded that emigration
offered an "invaluable solution" in cases "where
the children have come from bad homes, and it is certain that
to go back to old surroundings would mean the undoing of all that
is good that has been done [in the Society's homes]"6.2.13
Child migrants were also regarded as being the future of the receiving
countries. An article in the Society's supporter magazine in January
1935 argued the case for removing children from "the congested
cities of the Old Country" to populate the rural areas of
Australia7.
3. UNCOVERING THE
FACTS: THE
CHILDREN'S
SOCIETY POLICY
OF RESEARCH
INTO ITS
FORMER CHILD
MIGRANT PROGRAMMES3.1
In order to deal with the issues resulting from its earlier child
migrant programmes, The Children's Society has begun working towards
finding solutions. The Society recognises it was involved in emigrating
children overseas as part of its former care policies and that
the organisation has to deal with the consequences of its past
actions. Senior managers and social work staff are finding they
have to come to terms with an issue left to them by their predecessors
of more than a generation ago.3.2 This involves a learning process,
as Society staff aim to understand the legacy. The organisation
is attempting to discover more about the context and substance
of its former child emigration policies, enabling it to draw up
a framework for assisting child migrants and their relatives.
Three major initiatives have been undertaken to date:
(1) In October 1996 The Children's Society
held a meeting with visiting members of the Legislative Assembly
of the Western Australian Parliament's Select Committee into Child
Emigration. An historical overview of the Society's policy on
child emigration to Australia was presented by Ian Wakeling, the
Records and Archive Manager, while Julia Feast, project leader
at the Post Adoption and Care Project, provided evidence relating
to post-care counselling for Australian Child Migrants. The Records
and Archive Manager's paper was specifically commented upon in
the Select Committee's final report8.
(2) Following the enquiry by the Legislative
Assembly of the Western Australian Parliament's Select Committee,
The Children's Society and representatives from other former UK
sending agencies began holding regular meetings to discuss the
issue of child migrants, examine the services that are being currently
provided and develop clear practice and policy guidelines. These
discussions are continuing.
(3) In June 1997 Ian Wakeling, the Society's
Records and Archive Manager, attended a reunion in Canada of both
child migrants and the relatives of deceased child migrants. The
reunion took place at McGill University, Montreal, on 8 June and
was organised by Heritage Renfrew Home Children Committee, a campaigning
organisation established to work with Canadian child migrants
and their relatives and to promote public awareness of their situation.
Following a presentation on the Society's Canadian child emigration
policy and practice, Ian Wakeling was able to meet people attending
the reunion and discuss some of the issues that are important
to them as child migrants or as their relatives. He also had several
meetings with David Lorente, Director of Heritage Renfrew, to
discuss his concerns and plans for the future.3.3 While in Canada
Ian Wakeling also gave two presentations about the Society's child
emigration policy at the Quebec International Family History Conference,
bringing the issue to the attention of a wider audience. This
was an opportunity for The Children's Society to put forward a
more factual and objective assessment of the issue than is sometimes
given by the media and pressure groups.3.4 Ian Wakeling was able
to visit the National Archives of Canada and a number of provincial
and diocesan archives in order to discover more about the availability
of records in Canada and to locate records relating to the Society's
work there.
3.5 Records are a vital element in the child emigration issue.
They provide the information for helping individuals trace their
background and often give the only evidence about emigration policies.
Without this evidence it becomes impossible to develop an informed,
factual and objective opinion about the whole child migrant issue.3.6
Questions about the availability of records have led to the perpetuation
of myths and rumours by pressure groups and child migrants alike.
One area of concern has been the fate of the records from the
Society's Canadian receiving homes, in particular the Gibbs' Home
at Sherbrooke. Child migrant pressure groups have placed considerable
emphasis on finding these, but so far have been unsuccessful.
The fact that they were almost certainly destroyed when the homes
closed, has led to suggestions of a "cover up" by the
Society and the Church of England. Although the Society has stated
that it does not have these records and does not know where they
are, this has not stopped accusations on the part of individuals
attempting to trace child migrants.3.7 This demonstrates the value
of records. Ian Wakeling's meetings with various diocesan and
provincial archivists and registrars, together with those at the
National Archives of Canada, have provided a clear picture of
the availability of records relevant to the Society. One result
of this will be the purchase by the Society's Records and Archive
Section during the next financial year of several microfilms of
records held by the National Archives of Canada. This will increase
the information that can be given to child migrants and their
relatives by the Society.
4. AFTER-CARE
SERVICES FOR
FORMER CHILD
MIGRANTS AND
THEIR RELATIVES4.1
In learning about its former child emigration policy and the problems
confronting people affected by the process, the Society has developed
a firm commitment towards child migrants and their relatives who
make contact with a view to obtaining personal and family information.
The Society considers that it has a professional duty to offer
a range of post-care services to assist these people and has developed
a range of appropriate procedures to deal with enquiries from
them.4.2 Increasing world media interest in child emigration has
led to a growing awareness of the issues involved. This in turn
has led to a rise in the number of enquiries regarding child emigration,
particularly from relatives requesting information about the care
history of a previous generation. Many of the referrals relating
to Canada have come from people who have been in touch with child
migrant agencies and pressure groups, for example Heritage Renfrew
Home Children Committee.4.3 Requests for information are handled
by two Society departments—the Post Adoption and Care Project
and the Records and Archive Management Section. Both provide good
quality access to information for both former child migrants and
their relatives. This service is responsive and flexible. Answers
to enquiries are based on documentation contained in the Society's
series of children's case files.4.4 The case files date from 1882
to the present day and form three discreet sub-series: (a) 1882-1926
in their original paper format; (b) 1927-92 only on microfilm;
and (c) 1992 to date in original paper format. The files number
approximately 160,000 in total.
5. ASSISTING CHILD
MIGRANTS AND
THEIR RELATIVES:
THE SOCIETY'S
ACCESS AND
REPORTING POLICY5.1
The Post Adoption and Care Project and the Records and Archive
Management Section deal with different types of enquiries.5.2
The Post Adoption and Care Project deals with all enquiries involving
living child migrants. These entail requests from both child migrants
themselves and the relatives of living child migrants who might
be searching for information about care histories and birth families.
In order to be able to receive information about care histories
and birth families. In order to be able to receive information
about their past, clients are asked by the Post Adoption and Care
Project to put their enquiry in writing. If they were emigrated
by the Society and wish to obtain details about their past, the
project asks them to contact the local Social Services Department
in their country of residence to obtain post-care counselling
with a professional social worker. This allows each client to
liaise with a social worker prior to having access to copies of
confidential and potentially emotive material from their case
files. The Society then sends copies of their case file to the
social worker so that the information can be shared in a sensitive
and controlled way that meets the needs of each particular client.5.3
In the case of relatives of a living child migrant contacting
the Society, no information would be released without the consent
of the care subject concerned, or without the care subject having
first received material from their files in a controlled counselling
situation. This is to ensure that the care subject's privacy is
not breached and will enable them to keep their origins apart
from their present family life, if they so wish. There was the
potential for child migrants to experience a variety of traumatic
circumstances on their arrival overseas. A proportion were victims
of emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The label of child migrants
was often stigmatising. Many child migrants do not want to revisit
these circumstances and certainly do not want other family members
or relatives to learn of their childhood situation.5.4 In exceptional
circumstances, consideration would be given to sending a former
child migrant a summary of their care history. Consideration would
be given to the way information is shared with the client. Highly
personal or emotive detail would not be included; clients would
only be given access to this through the auspices of a social
worker.5.5 Where a case file for a living child migrant is held
in the record series maintained by the Records and Archive Management
Section (case files 1882-1926), the Post Adoption and Care Project
can request a copy of the original file to be made in accordance
with the Records and Archive Management Section Case File Access
Guidelines. This copy is then forwarded to the appropriate
practitioner at the Post Adoption and Care Project.5.6 The Records
and Archive Management Section responds to enquiries received
from the relatives of deceased child migrants. Access to the case
files is governed by the Records and Archive Section policy paper
Case File Access Guidelines. This states that all enquirers
are asked to put their requests in writing. Enquirers are asked
to both verify their relationship with the child migrant and complete
a brief questionnaire to establish the extent of their knowledge
about the person concerned. Once this has been done, enquirers
receive a written report compiled from the relevant case file.
The content of the report is determined by a set of access and
guidance procedures that has been drawn up by the Records and
Archive Section.5.7 The information given in reports to the relatives
of child migrants is carefully monitored. Certain details found
on the case file may not be included in the final report. While
the Society seeks to operate an Open Records Policy, there are
instances where the operation of such a policy is inappropriate.
The reasoning behind this statement centres on the rights of the
deceased child migrant—specifically, the right of an individual
to keep certain issues in their life strictly to themselves.5.8
As noted above, many people who were in care or were emigrated
chose not to discuss their circumstances with their partner, children,
grandchildren or other relatives during their lives. These facts
have gone with them to their graves. Often at the heart of this
attitude lies the stigmatising nature of their childhood circumstances.
In some instances, people who had been in the Society's care did
not want their kin to learn of this fact. Equally, child migrants
were often destined to be seen as "second class citizens"
in their newly adopted countries. As they grew up, they worked
hard to hide their child migrant status, striving to integrate
themselves into a new society and country.5.9 The Children's Society
accepts these circumstances and considers that it has an obligation
to partly uphold this "right to silence"—the choice
of child migrants and people in care not to disclose their situation.
In accepting this position, the Society recognises that when compiling
reports the aim must be to provide relatives with as realistic
a picture as possible, without compromising the rights of the
care subject. When facts are being reported, they are stated in
an objective way without the use of subjective statements. The
language used to describe certain situations is also carefully
considered. Each report seeks to provide a description of an individual's
circumstances without deviating from the truth. Relatives will
not be given access to the original case file. The report is supported
with life story work, in which documentation and photographs relating
to the residential children's home or homes a person may have
lived in are provided. Similar life story work is undertaken for
living child migrants when they express interest in receiving
information about their time in care prior to emigration. Advice
about how to trace relatives or locate associated records held
elsewhere is also given when requested.5.10 The bulk of the enquiries
received by the Society have come from the children and other
relatives of former child migrants who have already died. For
many it is a case of trying to find information about a hidden
past that their relative refused to divulge. They have clues and
snippets of information, but nothing substantial. The information
from the Society's case files often reveal new dimensions for
them, thus helping them fill their knowledge gap and fulfil some
of their own emotional needs. In such instances people express
considerable gratitude for the work that has been completed for
them. This bears testimony to the effectiveness of the Records
and Archive Section's Case File Access Guidelines.5.11
A small number of relatives who enquire about child migrants feel
aggrieved about the whole issue of child emigration and attempt
to fight for the rights of their parents or grandparents. Their
perception is one of championing a discriminated or wronged section
of society. Their need is to help provide recognition of these
wrongs and to give their former relatives a voice. Indeed, motives
such as these led David Lorente to form the Heritage Renfrew Home
Children Committee. As champions of a cause, the media provides
a strong route for their expression.5.12 The number of enquiries
received by each department from child migrants and their relatives
is as follows:
(1) The Post Adoption and Care Project has
received relatively few enquiries from former Society child migrants,
no more than eight since the project began in 1993. Since April
1997 the project has introduced a category for child migrants
in its monthly statistics so that such referrals can be identified
more readily;
(2) Between 1992 and 1997 the Records and
Archive Section has completed enquiries for one living child migrant
(received by the Society in 1992 prior to the establishment of
the Post Adoption and Care Project) and 58 enquiries from the
children, grandchildren and relatives of deceased Society child
migrants. The figures for the latter breakdown as follows: 1992
1993 1994 1995 1996 1997
5 14 10 12 7 10Of the total number of 59 cases dealt with,
58 relate to Society children emigrated to Canada; the remaining
case concerns a child placed in Australia.5.13 These figures do
not include enquiries received by the Section from relatives searching
for ancestors who were child migrants, and who, after a search
by Section staff, were found to have been placed overseas by another
sending agency. The Records and Archive Management Section has
received approximately 60 such "no record" enquiries
between 1992 and 1997 ("no record" enquiry statistics
before 1994 are incomplete).
6. KEY ISSUES6.1
The Society has allocated resources in order to learn about child
emigration and develop support and post-care services to assist
child migrants and their relatives. By adopting this approach,
the Society has gained a clearer understanding of the dynamic
and key issues involved. These may be stated as follows:6.2 The
Society has allocated resources in order to learn about child
emigration and develop support and post-care services to assist
child migrants and their relatives. By adopting this approach,
the Society has gained a clearer understanding of the dynamics
and key issues involved. These may be stated as follows:
(1) Former child migrants were sent to other countries
for a new start in life. For the majority this meant that they
lost contact with their origins and natural family. This fact
is evident in all of the child migrant enquiries received by the
Society.
(2) As with adopted people, some child migrants need
to build a full sense of identity by gaining information about
their backgrounds and re-establishing contact with relatives in
the UK.
(3) Present evidence based on enquiries received by the
Records and Archive Management Section would suggest that there
are profound implications for ensuing generations. This is particularly
the case for the direct descendants of child migrants. These later
generations can be as emotional as the actual child migrants themselves
as they search for information that their parents or grandparents
sought to hide from them. The effects are just as profound; indeed,
they can be greater if they consider that their parents or grandparents
were wronged. Free from the stigma of being a child migrant, later
generations can afford to give public expression to their discontent.
(4) Former sending agencies need to be adequately resourced
to enable a full range of professional post-care services to be
delivered to child migrants.
(5) Child emigration is an international issue that was
sanctioned by the governments of the time, together with the sending
agencies and their supporters. There needs to be recognition of
this fact by the governments of the countries involved, linked
to appropriate support for the sending agencies.
7. MEETING THE
NEEDS OF
CHILD MIGRANTS
AND THEIR
RELATIVES: THE
CHILDREN'S
SOCIETY'S
RECOMMENDATIONS TO
THE COMMITTEE7.1
Based on the information given above, The Children's Society advocates
that the Government adopt the following strategies to help child
migrants, their relatives and the agencies working with them:7.2
To host an international child migrants' conference. This would
be an international conference held in the UK to discuss the issue
of child emigration in general. The conference would aim to bring
together representatives of: (a) as many of the child care agencies
formerly involved in child emigration as possible; (b) the British
Government and governments of the countries which received child
migrants; (c) child migrant pressure groups such as the Child
Migrant Trust, Heritage Renfrew Home Children Committee, and the
Australian Child Migrant Foundation Inc.; and (d) representatives
from the churches and other organisations connected with the child
emigration movement. The conference could provide both a forum
for the sharing of information and resources, and a platform for
the issuing of a common accord to which all of the child care
agencies would be signatories. This would recognise and accept
what has occurred in the past and contain a pledge for all agencies
to act positively in the future to provide an after-care service
to assist child migrants and their relatives.7.3 To develop an
after-care network. There is the need to develop a network of
social work agencies (comprising the sending agencies and organisations
such as the Child Migrant's Trust) to provide living child migrants
with an after-care counselling service. The network would liaise
with social work organisations in the countries which received
child migrants with a view to providing clients with assured one-to-one
counselling and information services. The network would have the
following areas for professional expansion:
(1) The network could develop a professional code of
practice and sets of guidelines that all agencies would be expected
to work to. The Children's Society—like many of the sending
agencies who have been working with child migrants—has considerable
experience in the development and operation of principles and
standards relating to post care counselling and historic abuse.
It is important that these standards be applied to all areas to
post-care practice relating to child migrants.
(2) There is also a case for extending elements of counselling
to those relatives of child migrants who are experiencing difficulties
with the information they have been given about their parents
or grandparents. One can foresee problems occurring when the information
that they have been given from a case file differs from their
perception and knowledge of what happened.
(3) The efficiency of this network could be increased
if the British government actively promoted the formation of professional
links with post care counselling agencies and social work organisations
in the countries which received child migrants. This would give
scope for an international network to be established with accredited
after-care counsellors being available in each receiving country.
The problems of the distances clients or counsellors could have
to travel in countries the size of Canada and Australia to engage
in counselling could be reduced if practitioners were to be identified
in each state or province of the receiving country. Joint governmental
funding would be required to resource and recruit sufficient numbers
of staff to provide appropriate levels of counselling.7.4 To recognise
the British government's obligation to assist child migrants.
The Children's Society recognises it has a responsibility to assist
child migrants and their relatives. The British government should
recognise it has a similar responsibility and offer financial
assistance for projects and services designed to help child migrants
and their relatives search for information. Within this context,
The Children's Society considers the following to be important:
(1) Funding. A major impediment to the continued development
of professional services for former child migrants is the lack
of funding. This work is expensive as it requires high quality
research and counselling. Considerable costs can be incurred when
re-uniting child migrants with their natural families, with care
subjects having to meet cost of travel and accommodation in order
to be reunited with their natural families. The Children's Society
believes that the Government has a responsibility to facilitate
the provision of post-care services and family re-unions. It should
also provide long-term funding to enable these services to continue
and develop.
(2) A "one-stop" shop enquiry service. A "one-stop"
service for child migrant enquirers would be of great benefit
to child migrants in reducing the extent of the task facing them.
At present, unless child migrants together with their relatives
know which agency was responsible for the emigration, they have
to resort to contacting each organisation in turn until they finally
locate relevant information. This is hit and miss at best, many
may not know about all the relevant organisations. Equally, it
is time-consuming and frustrating for people embarking on an emotional
and courageous quest. A "one-stop shop" would aim to
provide a comprehensive service tailored to meeting their needs.
(3) Database programme. The service would aim to be a
clearing house for the work of each of the sending agencies and
would provide information resources for child migrant enquirers.
Central to the creation of a "one-stop shop" for child
migrants and relatives would be the funding of a database creation
programme in each organisation. Each database would contain the
names of child migrants and their country of destination, together
with other relevant and appropriate information. These databases
would share a common software and structure, thus providing rapid
information retrieval for enquirers9.
(4) To promote good practice in the after-care of child
migrants. There needs to be a full discussion between the Government
and former sending agencies (possibly under the umbrella of The
Child Migrants' Sending Agencies Group) to assess the type of
post-care and counselling services that should be provided. The
discussions would also aim to establish clear policy and practice
guidelines.
CONCLUSIONThe Children's Society
believes that only by adopting the above measures can child migrants
and their relatives receive the attention and service they deserve.The
Children's Society would welcome the opportunity to give oral
evidence should the Committee request it to do so.
NOTES:1. Historical note: The
Children's Society's title between 1881 and 1946 was The Church
of England Incorporated Society for Providing Homes for Waifs
and Strays. In 1946 this was changed to the Church of England
Children's Society. The informal title of The Children's Society
was adopted in 1982.2. Executive Committee Minutes, March 1948
(The Children's Society Records and Archive Section: ref: DIR/DIR/9/13,
p.288).3. Papers relating to the emigration of children to Australia
(The Children's Society Records and Archive Section, ref: 92.93).4.
Papers relating to the Society's emigration programme to Southern
Rhodesia (The Children's Society Records and Archive Section,
ref: 92.64).5. Our Waifs and Strays, August 1899, p.129
(The Children's Society Records and Archive Section).6. Annual
Report 1910, pp.14-15 (The Children's Society Records and
Archive Section, ref: CE/CE/12/27).7. Our Waifs and Strays,
January 1935, pp.6-7 (The Children's Society Records and Archive
Section).8. See Legislative Assembly of Western Australia Select
Committee into Child Migration (Interim Report, November 1996),
p.12.9. The Catholic Children's Society (Westminster) has compiled
a database of the child migrants that they placed. The database
took over 700 hours to complete, but has become invaluable tool,
both in helping clients and in analysing information about their
former emigration programme.
|
