Children from Cultural and Minority Ethnic Groups

When children and young people are placed with you, you should try to provide a familiar way of life in terms of religious practices, language, food and cultural activities.

This does not mean you must be of the same ethnic background as a child - it means that you must be sensitive to and understand the child's cultural background and values.

All carers of children will be encouraged and should have material that promotes and values racial and religious differences.

Some Looked After Children reject their cultural and religious background, for some it may be mixed with feelings about abuse or negative experiences.

Every effort should be made to give the child a positive sense of their heritage and culture, as this helps with their sense of personal identity.

Older children will be able to make certain choices about their life but this must be discussed with the child's Social Worker and your Supervising Social Worker.

Where a child/young person has negative feelings about their cultural or religious background, it is important for you to talk to them about the reasons for the negative feelings and to help them understand the importance of maintaining links with their background.

You should try and use interesting and fun activities that would be appealing to a child/young person, such as books and toys, music or film or going to specific events (such as the Mela or Diversity festival), in order to encourage a positive approach.

If the child is from a different background to your family, familiar food will help them to feel settled and will show that their culture and religion are valued.

To help with this:

• Talk to the child, their Social Worker and their parents on what sort of food they like and are familiar with and, where that differs from their own style of cooking. Parents could advise on where to buy Halal and the cooking of Halal meat and ethnic dishes.

Issues around differences in food could be used to promote discussion within a group of young people about living in a multicultural society.

You may be able to access cookery classes e.g. for Asian cooking, speak to your Supervising Social Worker about this.

Clothing is an expression of a child's identity.

You should encourage children to buy clothes appropriate to their cultural backgrounds. This will help to develop a positive image of their cultural heritage.

You should ensure a range of toiletries are bought which meet the needs of black and minority ethnic children. It is common for African and Caribbean children to need certain creams for skin care and Afro-combs for their hair.

Meeting the individual needs of children in care requires those working with them to be sensitive to and understand issues related to religion and faith.

Dietary requirements for Halal meat- many understand this to be from a Muslim butcher but, in fact, Muslim families check the ingredients of all products from bread to sweets to ensure that no animal-based ingredients or additives are present.

Most Muslim families also require that the meat they purchase has been approved and certified by the Halal Food Authority (HFA) or Halal Monitoring Committee (HMC) to ensure that producers have adhered to Islamic rules. The same applies when they eat at a restaurant or takeaway.

Meat is made Halal through slaughtering the animal in a specific way and through offering a prayer at the time.

To achieve well at school, children need the ability to fully converse in English, but classroom support for this is not always available.

Staff who are supporting asylum seeker and refugee children in school and other environments are not always fully conversant with the diverse needs of the child If you need more information on local issues contact the Rotherham Asylum Project Team.

Your Supervising Social Worker can advise you on specialist help and support.

See also: Rotherham Safeguarding Children and Families Procedures, Local Contacts.

You must take care when contacting organisations that are not part of Rotherham MBC, that the confidentiality of any Looked After Child or young person is protected.

You will be provided with training and resources to increase your knowledge and understanding of children from cultural and minority ethnic groups and their families, and the issues which can occur in caring for a child.

It is an expectation that you will complete these courses.

The training officer will be able to provide you with some more information about courses.