24 April 2018
Survivors who were failed by Jersey’s child care system are being invited to help develop recommendations for a memorial.
They will join a group of Islanders, in confidence, to develop recommendations for how Jersey should acknowledge the children and young people who were failed and harmed in care.
The creation of a memorial was recommended by the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry as a way for Jersey to, ‘acknowledge the realities of the past and speak to the future aspirations of the Island for its looked after children.’
In Recommendation 8b, ‘Remembering and Recognising Jersey’s Child Care History’, the panel were of the view that remembering the past is one of the best ways to shape a better future.
The group will be meeting in May and June to explore different forms of memorial and ways of remembering. Participants will work with a number of experts before developing and refining their ideas for an appropriate memorial. This could be anything from a garden or sculpture to a bursary scheme. The memorial is intended to serve as a public acknowledgement to the many hundreds of children and young people who were ill-served by the child care system over many decades.
Jersey’s Director of Children’s Policy, Andrew Heaven said “It is really important that survivors who experienced abuse in Jersey’s child care system are part of the process to develop recommendations for a memorial, so their voices are heard. I would like to reassure anyone who might be interested in taking part that they will not be identified and will not be asked to share their story with others.”
An independent organisation, Contact Consulting, has been appointed to lead this work on behalf of the States of Jersey.
Peter Bryant, Contact Consulting’s Senior Associate, has experience of running over 30 similar projects across the UK on health and social care and issues relating to public health and wellbeing including alcohol and drugs.
Mr Bryant, who will be facilitating the group’s work and is overseeing the recruitment of participants, said “I would like to encourage anyone who experienced abuse while in Jersey’s child care system to consider taking part. You do not need any special skills or knowledge to take part, all you need is to be willing to talk about your views and opinions and to listen to those of other people.”
This is the second phase of recruitment to ensure that the group developing options for the memorial includes a significant number of participants with experience of Jersey’s child care system.
Islanders who are interested in taking part can contact the Michelle Moffat on +44 (0)1534 447919 or by email at carememorial@gov.je
More information is on the Care Memorial page
gov.je