Section 31 Training & Consultancy was officially set up in 2016 by Scott King, a former fostered child. Scott has spent his entire life living and working in the care system and through that has gained great insight and a huge amount of valuable experience which he uses to help, support and educate those working with children in care. Scott was taken into care when he was 6 months old along with his brother who was 3 at the time. After a failed adoption Scott went on to have a roller coaster journey consisting of 36 placement moves, 2 of which were in residential care. Scott’s traumas were compounded whilst in care as he suffered many let downs, a split from his brother at age 7 and even abuse from foster carers. Scott officially stopped receiving services at 24 and since he left care he has dedicated his life to educating foster carers and social care professionals around the importance of stable placements and the deep traumas that are cause by multiple moves. Scott has been involved in a range of changemaking movements and now runs Section 31 Training & Consultancy. Scott is a passionate advocate for looked after children and care leavers with his main goal being to reduce the amount of moves children are subject to in the care system by providing care providers and caregivers with a new level of understanding and new ways of thinking. Scott has worked within this system ever since he left care in various different roles including residential support work, advocacy, mentoring, parliamentary advisory work, children’s champion and youth work. Scott is also a proud member of The Care Leaders. Scott stands as an example that people can prevail in the face of adversity. Through his training and support services he aims to make fostering a better experience for everyone involved.
Hello, my name is Scott King and I am the Founder and Director of Section 31 Training & Consultancy.
My main goal is to do all I can to reduce the amount of placement moves children have in care by bringing a new level of understanding to what many typically define as “challenging behaviour”. I believe that many of the negative stories we hear from children in care come from miscommunication and misunderstanding more than
anything else.
My journey through care was chaotic and traumatic. I was left emotionally scarred. After leaving care I had many questions in my head about my past and so I embarked on a 3 year recovery journey to get those questions answered. That journey involved accessing my care files, learning about the care system from the others side but also I spent a long time revisiting places from my past and finding significant adults from my
life. On the list of people to find were foster carers, residential care staff, social workers, therapists, teachers and youth workers. I found everyone.
What I will say is that this journey has been a hugely therapeutic experience. I discovered that actually, I was very much loved in foster care and I was never forgotten, by anyone. It became very clear to me that what caused me the most trauma in care did not come from what was factually happening around me , it came from my understanding of what was happening.
The reality is that I didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes, things were not explained to me in a way I could understand and from my files I could see that although so many people were trying to help me, the system around me was very much focussed on my surface behaviours. I learned that actually most people misunderstood what I wanted and needed because as a child I couldn’t articulate it, I just screamed, I shouted and I threw things around. People who I loved I told that I hated.
People I wanted near me I would attack and tell to go away. When I wanted a hug I would physically attack. No wonder people struggled to understand me. My Journey has been a long one and I feel experientially much older than I am. After 24 years of living in this system and 10 years working within it I have learned a lot. My care experience has helped me to understand the difficulties that face children in care and my professional experiences have helped me to understand the difficulties that those working in the system face. I have seen this system from all sides and I can see so many solutions In between.
I set up my training company to help those working with children in care to understand those things that children cannot articulate. I call it “the language of trauma”. My hope is that by sharing my experiences and projecting the voice of other children in care, people will see that children who have experienced trauma do not have behavioural issues which need to be addressed, they have extreme survival skills which need to be understood. I stand as an advocate for the “naughty kids”, as a firm promotor of trauma informed practice and as a testament to the fact that children in care can make it through.
I believe this is a good system that is abundant with love and incredible individuals. I believe that if I can increase understanding , that will change how people feel, if people change how they feel that will change their response and ultimately it is the responses of those around children that impact how children feel and behave. I am confident that my training and support services will leave long lasting impacts that make a big positive difference to care experiences. Feedback has shown that my method works and that with increased understanding, additional trauma can be prevented.