Growing Up In Care: Lived Experience

Scott King was taken into care when he was 6 months old along with his older brother Ben who was 3 at the time. Ben and Scott spent their entire youth in care and endured great hardship, however, somehow they prevailed in the face of adversity. Scott was considered by those caring for him to be a very challenging child, whereas Ben was very quiet. Due to reasons they were not aware of at the time, they both had a lot of moves and were split up partway through their journey. Scott will reflect on how he and Ben understood things as children and compare that to how they understand it all now. Like many children in care, Ben and Scott's journeys were complex and very confusing, leaving many voids and additional traumas after care.

Scott will take learners through his and Ben's recovery journey of revisiting the old homes, finding the people from their past and finding the answers they needed to gain closure. Scott will take learners through every move, every hardship and all the ups and all the downs from his perspective as a child and as an adult looking back. Scott has also worked professionally in this system for many years as well so he is also able to bring in the professional perspective. By understanding Scott and Ben's journeys it will give learners a better insight into how a journey though care and trauma can feel and what it is like in their shoes. From this new level of understanding, learners can better understand the children they work for and think differently about the decisions they make.