'There was a stigma ... to all my classmates I was damaged goods'

Growing up, Cameron felt neglected and socially ostracised. Now, against the odds, he is an inspiration to children in care everywhere.

Growing up, Cameron felt neglected and socially ostracised. Now, against the odds, he is an inspiration to children in care everywhere.

Cameron, 17, is one of the 14,060 "looked-after" children in Scotland who too often struggle to stay in school and gain the qualifications necessary for a secure future. This month a Scottish Government policy document, These Are Our Bairns, aimed to address the educational attainment levels of young people in care, stating that "more needed to be done to turn around statistics showing that so-called looked-after' young people are less likely to go to university and more likely to get involved in crime".

Determined not to become another statistic, Cameron has proved to everyone that the care system does have its success stories. "I deserve a chance as much as the next person," he said. "Just because I'm in foster care doesn't mean I'm a lesser person."

Cameron has been living with his foster carers, Billy and Joyce Liddell, since he was 15. Since his placement in their family home in Falkirk he has achieved seven Highers, and he intends to go to university to study journalism and media studies.

Despite the struggle and challenges of a chaotic and unstable childhood, Cameron refused to let his past affect his education and made a point of doing well at school.

"I wouldn't be where I am today without my foster carers," he said. "Before I came here I felt aged beyond my years, I had no self-worth or confidence. Now I'm going to university and I have a bright future ahead of me."

Cameron's story of triumph over adversity is even more inspiring given the statistics revealing the discrepancies between children and young people who are looked after and those who are not. The school attendance rate for foster children is 87.4% compared with 93.3% for children in the general population.

More alarming is the fact that the exclusion rate per 1000 of the population for all looked-after children and young people is 368 compared with 60 for others.

With regard to qualifications, 3.7% of school-leavers have no qualifications at Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework level 3 or above, but this figure increases to 41.5% for those looked after at home and 18% for those looked after away from home.

Despite Cameron's achievements, Mrs Liddell said the accomplished, articulate young man who hopes to be a journalist is a far cry from his former self. "When Cameron first came here he was in a terrible state," she said. "He had nothing, absolutely nothing but the clothes on his back and his school bag. He hid in his room and could barely talk because he was so scared."

She broke down in tears when she described the day she told an increasingly reclusive Cameron he had to get out of the house and meet people. "I marched into his room and told him to get up and out," she said. "He left the house a timid, shy wee boy but with some love and support he turned himself around and look at who he is today."

However, for Cameron, like may young people in care, doing well at school wasn't always easy and he struggled to deal with being a fostered child in a new school.

"When I first started at school I was treated differently by the other pupils," he said. "From the outset there was a stigma attached to me because I was in care. To all of my classmates I was damaged goods. Everyone thought I was too much of an emotional weight to bear and because of that I couldn't make friends. Then of course there were the people who thought I just wanted the sympathy."

Cameron works as a volunteer in a charity shop and spends the rest of his spare time like any other teenager, hanging out with his friends - friends he said he chose very carefully after his peers left him "depressed and isolated" through their prejudice.

Jim Galbraith is an education liaison officer for Foster Care Associates (FCA) Scotland, an independent fostering provider. Working with local authorities, the not-for-profit body FCA Scotland helps find the right foster family for each individual.

Mr Galbraith said there were many examples of looked-after young people who have issues in schools relating to being treated differently. "These young people go through a number of moves, constantly having to fit in'," he said. "The movement between schools can have an emotional effect on these young people, which of course affects their academic performance. There are issues of insecurity and low self-esteem. These young people face struggles, which we aim to help them through by giving them a sense of security and working with schools and carers."

Until Cameron learned to work through self-confidence issues, he continued to miss out on the things others took for granted.

While other young people were looking forward to PE class, he dreaded what he described as the most humiliating experience of his life. "I hated PE," he said. "When we were in our gear everyone could see I was just skin and bone; they could see I was too weak to do anything."

It was this emotional and physical struggle that spurred Cameron to do well academically. "I just decided enough was enough," he said. "I had hung my head in despair for too long so I picked myself up, got my head stuck into my books and decided to get the best grades I could."

Mrs Liddell believes more must be done by parents to teach children who are not in care not to judge the fostering system.

"A lot of kids think children from foster care are tainted, " she said. "They don't understand that these young kids are the innocent bystanders who suffer the most as a result of having parents who couldn't give them the love and support they deserve. School kids can't distinguish between a child who is put into a facility for committing crime and children like Cameron who are in care through no fault of their own."

Mr Galbraith said Cameron's case was an example of the positive effects of being in a stable carer environment. "Carers are very much at the centre of all this, he said. "Although there are structures in place, including education liaison officers, it's essentially about the carers. The fact that Cameron hasn't moved in the past three years is testament to his placement security."

Providing a stable environment is something Mr Liddell said was key to being a good foster parent. "We treat Cameron as one of our own," he said. "We are a family and that will continue as he goes to university, starts his career, right through until the day he gets married and beyond. The sense of satisfaction I get from seeing how well he has done can't be quantified."

For other young people in care, the struggle to find themselves after a lifetime of upheaval can seem overwhelming. Cameron is quick to urge others in his position not be consumed by a sense of failure.

"I would tell other young people in care not to drop their heads and give up," he said. "I've been through it so I should know. You have to become a survivor. I'm a stronger person now that I've come to terms with everything that has happened to me. I've been to hell and back, but that's in the past now."

Meeting Challenges

Foster Care Associates (FCA) was established in 1994 with the aim of providing quality foster care that would meet the needs of the most challenging looked-after children.

FCA has more than 80 offices across the UK, providing local support services to foster carers and young people.

There are currently more than 2400 children and young people placed with some 2100 fostering families.

Sixty-two per cent of children and young people have been in placement with FCA for 12 months or more.

The majority of children and young people placed with FCA foster carers are aged 10-plus (71%) with 15-year-olds being the largest age group (12%).

Of those children and young people who have been placed with FCA for more than two-and-a-half years, over 87% have been with the same foster carers for at least two years.

Of those children and young people who have been placed with FCA for over a week, 95% have an appropriate school place established.

During 2007, the number of approved foster carer households with FCA increased by 11%.

To continue offering placement choice, recruitment of foster carers is a high priority.

If you would like to take the next step towards becoming a foster carer, log on to www.iwantto foster.com or call your local carer recruitment team on 0800 085 2225. A full list of foster care providers in Scotland is available at the fostering network website at www.fostering.net