Two Hearings-experienced young people are helping children and young people take control of their Hearing. Achilles and Ciara - who are Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) Board Members - came up with the idea of a scrapbook which will help children and young people...

Corporate Parent SCRA has published its Annual Report for Children and Young People 2022/23.  The report highlights the work SCRA has done in partnership with Hearings-experienced young people over the past 12 months. There’s been lots of exciting projects, including...

Hearings-experienced young people told us they want more ways to provide us with feedback. That’s why Corporate Parents Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) and the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) have launched a new pilot feedback initiative....

It is important children and young people know their rights in the Children’s Hearings System. Young people from Our Hearings, Our Voice told corporate parents in their 40 Calls to Action that they wanted to know that they had the right to ask for a review and how to...

Hearings-experienced young people have helped shape a campaign to attract new Panel Members to volunteer with the Children’s Hearings System. The recruitment campaign - which was launched on 30 August - highlights the qualities of empathy, compassion, being a good...

A Child Friendly Scheduling Project is currently being piloted in Ayrshire led by corporate parent SCRA.  The project aims to provide a more personal, bespoke service to every child and young person attending Hearings by giving them a choice about the date, time and...

A pilot Keeping The Promise project aims to enable children and young people to have a better say before their Children’s Hearing.  Corporate parent SCRA is running a Customise my Hearing Form test in Grampian and part of Highland. The initiative aims to offer...

An exciting new piece of work is underway led by corporate parent, the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA).  A Project Team which includes Hearings-experienced young people and adults has been set up and the first planning meeting was held at the end of...

Corporate parents CHS (Children’s Hearings Scotland) and SCRA (Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration took part in an event for Hearings-experienced young people in Falkirk recently.  The free event at the Dawson Community Centre in Falkirk was open to children...

Corporate Parent SCRA has a Modern Apprenticeship Scheme for young people with experience of care or the Hearings System. We talk to our latest recruit Taylor to find out more about the scheme... What made you apply for the Modern Apprenticeship at SCRA? I initially...

In February 2022, corporate parent SCRA published its Keeping The Promise Route Plan. To mark Care Day and one year on from publication of the plan, SCRA has produced a progress report aimed at children and young people. The report covers some of SCRA’s Keeping The...

Board Members from Our Hearings, Our Voice have recorded three short audio clips providing advice to other young people attending Hearings. The Sound Bites cover things like the importance of filling in a Hearing About Me form before your Children’s Hearing, how...

The voice of Hearings-experienced children and young people is at the heart of SCRA’s work to Keep The Promise. Today we have produced a podcast where you hear from Board Members at Our Hearings, Our Voice about why The Promise is important to them. We also hear from...

Corporate Parent SCRA has just appointed its 14th care/Hearings-experienced Modern Apprentice. The Modern Apprentice will be based in SCRA's Grampian Locality.  During the two year programme, the Modern Apprentices undertake an SVQ in Business Administration which is...

The Voice and Inclusion Project (VIP) is working with Corporate Parent SCRA as part of their work to Keep The Promise. The VIP is a participatory project that invites young people who have experience of the Children’s Hearings System to share their knowledge and work...

In all Hearing centres, children aged five and under are now gifted with a book every time they attend a Hearing. Corporate Parent SCRA, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and the Scottish Book Trust, while funding for the books has been provided by the Scottish...

A new Hearing About Me form for children and young people attending Hearings has been launched. The form has been co-produced with young people from the Proud to Care Champions Board in Inverclyde and corporate parent SCRA. The form - which is available in printed...

Corporate parent SCRA has produced a plan which sets out what we are going to do to Keep The Promise. You might have heard of the Independent Care Review or The Promise. SCRA’s new plan explains what we are going to do to make the Children’s Hearings System better....

Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) has launched a campaign today to recruit new Board Members. OHOV is an independent board for children and young people from across Scotland between the ages of 8-18, who have experience of the Children’s Hearings System. Now OHOV is...

A year ago today, Our Hearings, Our Voice published their fabulous Zine which included animations, verbatim testimonies, poetry and music created and performed by the young people from OHOV.  The Zine also included 40 Calls To Action for organisations to improve the...

SCRA has published a version of its Rights, Inclusion and Corporate Parenting Strategy for children and young people.  The strategy sets out what SCRA will do over the next three years around rights, inclusion and corporate parenting. If you want more information, a...

Beth-Anne Logan writes about her commitment to Keeping The Promise… Hi, my name is Beth-Anne Logan and I’m a board member at Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS). I am also one of the representatives from CHS on the new “Hearings System Working Group”. I, alongside my...

Children and young people will be at the heart of a major redesign of the Hearings System. A working group has been set up by The Promise Scotland, along with Children's Hearings Scotland and the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration. The group will make sure...

SCRA is excited to unveil the next phase of our Hearing room improvement programme for 2021/22! Over the next year a further six Hearing rooms will be revamped.  SCRA’s Hearing Room Improvement Programme is now in its 6th year and so far we have upgraded 30 Hearing...

A further six Hearing rooms have been given a makeover in the last few months. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, SCRA has been able to fulfil our commitments to the Hearing room programme in 2020/2021. The rooms which have undergone a transformation are in Ayr,...

The Children’s Hearings System has celebrated its 50th birthday. The very first Children’s Hearing was held on 15 April 2971. To mark the milestone both the National Convener of Children’s Hearings Scotland and the Principal Reporter of the Scottish Children’s...

Corporate Parent SCRA has published its Annual Report for Young People 2020/21. The report highlights the work SCRA has done in partnership with Hearings-experienced young people, including preparation for the return of face to face Hearings. Lisa Bennett, SCRA’s...

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, most Children’s Hearings are continuing to be held online via video conferencing. To make it as easy as possible to join and participate in your Virtual Hearing, Corporate Parent SCRA has created a new section on their website. It...

It is 10 years today since the official launch of SCRA’s Modern Apprenticeship scheme for Hearings/care-experienced young people. Corporate Parent SCRA is delighted to mark the anniversary with the appointment of our latest Modern Apprentice. We will welcome our...

Today Children’s Hearings Scotland (CHS) launch their biggest ever national campaign to recruit new volunteer Children’s Panel Members to work with children in their local communities. Panel Members are volunteers from local communities who take part in children's...

In light of the ongoing restrictions, face to face Children’s Hearings are continuing as they are classed as an essential service. However, face to face Hearings are only taking place for a limited number of cases where it is necessary to secure a child and/or...

SCRA has launched a new film for children and young people about Compulsory Supervision Orders (CSOs). The short film covers what a CSO is, what it means for children and young people and how long it can last. It also covers the right to appeal, advocacy and legal...

Following the Scottish Government’s latest announcement on additional COVID-19 restrictions, we can confirm that face to face Children’s Hearings will continue to take place. Children’s Hearings are classed as an essential service and this means that anyone attending...

Participating in a Children’s Hearing? Make sure you know your rights. On Human Rights Day corporate parent SCRA has produced a short cartoon strip aimed at young children. It covers some of the key rights in a Children’s Hearing. More detailed information is...

A further six Hearing rooms will be revamped between now and the spring. This is part of corporate parent, SCRA’s ongoing programme to make Hearing rooms more child and young people friendly with softer furnishings and no big tables! This year, Hearing rooms in Ayr,...

A new website has been launched to help children and young people find an advocate. If you are going to a Children’s Hearing – no matter where you live in Scotland – you can get an advocate to help you. You can find out more about what is an advocate, how they can...

With some parts of the country moving into tier 4 restrictions, face to face Children’s Hearings will still be continuing. They are classed as essential services and will continue in the East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and West...

Thanks to everyone who took part in a piece of research to find out about privacy in the Children’s Hearings System. A total of 129 young people, adults and parents/carers with experience of the Hearings System took part in the research. Corporate Parent SCRA asked...

Have you or are you involved in the Children’s Hearings System? Do you know you have the right to ask for your information? It is the law. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to access information we hold about you. You can make a Subject Access Request. It...

Corporate parent SCRA and children’s charity Barnardo’s Scotland have published a report into Child Sexual Exploitation. The report shows that this is a problem in every part of Scotland. Child sexual exploitation involves a young person under the age of 18 being made...

Hearings-experienced young people have launched a ground-breaking interactive Zine. Produced by Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV), the Zine includes animations, verbatim testimonies, poetry and music created and performed by the young people from OHOV, and brought to...

It is six weeks since face to face Children’s Hearings started to resume across Scotland – and lots of activity has been going on in the background to make this happen. It has been a gradual process - we are opening centres on a phased basis and only when it is safe...

Figures about children and young people referred to the Reporter and going to Children’s Hearings have been published today. The statistics, produced by SCRA, show that in 2019/20 12,849 children and young people were referred to the Children’s Reporter. Most children...

Face to face Hearings are gradually restarting across the country. This is week three of face to face Hearings being reintroduced. If you are coming to a Children’s Hearing things are a bit different to before, but don’t worry we have lots of information available....

Face to face Hearings are gradually being reintroduced across the country (from 14 July). Hearing centres are only reopening with all the necessary safety measures and strict social distancing in place (you can see some examples of our Hearing rooms below). If you are...

Children’s Hearings Scotland are consulting on a new strategy which aims to do more to put the child or young person’s voice at the centre of the hearings system. The Children’s Rights and Inclusion Strategy, which was launched for consultation by Deputy First...

Since just before lockdown, virtual Hearings have been taking place. However, with lockdown restrictions easing, planning is well advanced to reintroduce face to face Hearings. SCRA will be resuming face to face Hearings on a phased basis across Scotland. The first...

SCRA is consulting with young people with experience of the Hearings System as part of our preparations to reintroduce face to face Children’s Hearings. With the easing of lockdown restrictions, we and our partners in the Hearings System are working to resume face to...

Virtual Children’s Hearings are continuing during the Coronavirus pandemic. SCRA is working with all partners to make them as inclusive as possible, but we recognise there are some limitations to this. SCRA have been doing what they can with partners in the Hearings...

Have you taken part in a virtual Hearing? Then we want to hear from you! Anyone who has participated in a virtual Hearing during the pandemic will be sent a link to an online survey afterwards. The survey consists of just a few questions and is completely anonymous....

SCRA has published its Corporate Parenting Plan for 2020-2023. The plan is aimed at children and young people and outlines our Corporate Parenting activities for the next three years. This plan has been developed around three key areas; Care, Connect and Protect. You...

  The First Minister’s spoke about Children’s Hearings restarting during the first phase of lockdown restrictions being lifted. Having Children’s Hearings back to some kind of increased functioning is really important to ensure children and young people who need...

  The new plan shares four key areas where we will focus our efforts in the coming years. The four themes are: children’s rights, high quality hearings, an empathetic and effective panel, and a focus on working collaboratively with partners. The new plan also...

  SCRA has launched its Corporate Plan for 2020-2023. The three year plan has three strands: Care, Connect and Protect. An online version of the strategy is available here. We also have a summary version and you can also read the more detailed version here.  A...

If you are participating in a virtual Hearing, your rights are exactly the same as if you were attending a Children’s Hearing in person. You have some very important rights in your Hearing.  You have the right to: To give your views to the Panel Members – and have...

It is important that you share your views at your Children’s Hearing. Taking part in a virtual Hearing can be a very different experience from attending a Children’s Hearing in a Hearing room, so it is even more important that you are prepared and able to say how you...

Taking part in a virtual Hearing is different to attending a Hearing in person.  If you would like to attend your Hearing virtually, it is important you get the help and support you need before and during your Hearing.  You have the right to have a representative (for...

  If you are taking part in a virtual Hearing, we have prepared some top tips to help you in advance. You can see these below.  We hope they help. These will be emailed to you before your Hearing, along with a more detailed guide about how to take part....

  SCRA has been getting asked a lot of questions about virtual Hearings, so we thought it would be helpful to prepare a set of questions and answers. If you have any specific questions about your own Hearing, please contact your Reporter. As SCRA's offices remain...

Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, all SCRA offices and Hearing centres remain closed. Over the last few weeks, virtual Hearings have been taking place, but up until now it has only been possible for Panel Members and Reporters to take part.  We wanted to test the...

  Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, all SCRA offices and Hearing centres remain closed. If you have a Hearing in the next few weeks, please do not come to the Hearing centre. You should have received a letter from your Reporter, explaining that we are now holding...

With the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, all Hearing centres are closed. Plans are in place to make sure the Children's Hearings System is still running. Children's Hearings Scotland and the Scottish Children's Reporter Administration have issued a statement today...

All our offices and Hearing centres are closed. If you have any questions about a referral or a Hearing, please contact your local office via the email addresses below. City of Aberdeen: grampianmailbox@scra.gov.ukAlloa:...

  Books and toys are being removed from Hearing centre waiting rooms to try and stop the spread of Coronavirus. SCRA which provides accommodation for Children’s Hearings, has been putting plans in place as more measures are introduced to control the impact of...

In spring 2020, three more Hearing rooms will be refurbished by SCRA. This is the third batch of rooms to be designed in the new look style created with input by Hearings-experienced young people. The three sites set for the make-over are Aberdeen, Arbroath and...

  Some fantastic art work by care experienced children and young people has gone on display in our Children’s Hearings Centre in Glasgow. Two large windows which face onto Bell Street in the Merchant City are now adorned with a creative and eye catching display...

Today, Wednesday 5 February, the Independent Care Review has launched its final conclusions, producing a series of publications that marks the culmination of nearly three years of listening to people across Scotland who have personal and professional experience of the...

SCRA has published its latest Annual Report for Young People. Back in 2017, we launched our first three year Corporate Parenting Plan and over the next two years published Annual Reports aimed at young people to report on how we were doing. This year’s report is the...

Our Hearings, Our Voice (OHOV) has launched a new website aimed at children and young people. OHOV is an independent board for children and young people from across Scotland between the ages of 8-18, who have experience of the Children’s Hearings System. The website...

As Care Experienced Week 2019 comes to an end, SCRA’s staff in Glasgow raised more than £130 for Who Cares? Scotland. SCRA organised a fundraising coffee morning on Friday 25 October at our office in Bell Street, with the money raised going to the advocacy charity...

Over the last year, people in the Children’s Hearings System have been working to make things better for children and young people. People who work in the system, including social work, Panel Members, Children’s Reporters and the Scottish Government signed up to a...

Children’s Hearings Scotland has launched its annual recruitment campaign to recruit 500 new Panel Members. The campaign will run from Wednesday 21 August to Tuesday 17 September and aims to attract a diverse range of applicants, with an emphasis on recruiting more...

SCRA has launched a new short film today aimed at helping young people with autism attending Children’s Hearings.A young person from the charity Reach for Autism stars in the film which is now available online.SCRA has been working with the charity for the past year...

Figures about children and young people referred to the Reporter and going to Children’s Hearings have been published today.The statistics, produced by SCRA, show that in 2018/19, 12,869 children and young people were referred to the Children’s Reporter. Most children...

SCRA has launched a new suite of materials to provide information and support to children and young people on how to complain if they wish to.We have an updated complaints form for children and a new look complaints form for young people. In addition, there is a new...

The winning entries from our ‘Scottishscapes’ photography competition are now on display at our Children’s Hearings Centre in Falkirk. SCRA launched the competition at the end of last year. It was aimed at young people living in the Falkirk area. Entitled ‘Scotland...

SCRA is playing its part to help combat period poverty.We are now providing free sanitary products to young people, their families and others attending Hearings.The decision was backed by SCRA’s Health and Wellbeing Group.The first phase of the roll out will be for...

A new mural created by young people has been unveiled at our Hearings Centre in Dalkeith.The eye catching mural was designed by young people from Midlothian Champion’s Board. It has been under wraps for the last couple of weeks ready for the reveal which took place on...

SCRA has unveiled a new sensory garden at one of our Children’s Hearing centres. The final touches were added to the garden yesterday which is in the grounds outside our Hearing centre in Stirling. The garden has been launched during National Gardening Week. The...

A young person has written about their experiences of being in the Hearings System. We would like to thank them for sharing such an honest story… “A child’s hearing. A room full of fancy high-ended people, and your people – be that Teachers, Parents, Carers, Guardians...

SCRA has published its Corporate Parenting Plan for 2019/20.The plan is aimed at young people and outlines our Corporate Parenting activities for the next 12 months.The plan is broken into six commitments:Commitment 1: We will do our best to meet your needs and...

Another three Hearing rooms have been given a fresh look. Work is now complete on SCRA’s latest round of improvements to our Hearing centres.Three rooms have been given a makeover – Bellshill, Dalkeith and Falkirk.Hearings-experienced young people worked with interior...

To mark World Autism Week which takes place this week, SCRA has launched a pilot sensory toolkit. The toolkit is now available at our Hearing centre in Glasgow city centre. The toolkit will be available in other Hearing centres across the country later this spring. We...

Young people from across Scotland came together for the second time for Our Hearings, Our Voice’s latest event.‘Our Hearings, Our Voice Gets Going Day’ was held on Saturday 9 February at the Studio in Glasgow city centre. It was a great venue for our second event and...

SCRA took part in Purple Friday 2019 celebrations on Friday 22 February.This is the second year SCRA has taken part in Purple Friday activities. Purple Friday is a day to stand against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia and show our support for LGBT equality. The...

Another three Hearing rooms are getting a face lift.As part of SCRA’s ongoing commitment to improve Hearing rooms, work has started this week on the latest round of improvements.Three rooms are being given a makeover – Bellshill, Dalkeith and...

Staff from across SCRA are marking Care Day 2019 in a number of ways.Today Friday 15 February, some staff are wearing pink or red, and decorating offices, including Hearing suites and window displays. In addition, a number of SCRA staff will join in the Carelidh which...

SCRA has published a second Annual Report for Young People.Back in 2017 SCRA launched a Corporate Parenting Plan and followed it in 2018 with their very first Annual Report for Young People.The Annual Report looked back over the first year of the Corporate Parenting...

SCRA has launched a ‘Scottishscapes’ photography competition today, Monday 7 January, aimed at young people living in the Falkirk area.Entitled ‘Scotland and Me’ SCRA is inviting young people to submit photos they have taken of Scottish landscapes and nature.The four...

Want to know about your rights in a Children’s Hearing? SCRA has produced a cartoon animation which explains your rights in a Children’s Hearing for children and young people.The animation was launched on Tuesday 20 November to mark Universal Children’s Day....

Young people from across Scotland came together on Saturday for the Let’s Get Started event.This was the first event for young board members following the Our Hearings, Our Voice recruitment campaign.The event, which was held in The Lighthouse in Glasgow, was the...

Everyone involved in the Children’s Hearings System has signed up to a programme called Better Hearings.This initiative – which covers the whole of Scotland - is led by the Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP). It brings together the key partners...

SCRA staff held a fundraising coffee morning to raise money for care experienced children and young people. The fundraiser took place at our office in Glasgow on Friday morning during Care Experienced Week 2018. A total of £230 was raised with the money going to...

  Colourful and creative art work by care experienced children and young people is now on display in Glasgow. Helping to mark Year of the Young People 2018, SCRA invited children and young people from Glasgow’s Children’s Units to contribute to a window display,...

SCRA is proud to support Care Experienced Week which takes place this week from today, Monday 22 October. Lisa Bennett, who is responsible for Corporate Parenting at SCRA, said: “We are committed to our Corporate Parenting duties.  We fully support Care Experienced...

Young people from across Scotland have submitted their application to become a Board Member for Our Hearings, Our Voice. The campaign ran from 3 September to 1 October to recruit children and young people to join the young people’s board for the Hearings System. Young...

SCRA has announced that we are backing the campaign to treat care experience as a protected characteristic for children and young people. The campaign, which is being led by the charity Who Cares? Scotland, aims to eliminate discrimination and prejudice towards care...

  Young people in Edinburgh are piloting a new pack aimed at providing them with information about court. SCRA has put together a pack of information materials to help support young people who have go to Edinburgh Sheriff Court as part of Children’s Hearings...

SCRA has published statistics today about children and young people referred to the Reporter. The figures show that 13,240  children and young people in Scotland were referred to the Children’s Reporter in 2017/18. Some children and young people are referred to the...