Factors Influencing Children and Young People's Development in Residential Care

Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
Children, Young People and Families Practitioner Residential Childcare Pathway
Unit RCC 3.1
Understand the development of children and young people in residential care
Workbook 2
Learner Name:
Date:
LO2
Understand the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how
these affect practice.
2.1 Explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by the following
personal factors.
Health Status
Health is very important factor in young people’s development. It is
quite concerning issue for young people and for their future. If there
is good healthy body, then their chance of having healthy mind too.
Health status is a major factor which decide physical, mental,
educational development of young people. Recently intergenerational
foundation[www.if.org.uk] has done research about the key issues
affecting the people’s health. The key finding of this research suggest
that with evidence that early infant and childhood health has a strong

deterministic impact on the level of health and wellbeing that a
person is likely to enjoy as an adult.
Disability
Equality Act 2010 defines disability if you have a physical or mental
impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on
your ability to do normal daily activities.
Physical and mental fitness is important in children’s development.
Physical disabilities may affect by restricting children’s play in variety
of ways. Mental or cognitive disability put restrictions on the
intellectual skills where young people can struggle to develop their
own interpersonal skills.
Sensory
Impairment
Sensory impairment is when one of our senses hearing, smell, touch,
test, sight, and spatial awareness is no longer normal. For example, if
young person has visual impairment, then he /she won’t be able to
see, read and write. He/she can become dependable and always
need extra support. It can affect daily activities like walking, crossing
the road. Having no ability to see, they might get frustrated and it
can lead into depression or mental health.
That’s why getting help with necessary resources on time is very
important for their development.
Learning
Difficulties
Learning difficulties make an overall impact on the young people’s
development, including their social physical and cognitive skills.
If young people have dyslexia or impairment needs, their problem
with speaking, listening, reading and writing makes it difficult for them
to process information and everyday learning material. It can be hard
for them to do day to day activities. They may struggle with small
necessary things in life. It may affect their confidence, competency to
do something, capacity and ability to do the things. Having learning
difficulties may put young people in the big risk of losing social as
well as intellectual skills.
2.2 Explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by the following
external factors.

Poverty and
deprivation
Food, drink, shelter, sleep and oxygen are the fundamental needs to
life. If there is lack of availability of the fundamental things to survive.
If children and young people are facing extreme situation of poverty
and deprivation, then there development can be severely affected as
they do not have access to proper resources which can help them in
growing. Because of poverty they will be unable to get proper
education, which the reason for their undeveloped growth. But the
poverty does not mean that having no availability of fundamental
things.
The poverty line in the UK is defined as a household income below
60% of the average. This threshold is currently around £195 a week
for a lone parent with two children.
[www.nourishcommunityfoodbank.org.uk]
Four million children live in poverty in the UK, one of the worst rates
in the industrialised world. Deprivation poverty can blight children’s
well-being and their future life chances. This can affect their well
being as there are no availability of adequate resources that can
assist them in growing. Also many children are living in deprived
areas where they have no money and access to advanced
technology which is laying negative impact on their development.
For example, children living in poverty are more likely to have poor
physical and mental health and less likely to achieve their potential
at school and in employment. [www.childrenssociety.org.uk]
Children and young adults because of poverty and deprivation is
also facing problems like high rate of infant mortality. This is
because mothers of children do not have access to better health and
service facilities, they are unable to provide them with better
treatment because of which more and more number of children and
young adult are dying. Other significant factor which is affecting
children and young adults includes low life expectancy, this is
because of they are deprived of basic amenities like food, shelter
and clothing.

Family
environment and
background
Family environment and background can be a major factor which
can affect the children’s development. Young person’s or child’s
early home environment has a long-term effect on development.
Family’s culture, race, religion may impact on thinking and their own
development. Home environment is a stimulator in child’s mental
health development. Calm and loving home allows children to focus
on improving their abilities.
In order to have proper development of children and young adults
family support us also been needed. Like for example they can
make their children attend music and sports lesson which will
enhance their learning abilities and skills. Family can also give them
access to high quality of education so that young children can grow
perfectly.
If family do not support their children it also lay negative impact on
their development, like for example it can reduce morale and
aspirations of children. They need to also provide students with
proper books and resources so that there ability to think rises.
Neglect
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical
and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment
of the child's health of development.
[assets.publishing.service.gov.uk]
Neglect may involve a carer or parent failing to adequate food,
shelter and clothing, protect a young person from physical and
emotional harm, ensure adequate supervision, ensure access to
appropriate medical care. Children and young adults can become
negative and aggressive, this can reduce their ability to learn new
things.
If child’s basic needs are being neglected by parents then this can
lay severe impact on mind of children, they might develop feelings of
aggression in then. They might get engaged in unnecessary fights
that can severely impact their development process.
Trauma
When children are abused and exploited, they believed that they are
bad, and the world is terrible and unsafe. Trauma impairs the normal
development of the nervous system, the immune system and the
body’s stress response system. If children are affected by trauma it
does affect directly on their development. Because of trauma
children lose their ability to think this can affect development of
young adults.
Trauma can be emotional as well as physical, if their basic needs
like food shelter clothing are not being fulfilled then this can lay
impact on their physical as well as mental ability. This aspect can lay
negative impact on day to day activities of child.
Grief and Loss
Grief is natural response to loss. It is the emotional suffering we feel
someone we love is taken away.
For young people it can be a big loss; it may be harder for them to
go through the shock. They may experience all kinds of difficult and
unexpected emotions from anger or shock to disbelief, guilt and
profound sadness. It is harder for children and young adult to

overcome form grief and loss as they are way more sensitive than
others.
Young people can get badly affected from it. there is normal
timetable for grieving. Some young people may start to feel better in
weeks, months or years. It is important to be patient to allow the
process naturally to unfold. It affect their development by making
them lose their ability to think.
Personal choices
There are two factors may involve in personal, positive factors and
negative factors. Peers can have huge impact on the personal
choice of young person. If child is with good friends, it can have
positive impact on personal development. Like for example if there
friends are smoking, then young adult might get influence which will
affect their development process.
If child or young person is engaged with friends who smoke it may
impact negatively for example-Drugs, Smoking, Alcohol. These can
have dramatic effect on child’s development. As they will also start
smoking
That’s why personal choices make the big difference in young
people’s lives.
If they join a sports team then this can positively influence
development of young people. Like they have the ability to learn
competitive spirit through it.
Looked after/care
status
If child is living in Residential care home and looked after by public
authority or private company, there might be chance where child feel
secondary than others. They previously they might have faced
terrible situations that might have affected on them mentally as well
as physically.
For child development there is need of love and warmth from own
family which helps a lot in child development specifically cognitive
skills.
As per the children Act 1989 a child get the legal status as a looked
after child. Local authorities do provide all facilities but having no
own family and people impact on the child’s development. If proper
care is not being provided young people might feel neglected
affecting their development.
Young people who have been looked after are more disadvantaged
and face more difficulties than their peers in achieving
independence. They become independent at a younger age and
have to cope with major changes in their lives in a much shorter time
and with less support than their peers. This can lay severe impact
on their development.

Education
Education is a crucial factor in young people’s development. We
learn basic skills of life through education. Education is one of the
important needs of life.
A young person’s education starts with birth well before he joins the
school but to have that need responsible parents and good family
environment which is required for child’s development.
Family income may effect on young person education as income
can major determinant of the education and good schooling for the
child. A rich and colourful environment that keeps a baby busy is the
foundation of their physical, cognitive and social development.