English: Whether we refer to looked-after children, or children looked after, we're talking about the individual lives of those who depend on us to give them life chances. As we heard, at 5,617, the number of looked-after children in Wales in 2015 was up 200 on 2011, and 1,000 on 2008. And, as I stated when we debated this in 2011, looked-after children have much poorer psychological and social outcomes when compared to their peers. A 2004 study found that the prevalence of mental disorders for children and young people aged five to 17 and looked after by local authorities in Wales was 49 per cent. Another study found that psychiatric disorders are particularly high among those living in residential care and with many changes of placement. Although 94 per cent of looked-after children do not get involved in the criminal justice system, research in 2005 showed that up to 41 per cent of children who end up in custody across the UK will have some history of being in care. The Centre for Social Justice report, 'Couldn't Care Less', stated that the treatment of many children in care and those leaving the care system deserves to be a source of national shame. These children, they said, too often go on to experience lives characterised by unemployment, homelessness, mental illness and addiction. We're picking up these enormous costs through the criminal justice system and the health service and these are set to rise. The 2009 Westminster Children, Schools and Families Committee report found that the state is failing in its duty to act as a parent to children in care, by not adequately protecting them from sexual exploitation, homelessness, and falling into crime, with children in care, aged 10 and over, more than twice as likely to be cautioned or convicted of an offence. It also revealed evidence of organised, targeted exploitation of girls in residential homes and hostels and warned that the vulnerability of young people leaving care was a matter of great concern. The Children's Commissioner for Wales 2010-11 annual report stated that the provision of advocacy for looked-after children, care leavers and children in need is inconsistent across Wales. Lessons from Sir Ronald Waterhouse's report 'Lost in Care', the Carlisle review, 'Too Serious a Thing', and our own 'Telling Concerns', they said, are that advocacy is an essential element of safeguarding, enabling children and young people to speak up when they perceive that something is wrong. He added that if this is to happen for all children and young people in care, we would expect that all of them would be actively encouraged to have an advocate with whom they can build up a trusting relationship. What the paper also showed was that other countries seemed to be much more responsive to the needs of the children they've taken into care, and often with better results. The previous children's commissioner also spoke about his frustration at the 'initial slow response' to recommendations he'd made about independent advocacy in his 2012 'Missing Voices' report and the follow-up 2013 report, 'Missing Voices: Missing Progress'. We therefore need to know whether local authorities and Welsh Government will implement together a national model for statutory advocacy services to meet the requirements of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014. We also need to address the attainment gap between looked-after children and that of all pupils, rising from 23 per cent at foundation phase to 40 per cent at key stage 4, with only 18 per cent of looked-after children achieving five A* to C GCSEs, including English or Welsh and maths. The 2009 children's commissioner's 'Full of Care' report referred to the advantages that a young carers identity card could bring, and, four years ago, I attended the official launch by the children's commissioner of the Barnardo's Cymru and Flintshire County Council Access to Action card for young carers, looked-after children and care leavers. This was the first of its kind in Wales, designed to help young people to receive recognition and prompt access to services they need. Although this should have been a template for an all-Wales card - something I raised with the Welsh Government at the time - I now understand it's not received the support it needs and I urge the Welsh Government to address this and expand it across Wales. And as the Centre for Social Justice's 'Survival of the Fittest' report states, and I conclude, we must address 'the extreme loneliness and isolation felt by care leavers, by finding ways to foster enduring and supportive relationships, with birth families, siblings, former carers and children's services, that last long after 21.'
Welsh: Pa un a ydym yn cyfeirio at blant sy'n derbyn gofal, neu blant mewn gofal, rydym yn sôn am fywydau unigol y rhai sy'n dibynnu arnom i roi cyfleoedd bywyd iddynt. Fel y clywsom, roedd nifer y plant a oedd yn derbyn gofal yng Nghymru yn 2015, sef 5,617, yn dangos cynnydd o 200 ers 2011 a 1,000 ers 2008. Ac fel y dywedais pan oeddem yn trafod hyn yn 2011, mae canlyniadau seicolegol a chymdeithasol plant sy'n derbyn gofal yn llawer salach o'u cymharu â'u cyfoedion. Canfu astudiaeth yn 2004 fod 49 y cant o blant a phobl ifanc rhwng pump a 17 oed a oedd yn derbyn gofal gan awdurdodau lleol yng Nghymru yn dioddef o anhwylderau meddyliol. Canfu astudiaeth arall fod anhwylderau seiciatrig yn arbennig o uchel ymhlith y rhai sy'n byw mewn gofal preswyl ac sy'n newid lleoliad yn aml. Er nad yw 94 y cant o blant sy'n derbyn gofal yn dod yn rhan o'r system cyfiawnder troseddol, dangosodd ymchwil yn 2005 y bydd gan hyd at 41 y cant o'r plant sy'n cael eu rhoi yn y ddalfa ar draws y DU rywfaint o hanes o fod mewn gofal. Dywedodd adroddiad y Ganolfan Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol, 'Couldn't Care Less', y dylai'r ffordd y caiff nifer o blant mewn gofal a'r rhai sy'n gadael y system ofal eu trin beri cywilydd cenedlaethol. Dywedasant fod y plant hyn yn rhy aml yn mynd ymlaen i fyw bywydau a nodweddir gan ddiweithdra, digartrefedd, salwch meddwl a dibyniaeth. Rydym yn talu'r costau enfawr hyn drwy'r system cyfiawnder troseddol a'r gwasanaeth iechyd, a disgwylir iddynt godi. Canfu adroddiad Pwyllgor Plant, Ysgolion a Theuluoedd San Steffan, a gyhoeddwyd yn 2009, fod y wladwriaeth yn methu yn ei dyletswydd i weithredu fel rhiant i blant mewn gofal drwy beidio â'u diogelu'n ddigonol rhag camfanteisio rhywiol, digartrefedd a dechrau troseddu, gyda phlant mewn gofal, 10 oed a hŷn, yn fwy na dwywaith yn fwy tebygol o gael rhybudd neu o gael eu dyfarnu'n euog am droseddu. Datgelodd hefyd dystiolaeth o achosion o gamfanteisio ar ferched mewn cartrefi preswyl a hosteli a oedd wedi'u trefnu a'u targedu, a rhybuddiodd fod natur fregus pobl ifanc sy'n gadael gofal yn destun pryder mawr. Mae adroddiad blynyddol Comisiynydd Plant Cymru 2010-11 yn nodi bod darpariaeth eiriolaeth ar gyfer plant sy'n derbyn gofal, pobl sy'n gadael gofal a phlant mewn angen yn anghyson ledled Cymru. Y gwersi sy'n deillio o adroddiad Syr Ronald Waterhouse, 'Ar Goll Mewn Gofal', adolygiad Carlisle, 'Peth Rhy Ddifrifol', a'n hadroddiad ni, 'Datgan Pryderon', yn ôl yr hyn a ddywedwyd, yw bod eiriolaeth yn elfen hanfodol o ddiogelu sy'n galluogi plant a phobl ifanc i siarad pan fyddant yn gweld bod rhywbeth o'i le. Os yw hyn yn mynd i ddigwydd ar gyfer pob plentyn a pherson ifanc mewn gofal, ychwanegodd, byddem yn disgwyl i bob un ohonynt gael eu hannog i gael eiriolwr y gallant feithrin perthynas â hwy ac ymddiried ynddynt. Roedd y papur hefyd yn dangos bod gwledydd eraill i'w gweld yn llawer mwy ymatebol i anghenion y plant y maent wedi eu rhoi mewn gofal, gyda chanlyniadau gwell yn aml. Siaradodd y comisiynydd plant blaenorol am ei rwystredigaeth ynglŷn â'r 'ymateb cychwynnol araf' i'r argymhellion a wnaeth ynglŷn ag eiriolaeth annibynnol yn ei adroddiad 'Lleisiau Coll', a gyhoeddwyd yn 2012, a'r adroddiad dilynol, 'Lleisiau Coll: Cynnydd Coll' a gyhoeddwyd yn 2013. Felly, mae angen i ni wybod a fydd awdurdodau lleol a Llywodraeth Cymru yn gweithio gyda'i gilydd i weithredu model cenedlaethol ar gyfer gwasanaethau eiriolaeth statudol i fodloni gofynion y Ddeddf Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol a Llesiant (Cymru) 2014. Mae angen i ni hefyd fynd i'r afael â'r bwlch cyrhaeddiad rhwng plant sy'n derbyn gofal a disgyblion eraill, sy'n codi o 23 y cant yn y cyfnod sylfaen i 40 y cant yng nghyfnod allweddol 4, gyda 18 y cant yn unig o blant sy'n derbyn gofal yn ennill pum TGAU gradd A* i C, gan gynnwys Saesneg neu Gymraeg a mathemateg. Cyfeiriodd adroddiad y comisiynydd plant, 'Bywyd Llawn Gofal', a gyhoeddwyd yn 2009, at fanteision cyflwyno cerdyn adnabod i ofalwyr ifanc, a phedair blynedd yn ôl, mynychais lansiad swyddogol cerdyn A2A Barnardo's Cymru a Chyngor Sir y Fflint ar gyfer gofalwyr ifanc, plant sy'n derbyn gofal a rhai sy'n gadael gofal gan y comisiynydd plant. Y cerdyn hwn oedd y cyntaf o'i fath yng Nghymru, ac fe'i cynlluniwyd i helpu pobl ifanc i gael cydnabyddiaeth a mynediad prydlon at y gwasanaethau sydd eu hangen arnynt. Er y dylai hwn fod wedi bod yn dempled ar gyfer cerdyn Cymru gyfan - mater y tynnais sylw Llywodraeth Cymru ato ar y pryd - rwy'n deall yn awr nad yw wedi cael y gefnogaeth angenrheidiol ac rwy'n annog Llywodraeth Cymru i fynd i'r afael â hyn a'i ymestyn ar gyfer Cymru gyfan. Ac fel y mae adroddiad y Ganolfan Cyfiawnder Cymdeithasol, 'Survival of the Fittest', yn ei ddweud, ac rwy'n gorffen gyda hyn, mae'n rhaid i ni fynd i'r afael â'r unigrwydd a'r arwahanrwydd eithafol a deimlir gan y rhai sy'n gadael gofal, drwy ddod o hyd i ffyrdd o feithrin perthynas barhaus a chefnogol ag eraill, â theuluoedd biolegol, brodyr a chwiorydd, cyn-ofalwyr a gwasanaethau plant, sy'n para ymhell y tu hwnt i 21 oed.