A new three-part show starting on Channel 4 next month takes a close-up look at teenagers and their families in the care system in Coventry – and those working to help and support them.
Channel 4 has commissioned KIDS, a documentary series featuring unprecedented access to those in care.
Programme makers worked closely with Coventry City Council’s Children’s Services to create an in-depth look at the issues facing everyone involved and to show the struggles and the triumphs of those in care.
With the number of young people in care set to reaching a record 100 000 in the next decade, and increased pressure on the system and staff, there’s never been a more important moment to tell these stories.
Until now, legal restrictions and risks, mean young people in care are rarely seen or heard.
Packed with drama and humour, the series gets up close and personal with six remarkable teenagers - and their families – in Coventry, as they enter a crucial year in their lives and prepare to leave the care system.
For the first time, they invite an audience into their world to reveal the unflinching reality of how they entered care and how those experiences are carried with them today.
The first episode – to be screened on 10 May - introduces Xorin, who, after being exploited as a young teen, is returning home to Coventry from a children’s home in Wales to rebuild his life with mum Kelly. Meanwhile 19-year-old Annabelle is pregnant and determined to break the cycle of care that meant her being removed from her parents at the age of five.
In other episodes, viewers will meet Byron and Bayley as they negotiate living on their own for the first time as they leave the security and support of their carers. And we join 16-year-old Havana as she takes on her first tenancy and has big questions she wants answered; she has never known her dad and now hopes to find him.
Also, after multiple placements, Kane returns to live near his mum but he wants to fully understand the reasons why he was removed as a young child and asks his social worker for access to his case files.
John Gregg, Director of Children’s Services at Coventry City Council, said: “There’s never been a more important time to hear from young people – and their families - in the care of Coventry’s Children’s Services. Too often, they’re talked about, but not talked to. That’s one of the reasons that we agreed to work with Expectation and director, Paddy Wivell, on the series.
“We wanted those people to have a voice and for the work of our staff to be seen as it really is: challenging but incredibly rewarding. The series captures that completely and we’re incredibly proud of it and of the young people who’ve taken part.”
From BAFTA-winning director, Paddy Wivell (Prison) and Executive Producer, Colin Barr (Murder 24/7, Superkids: Breaking Away from Care) this series uses extraordinary access to Coventry Children’s Service to take the viewer deep into the heart of the care system.
Hearing from foster carers, social workers, service managers and children’s home staff, Kids lays bare the high-stakes decision making in trying to protect young people, and meets the parents who’ve had their children forcibly removed.
Paddy Wivell said: “In this series the young people are rightly front and centre. With the state acting as their corporate parent many feel they are treated differently to their peers. Rules and restrictions designed to protect also prevent them from having a public voice, making them invisible at a time when they need to be heard.”
Colin Barr, Executive Producer said, “Too often we look at young people in care as if they are victims, or that they should be pitied in some say, which is just not how they live their lives. There is an energy and spirit to them which is just a joy to witness and Paddy is the perfect director to capture that in an uncompromising but uplifting way.”
Shaminder Nahal, Head of Specialist Factual said: “Exploring the lives of young people in the care system has been a key preoccupation since Coventry first gave us access for the film “Superkids: Breaking Away from Care”. Now Paddy Wivell and the brilliant team at Expectation have brought characteristically thoughtful and authentic filmmaking to a world that is rarely seen, and vital to understand.
“This very special series brings specialist factual insight to its examination of the care system now, but at its heart are the stories of the amazing young people who open our eyes in a new, moving and joyful way, as we look into their lives.”
The series comes just months after Ofsted rated the city’s Children’s Services as ‘good’, and runs on Wednesdays from 10-24 May.