Protecting the rights of children and young people

The experienced children’s lawyers represent and protect their rights when legal decisions are being made about them which make a lasting difference in their lives. CLAN provide information throughout Scotland with representation being provided directly to those in Edinburgh and the Lothians, and Glasgow areas. 

CLAN was established when the founder was working within the care system in Scotland and started to investigate the difference in what the law said, compared to what was actually happening in practice. Aspects of the law appeared to be child friendly and child centred, yet the reality was very different. Researchers in England were investigating this exact issue, which identified that children and young people wanted a legal service in the form of outreach. This meant that a lawyer would come to them, rather than the child going to an intimidating office - and that the service was available for free. The founder used this feedback to start CLAN with the goal of making the law work better for children and young people in Scotland.

Clan received £45,000 over three years from the Volant Charitable Trust to employ an additional full time specialist children’s lawyer. This was game changing, as they had been working at capacity, and with no equivalent service to signpost children to, they were having to refer some cases to commercial lawyers - far from ideal for these children.

During the grant period between 2022 and 2025, the funding helped 5,803 individuals in total: 318 children and young people were supported through legal casework, 4,290 through the legal information and guidance helpline, and 1,195 professionals attended training and capacity-building sessions.

Children supported through casework were primarily care-experienced or on the edges of care, including young parents, brothers and sisters seeking to maintain relationships, young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, children in conflict with the law, and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC). The helpline and training extended impact by enabling professionals to apply legal routes to remedy issues for multiple children in their care.

Delivery brought together direct representation, advice, and outreach with wider system-focused work. Lawyers represented and advised children in Children’s Hearings and in court, provided urgent duty solicitor assistance, and met young people in accessible, community-based settings. The helpline offered guidance on child law and issues affecting care leavers, including continuing care, aftercare, housing and homelessness, sibling contact, child protection, disclosure, justice, education, identity documents, and immigration.

Alongside this, an expanded training programme was delivered, offering both open courses and tailored commissions to equip frontline workers with practical knowledge of children’s rights and ways to apply the law to resolve issues. Investment was also made in practice development through the Lawyers for Children certification pathway and student training, helping to strengthen and grow child-centred legal practice across Scotland.

Summary of key achievements supported by the funding:

• Increased capacity and reach through the addition of another lawyer, allowing more complex cases to be handled while maintaining a responsive helpline.
• Prevented homelessness among care-experienced young people by securing safe accommodation and statutory support, reducing repeat crises.
• Continued specialist casework to protect sibling relationships and ensure children’s views influenced key decisions.
• Safeguarded unaccompanied asylum-seeking children’s access to care, education, and healthcare, and challenged inappropriate decisions.
• Expanded training delivery significantly, with participation rising from 115 in 2023 to 766 in 2025, alongside consistently high satisfaction and evidence of practical impact.

Sector recognition for CLAN also strengthened this year with honours at the 2025 Scottish Legal Awards: winning the Community Care & Social Responsibility award and being shortlisted for Excellence in Client Care. Additionally, CLAN’s pioneering approach has been recognised by the Law Society of Scotland, which honoured the Founder and Chief Executive with its Legal Pioneer Award.  

Overall, the project has helped embed a culture of children’s rights within Scotland’s wider children’s sector. By working towards normalising trauma-informed, participatory legal practice, CLAN has influenced how other professionals and services approach children’s cases, ensuring that young people are seen, heard, and respected. A frontline worker said: 

Through CLAN’s legal casework, policy engagement, and training, it has improved local authorities and frontline workers' understanding of children’s rights. This kind of systemic change helps prevent rights breaches from recurring and protecting future generations of children. The impact extends far beyond CLAN. The project has helped shift professional culture by increasing awareness and accountability among those responsible for children’s care and protection. By empowering professionals to stand up for children’s rights, the project has contributed to a more rights-respecting environment across Scotland.

Jessica’s Right to a Home 
Jessica is 16 and looked after in foster care. When her foster carer abruptly ended the placement, the local authority did not offer her another care placement. Instead, she was told her only options were student halls, homeless accommodation, or returning to her family, a situation she could not face given their fractured relationship. Feeling she had no real choice, Jessica reluctantly agreed to move to student halls. Student halls are not a home. They close over term breaks, leaving Jessica at risk of repeated homelessness. Expecting a 16-year-old in care to manage independently in such conditions is a breach of her right to a safe, stable, home.

When Jessica came to Clan, she was distressed, telling her solicitor that she felt “unwanted and a burden” after four disrupted foster placements. Yet she was also clear that she is ambitious about her studies and knows she needs a place she can call home to succeed. Her Clan lawyer explained her rights. Her lawyer emphasised that she was entitled to be in care and the local authority has clear legal duties towards her. For the first time, Jessica felt able to challenge the decisions being made about her life. 

Her lawyer wrote to the local authority insisting that Jessica be provided with a permanent care placement, not student halls, and that a needs assessment and review be carried out. As a direct result, her foster placement was extended, and Jessica avoided a highly disruptive move in the very week she started college. The authority has now scheduled a review and is seeking a suitable long-term care placement. 

Jessica’s case is not unique. Clan has taken action against this local authority many times, and they now recognise they must act when a Clan lawyer is involved. In the past, urgent court action would have been the only way to protect Jessica’s rights. In this case, Clan were able to negotiate and secure what she was entitled to without going to court. 

Every case like Jessica’s pushes local authorities to take their duties seriously, helping to build a system where children’s rights to a home are upheld from the start.