The main reason many people foster with an agency over the Local authority is the better levels of support that agencies can provide. The fostering network states “The level of support – especially practical – is often higher with an agency than an LA. They have a better ratio of supervising social workers to foster carers so one is usually available to step in, if necessary, in an emergency and offer hands-on support, for example, by collecting a child from school” At Fair Ways, we find not only does fostering with an agency mean the practical support is better but also the emotional support is improved, due to the better relationships the Supervising Social Workers can build with the foster carers, their families and the young people in their care. These relationships are generally better with Supervising social workers due to them having a lower case load ratio and agencies having better staff retention rates. Fostering with an agency also means we work with a number of local authorities not just one. This improves the matching process to ensure the best compatibility with your family and birth children or any other foster children you may be already looking after. Although allowances vary, agencies do generally pay their foster carers a higher allowance than the local authorities. At Fair Ways, we know foster carers are financially better off fostering with us than the 5 main local authorities in our area. Source: www.fairways.co/ Could you help steer and govern a leading, high profile and dynamic East Anglian charity to new heights? Are you committed to improving young lives? If so, we have an exciting opportunity to join our organisation as a Trustee (voluntary position). We are particularly seeking to recruit to the Board applicants with expertise in one of the following:
What we are looking for: We are seeking to recruit three trustees with different areas of expertise who are committed to helping us to deliver our vision and mission. We are committed to increasing the diversity of our Board and making sure we best reflect the young people and families we serve. For this reason, we would particularly welcome applications from:
This is an opportunity to join an experienced and dedicated Trustee Board, working alongside a professional and skilled Senior Management Team that lead an agile and highly qualified workforce, to give the very best care to each young person in our services. As a Break trustee you will:
About Break Break is a forward-thinking non-profit organisation that’s delivered unique support for young people across East Anglia for over fifty years. Co-production with staff, young people and families is at the very heart of everything we do. We have a range of residential services, a family assessment centre, a fostering agency, Staying Close, Staying Connected and services for disabled children and their families. As a trauma-informed organisation, all our young people and employees are supported by our highly skilled therapeutic team - and our lifelong offer means that even when young people leave our care, we will always be there for them. With low staff turnover and vacancy rates, we have over 90% good and outstanding gradings across our services and deliver great outcomes for our young people. Our ambition is to grow and build even further - creating an environment where people can develop their talent and see the difference they make. Break employs around 450 staff and 900 volunteers, the majority of the latter in its shops. The staff are located primarily in Norfolk, with the main administrative offices in Norwich. Break is Investors in People gold accredited and has featured in the Times Best Companies list. Break has an exceptional training provision for internal and external customers that has a reputation for being interactive, innovative and of high quality and is leading the social pedagogy agenda within the region. You could be part of making amazing things happen. Change the Lives of Young People Leaving Care with Break - YouTube Please include a covering letter stating why you would like to a Trustee for Break with your application. If you are interested and would like an informal chat with our Chair, in the first instance, please contact Charlotte Johnston (charlotte.johnston@break-charity.org) who will arrange a discussion with the Chair. Full details and application documents here Everything you need to know from Practice Team Manager, Liz Oldfield. We sat down with our South East Practice Team Manager, Liz Oldfield to discuss the in’s and out’s of fostering a parent and their child. In this post you’ll find out why there’s a national emphasis on this type of fostering, how vital it can be in breaking generational cyles of children entering care and the expected outcomes and practices versus traditional, mainstream fostering. Many people may not know that Parents and their children require fostering through the same services as young children, how long has it been around in a formal capacity? It’s hard to define really, but certainly over the last decade the need has grown. That may be because courts are keener to keep mothers and babies together. But most certainly it is the most sought after placement we get asked for. Why are we seeing such an influx of referrals, now more than ever? The impetus is definitely coming from the courts to do everything possible before they remove a child, especially a baby. But we get referrals for a mum who’s maybe had 5 children removed. There are incentives out there about trying to do it differently THIS time and to acknowledge that maybe the support just wasn’t there the first time around for parents. Lets ramp up that support instead of doing the same thing and have the same results. Lets stop that revolving door of children coming into care and their children coming into care and put extra resource in to support this parent. Is it a service specifically for women and babies? What are the outcomes of Parent and Child fostering? It is Dad’s aswell. Mum’s, Dad’s and Child or just Dad’s and Child. It’s why it was renamed Parent and child instead of mummy and baby which we used to call it. So, once we’ve given them all the support we can, then it’s down to the family to really do it on their own. But you’re giving them every possible chance to learn maybe what they didn’t learn from their parents about parenting. It’s about learning in a safe and supportive environment where there’s less pressure on them from other things like managing finances, other people or influences. They don’t leave until they can understand finances and manage their money, they can cook for themselves, they can feed their baby, they can clothe their baby, they can wash their baby and understand health and hygiene and so forth. Placements typically last between 3-4 months or once they’ve demonstrated all these skills. Parents may have aspirations for their future and facilitating that through training, education etc. It may even be as simple as mixing with other people, going to baby groups going to mum and toddler groups. Just getting them to have positive relationships because often they haven’t had that in the past. We do a lot of independent skills with them and sometime aspirations can be unrealistic but entering education would be something they’re expected to do. Stepping stones, and understanding what is feasible at that particular time. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/ As we celebrate Care Day this year, it is a time to reflect on the strides made to improve the way that children in care are looked after across the country, and how much of this progress has been led by care experienced people themselves. Care experienced people have been actively campaigning to improve the care system for as long as it has existed. They have played a central role in securing rights for other young people by sharing their experiences and raising levels of public awareness. This April, many of their stories will be told through Free Loaves on Friday, an anthology written by more than 100 care experienced people and edited by Rebekah Pierre. We are honored to have been involved, and chosen to receive half of the proceeds generated from the books sales so that we can continue to care for all children who need us. We have also seen first-hand the power of care experienced people to make a difference through their involvement in conferences, parliamentary events, meetings with MPs, ministers and regulators. In the words of one passionate campaigner, “children in care are often underestimated”.
Equally, children and the professionals that care for them at the Together Trust have given their time generously to help shape our campaigning positions and consultation responses. This Care Day, we have one strong call to action: let's ensure that every child in care is offered not just a place to stay, but a caring and loving environment that truly meets their needs. You can pre-order your copy of Free Loaves on Friday here Read more about our Keep Caring to 18 campaign here Read our second blog in recognition of Care Day: What does care mean to children?. Source: www.togethertrust.org.uk/ People want to work at St Christopher’s in order to make a difference to young people’s lives. But we also invest in our staff so they can learn new skills, progress in their job and represent the best of their profession. Find out more as Ben our Aftercare Manager tells his story. Why did you want to work at St Christopher’s? I joined St Christopher’s over 10 years ago. Before this I worked for a Payroll Company. I struggled for motivation here as I never saw it as an Industry that I wanted to be in. I decided to start looking for roles where I felt I was helping people. With a past of coaching young people in football, cricket, kayaking and wheelchair basketball I felt that St Christopher’s would be a good fit with my personal values. What do you enjoy about your job? Seeing young people succeed. I have been lucky enough to work with some incredible Young People over the years and now working in Aftercare seeing them thrive living independently shows all the work everyone has done during their time in care. What other development opportunities have you had? I did the Leadership Passport a few years ago and completed my Level 5 whilst as Team Leader of the Aftercare Team. What is next in your career? To continue to learn in my new role as Aftercare Manager and to build relationships with Landlords and other professionals involved in the lives of Care Leavers. What would you say to someone interested/ looking to join the profession? I would say that if you want a job that makes you feel like you make a difference to people’s lives then this is the job for you. It can be hard at times but the good times massively outweigh the bad. Find out more about our current opportunities here. Source: www.stchris.org.uk/ The Hub is an example of how Fair Ways reinvests its surplus back into the charity, ensuring we have the best teams, offering services that would otherwise be unavailable. We are industry-leading in this sense. Many people believe that trauma therapy is magic that happens in a room with a therapist, but it’s the amazing work that our teams do every day that has the power to heal complex trauma.
The Hub at Fair Ways support our teams in getting individuals to feel safe, have their physical needs met and experience security so that they can begin to belong, experience love, build their self-esteem, understand the impact that trauma has had on them and thrive despite the adversity they’ve experienced. Our multidisciplinary team are experienced clinicians, offering a wide variety of specialist assessments and interventions. They work to offer the services that those in our care deserve, supporting our amazing frontline staff in their incredible work building safety and meeting children and young people’s physical needs. We offer:
Once all of the above are in place and we are getting the basics right, we can offer Direct Therapeutic work to support individuals in developing their self-esteem and in reaching and understanding themselves, and their story. Initially that includes topics such as Coping Skills and Occupational Therapy work to help them regulate their bodies in emotional states as well as Psychoeducation around trauma and how it’s impacted their life. Our team will then move to offering space where they can explore and process their experience through Life Story Work, Talking Therapies, Family Therapy, EMDR, DDP, TheraPlay, Music Therapy or other approaches specifically tailored around that young person’s therapeutic needs. Source: https://www.fairways.co Member News from Young People at Heart: From Social Work Assistant to Fully Qualified Social Worker!16/2/2024
In March 2019 I started working here at Young People at Heart as a Social Work Assistant. Before this role, I had worked in many different jobs and been unhappy in most of them. I really didn’t know what I wanted to do or where I fit in. I had always been interested in the world of social work, and wanted a career that meant something to me, but I thought I had left it too late and couldn’t imagine going back to education after so many years of working. One day I just decided to go for it and I signed myself up to the Open University and enrolled in the Social Work degree course. I remember thinking how far off in the distance qualifying seemed and I wasn’t entirely sure I’d even make it the whole way through! Just a couple of months later, before my course had even started, I saw the job advertisement at Young People at Heart for the Social Work Assistant role and genuinely couldn’t believe my luck. I was extremely keen, I applied for the job immediately and even rang Gary to let him know how interested I was in the role! I came in for a couple of interviews and was over the moon when I was offered the job. It took a little while for me to get comfortable in my new career. As someone who has not yet had children and has never worked with children and young people before, there were so many things I just didn’t know. I had no idea about car seats or routines and often had to ask for help and guidance! Luckily for me I had a supportive team around me who were happy to help and teach me along the way. I have learned so much over the years just from working with, and observing, the people who work here and I am extremely grateful to them for that. I was also learning a lot from my social work course which I was completing alongside working every day. It was challenging, and I found it difficult sometimes to study after a day at work, but I also loved ticking off the milestones as I completed each stage of the course. As part of the social work course, I had to complete two placements: the first for 70 days and the second for 100. I completed both of my placements within Young People at Heart, supported organisation-wide by many members of staff. It was during these placements that I really got an insight into the social work role and what it would be like when I finally qualified! I really appreciated the experience I gained from doing these placements and felt lucky to work with people who have so much experience and who are so good at what they do! I often found myself thinking ‘I hope I can do that one day!’ As time went on my role started to change at work, and I took on some social work duties. This was amazing for my learning and really helped to prepare me for the transition into a social work role. The last year of my degree was really hard work, but I was incredibly fortunate to have been supported by Young People at Heart with extra time to complete my studies and advice along the way when I needed it. I finally completed my degree and received my results on 17th July 2023. It was a great day and I was so happy (and relieved that it was over!) I attended my graduation ceremony on 17th November, surrounded by family and friends who all put up with me and my mood swings throughout my studying! It was an amazing day and I felt truly proud of myself and all that I had accomplished. Now that I have qualified and received my Social Work England registration, I am starting my social work career as a Supervising Social Worker here at Young People at Heart. I still have a lot to learn along the way but this feels like a full circle moment, and I am just grateful that 25 year old me with no social work experience was given a chance! The practical experience I gained taught me way more than a text book ever could, and I look forward to continuing to learn throughout my career. Source: hwww.youngpeopleatheart.org We celebrate our new chapter and charitable status with the appointment of Donna Jackman and Simon Egerton to our Board of Trustees, effective September 2023. And, we say goodbye to Elizabeth (Betty) Hutton who has stepped down from her role on our Board of Trustees. Established in 1999, The Foster Care Charity (formerly the Foster Care Co-operative) has been dedicated to placing children in nurturing family homes for more than two decades. As an independent not-for-profit foster care agency, The Foster Care Charity (FCC) operates with a commitment to reinvesting any surplus income. This approach ensures the provision of enhanced individual foster care support, facilitates the recruitment and training of additional foster carers, and helps contribute to the creation of stable, loving home environments for an increasing number of children. Our mission revolves around making a profound difference in the lives of children. We are unwavering in our commitment to providing the best possible fostering support, with the goal of fostering happiness and success. The appointment of Donna Jackman and Simon Egerton as Trustees marks a significant step forward for us. Donna’s extensive experience in strategic and operational leadership in Children and Family Services and Simon’s distinguished career as a Company Director, Magistrate and community leader align seamlessly with our charitable mission. “The Foster Care Charity is well known for being value driven and child centred, both aspects which resonate deeply with me. Along with my fellow Trustees, we are committed to helping make a real differences to children’s lives. The next chapter for the charity is going to be so innovative and I look forward to being involved,” said Donna Jackman, Trustee of The Foster Care Charity “The work of The Foster Care Charity is so important to the children and families it touches , I hope that my being a Trustee with the experience I can bring to the organisation will make that work all the more effective and successful,” said Simon Egerton, Trustee of The Foster Care Charity. Donna Jackman Simon Egerton Betty Hutton Elizabeth (Betty) Hutton, who played a pivotal role as an FCC Director and Company Secretary for the past 5 years helping in the transition from co-operative to charity status, is gratefully acknowledged for her dedicated service as she steps down from the Board of Trustees.
Betty says “So much positive change has taken place during my five years as part of the team of FCC, not least of all, our move to charity status. Although very saddened not to be in a position to continue, I have every confidence that, uAer excellent leadership and with the truly motivated workforce, together with existing and newly appointed Trustees, FCC is in a position for an exciting new phase. My friends at FCC are sure to keep me informed, so that I continue to share and enjoy the success story.” The Foster Care Charity is proud of its track record, with an average child placement length of over 3 years. With Donna and Simon joining our trusted board of advisers, we look forward to their invaluable contributions as we continue to pursue our organisation’s commitment to creating stable and nurturing environments for children across England and Wales. Source: https://fostercarecharity.org.uk/ Societal prejudice that exasperates trauma As a population we often forget that children are in care through no fault of their own, and we brand them with societally held prejudices that exasperates their trauma. Their actions when experiencing trauma (and the upheaval of everything they know) cannot be helped without the therapeutic support from a supportive, confident & well trained care giver. We see daily how therapeutic and tailored support makes small, incremental changes in our children’s behaviour and attitudes towards their futures. Small changes that snowball into monumental moments that beforehand, seemed far out of reach. Small changes create monumental moments. This has been the reality for our North East foster carer Debbie and her foster daughter, SW. SW came to The CFT with a reputation as a bit of trouble-maker who frequently absconded from school. But through the hardwork of her care givers and her sheer focus and determination has turned her school life around and is now an A-Level student with hopes of becoming a primary school teacher. Debbie wanted to share this fantastic milestone through our Andrew Turner Award which SW was awarded, acknowledging her unbelievable turn-around. Here’s Debbie’s nomination in full – When S came to us in 2021, she came with a reputation as a bit of a troublemaker in school, having been known to runaway. It was clear at the end of year 10 that this school was not suitable or meeting S’s needs. We fought social workers, schools and all the relevant people who said moving her at this point in her studies was wrong. We persevered and won the battle and S began her final year of school at a different academy. Despite changing some subjects, or modules it was clear if S was going to achieve at the end of the year (and prove that we were right to move her), that she was going to have to work very hard, and boy did she. When many of friends were out socialising, S would be found with her head in her books, studying at any free opportunity she had. She had to be encouraged to take a break, but she was determined. At the end of her school year she passed every single subject, and although she had to condense two years of study into just 9 months, she gained an average “6” in her subjects. December last year S was invited back to school for an awards ceremony that we attended with her. S picked up 3 individual awards: Progress in Geography, Achievement in Food and Nutrition and Pastoral Team Award. S has now begun her A-Level studies with the aim of eventually becoming a primary school teacher. Hopefully S is as proud of herself as we are of her!! Confident carers providing the best chance for children to thrive As a foster carer with The CFT – Confidence is a huge part of ensuring as a team we provide the best outcomes for our children. Confidence means being steadfast in the face of adversity. Confidence means demonstrating that when you know something isn’t right, to fight for positive changes no matter the barriers. We stand alongside our carers, who arguably get to know their foster children much better than any teacher or health professional ever could. Fighting for change meant SW had the best possible chance to make her future a reality, making positive choices at home and in school. What an outstanding achievement. If you can support a young person to reach their full potential – we want to hear from you. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/ Barnardo’s and NHS England have joined forces and are looking for young people aged between 14 and 24 years-old to speak out on the health issues that matter to them to help shape mental and physical health provision in England. The NHS Youth Forum, which is now being run by Barnardo’s alongside NHS England, has launched a recruitment campaign to find new members who will help to inform, influence and bring innovation to NHS practices for their peers. After recently being appointed as a partner for the NHS Youth Forum, Barnardo’s is working with NHS England to recruit new members who are keen to speak out about health issues and become involved in decision-making processes to help shape future services and practice. Members of the Youth Forum work to gather the views of other young people across the country by running surveys and deliver recommendations to NHS England. Previous findings have influenced policies relating to healthcare inequalities and primary care. Other reports have been shared with the United Nations Committee for the Rights of a Child. NHS Youth Forum members will also regularly attend meetings and participate in discussions with NHS senior staff and decision-makers. This gives them the opportunity to learn and develop skills including team working, public speaking and building self-confidence. Josh Harsant, Barnardo’s Head of Voice and Influence, said: “At Barnardo’s, we recognise the importance of giving children and young people the opportunity to have their voices heard on the issues which matter to them most. Therefore, leading the NHS Youth Forum is a very natural fit for us. “We hope the forum will champion key issues and provide real insight into how to provide solutions which will be both effective and sustainable for generations to come. So, if you or a young person you know is passionate about improving health care for children and young people and wants to help make a difference then please do get in touch.” The NHS Youth Forum was established nearly 10 years ago to give children and young people the unique opportunity to share their views on how physical and mental health services are run across England. Working with young people and communities is critical for the NHS to create a health and care service which works for people of all ages. Alongside the forum, 11 to 24-year-olds can also apply to be part of the wider NHS Youth Advisory Network. The network is consulted on key health issues impacting the NHS but in a more informal manner, such as through video calls. Barnardo’s and NHS England are looking to double the number in this network to 100 in the coming months and recruitment into this network is ongoing. Duncan Burton, NHS Deputy Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “Listening to children and young people and engaging them in decisions that affect their health and care is crucial. Their voices bring fresh insights and perspectives that ensure services meet their needs effectively. “For nearly a decade, young people have been working with the NHS and directly influencing health policy in significant areas such as asthma, healthcare inequalities and mental health. They have made a difference to the lives of other children and young people, and we are thrilled to be continuing this important work in partnership with Barnardo’s. Applications to join the NHS Youth Forum and the NHS Youth Advisory Network can be made here. The closing date for the NHS Youth Forum is Monday 4 March 2024. Source: www.barnardos.org.uk/ |
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