Lucas and Adam’s journey with the Rolls Royce of fostering agencies Adam and Lucas’s fostering journey started three years ago when they were introduced to New Routes fostering agency. Adam said, “For us it was really important to play a part in providing a safe and happy environment for children whose welfare wasn’t being met. We were introduced to New Routes by my auntie who has been fostering with them for over 20 years.” Lucas said: “We were fortunate that we had some awareness of what fostering involved which helped with the initial contact with the agency. Although we were a little apprehensive of the unknown, we need not have been as staff were approachable and friendly resulting in a smooth transition from making the initial call to being approved as foster carers. “We currently have three children in our care, two of whom are siblings who have recently been matched with us long term. We also had three short term respite placements prior to the three children currently placed.” New Routes are keen to dispel myths around fostering, particularly who can foster. A spokesperson from the agency said, “You do not have to be married or have had children. You can apply to become foster carers whatever your marital status, sexual orientation, religious background, and so on. The children and young people we find homes for come from a wide range of backgrounds, so we are looking for foster carers who reflect that diversity. What is essential is that you enjoy the company of children and young people and have a genuine desire to make a difference in their upbringing. “You do need to have a room for each child, undergo various checks and be willing to attend training. We offer training and support at every stage. We also hold social events so you can meet other foster carers.” Lucas said, “New Routes are genuinely the Rolls Royce of fostering agencies. They provide excellent support training and guidance as well as being there for a friendly chat. To be a foster carer you need to make sure you have sufficient time, love, and a spare room, as well as having a genuine passion to want to make a difference.” Adam said, “The rewards of supporting looked-after-children are immense and provides them with the foundation to building a good life. We couldn’t recommend fostering enough, it’s the best thing we ever did. The only regret we have is not doing it earlier.” Based near Birmingham, New Routes welcome enquiries from people living in the East and West Midlands. It is operated by social care charity Father Hudson’s Care, which provides services and local projects that support people facing various challenges and adversity. If you would like to find out more about how you can help children and young people on their journey, you can contact New Routes on 01675 434025, email newroutes@fatherhudsons.org.uk or go to www.foster-carers.org.uk. Names have been changed to protect the identities of looked-after children. Source: https://www.foster-carers.org.uk Call comes amid longstanding shortage with 25 children waiting for placement at any one time The government should be responsible for ensuring there are enough secure placements for looked-after children to address the current shortage, the Children’s Commissioner for England has said. In July last year, Ofsted said that, at any one time, 25 children were waiting for a place at one of England’s 13 secure homes, and 20 children from England had been placed in secure units in Scotland. The shortage has forced local authorities to seek court orders for bespoke placements for children needing secure care, causing judges to repeatedly criticise the lack of provision nationally for children with complex needs. Under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, secure placements are reserved for looked-after children who would otherwise be likely to abscond, putting themselves at significant risk, or to injure themselves or others. The commissioner, Rachel de Souza, made the call for the Department for Education (DfE) to address the current shortage in a report on improving provision for looked-after children, published this week. Under her plan, councils would still bear the costs of the placements. The report, which is designed to influence the children’s social care review, made a number of proposals to improve stability and support for looked-after children and enable them to have a much greater say in how they are cared for. Instability ‘the single biggest failure’ The commissioner said that placement instability – rooted in the lack of provision – was the “single biggest failure” in services for looked-after children, with one in four experiencing two or more moves every two years. De Souza called for an England-wide strategy to reduce instability, with a national target to reduce this rate to one in ten children within five years, and local targets for councils to reduce their rates. Authorities should be bound to set out how they would meet their targets in their sufficiency strategies, said the commissioner. These are required under their duty to secure sufficient accommodation for looked-after children in their area for whom a local placement would be appropriate. De Souza also urged the care review to consider recommending that Ofsted inspections assess councils against the quality of their sufficiency strategies and the rates of instability experienced by children. ‘Trusting relationships’ The report highlighted the value of looked-after children having at least one trusting relationship, but said this was undermined by high turnover of social workers. Previous research by the commissioner has found that three in five children in care experience a change of social worker each year, with one in four having two or more changes. “Children should be able to expect their social worker to support them over several years, with a proper handover process whereby children are able to build up a relationship before any crucial decisions are made,” the report said. De Souza said practitioners needed to be freed up to invest time in building relationships with children in care, through reduced caseloads and paperwork. As well as investment in the workforce, she said this could be achieved by increasing the use of automation when making records and through “shared systems” that reduced the need for social workers to fill out “duplicate referrals”. However, the report said that, where children had a difficult rapport with their social worker, they should be able to build a trusting relationship with another professional, such as an advocate or a youth worker. IRO role ‘not working’ Children should also play a greater role in their reviews, saying they too rarely believed they could shape the process, being greatly outnumbered by professionals, some of whom they did not know well. The commissioner said the independent reviewing officer (IRO) role was not working, with children rarely having strong relationships with them outside of reviews, which IROs chair. She also said IROs, who are employed by local authorities, did not have sufficient independence to challenge decisions while also not being able to take sufficient ownership of outcomes for the children they were responsible for. While the report did not make any specific recommendations to reform the role, the commissioner called for “greater connection between IROs and advocacy services to provide more independent challenge”. Longstanding sufficiency concerns De Souza’s report follows many that have raised significant concerns about the lack of placements for looked-after children, including from her predecessor as commissioner, Anne Longfield. Both the care review and the Competition and Markets Authority, in its current study on children’s social care, have raised concerns about the power providers had to dictate terms to local authorities, leading to high prices and insufficient provision. In its interim report, the CMA suggested moving towards regional or national procurement or commissioning of looked-after children’s placements to give councils more clout with providers. It will provide recommendations on the issue in its final report, due by March. Meanwhile, the government has provided £259m, from 2022-25, to increase the capacity of open and secure children’s homes. Alongside this, Ofsted has made regulatory changes to enable providers to register children’s homes with up to four buildings, to tackle capacity challenges. In response to de Souza’s report, Association of Directors of Children’s Services vice president Steve Crocker welcomed her call “for the DfE to play a greater role in securing sufficiency in secure children’s homes” He said the ADCS believed that “a wholly new and much more therapeutic approach” for children and young people with “very complex and overlapping health, education and social care needs” – the cohort who may need secure care. “Unfortunately, finding the right placement, at the right time and in the best location for a growing number of children in our care is becoming increasingly difficult because we face a national shortage of placements of all types,” Crocker added. He said the CMA and care review’s work would be “crucial in enabling local authorities to meet their sufficiency duties in future”, and that the extra government investment and Ofsted regulatory changes would “help ease these challenges down the line”. Ofsted’s national director for social care, Yvette Stanley, said it would back a “national commissioning strategy for secure placements”, based on an assessment of the needs of children across the youth justice, care and mental health systems. Children ‘placed over 100 miles away’ She added: “As well as ensuring there are enough places, stability in revenue and capital funding is needed to maintain and upgrade buildings, so they can meet the needs of the children now in the system. “Placements also need to be in the right places. In some cases, we are seeing children placed over 100 miles away from their homes, which has a real impact on family and community bonds.” In relation to setting targets for stability, Stanley said data alone can be “a blunt and inaccurate measure of progress”, but that “well-designed, measurable targets” could, with other actions, “be motivating and lead to positive change”. She said that Ofsted would be “happy to be part of the conversation that considers different approaches to make sure this is a priority”. In relation to Ofsted inspections assessing councils’ delivery of their sufficiency strategies and the rates of instability experienced by looked-after children, Stanley said she sould be happy to engage in discussions. However, she added: “Sufficiency of placements is central to our work, but we look at this through the lens of individual children’s experiences, rather than an evaluation of strategies, policies and procedures. At a local level the number of these children will be small, so planning needs to be joined up regionally and nationally.” The current framework for Ofsted’s inspections of local authorities asks councils to provide a range of relevant information including their sufficiency strategy, and associated commissioning plans. Source: www.communitycare.co.uk St Christopher’s is introducing a Get Into Work programme in the England to support our care leavers with learning employability skills and building their confidence around work. Young people supported by St Christopher’s expressed concerns about having the skills to secure and sustain work once they leave care, particularly as they have had limited work experience opportunities during the pandemic. We want to offer young people insight into the world of work before they began to live independently as part of our strategic commitment to promote lifelong learning and thriving. Expertise for the new Get Into Work programme has come from our successful Support Into Employment service on the Isle of Man, which helps care leavers learn new skills and find a job that is right for them. Thanks to funding from the Churchill Fellowship, we will recruit a Get Into Work co-ordinator to deliver an apprenticeship programme and identify work experience opportunities within St Christopher’s in the first instance. The co-ordinator will also develop an accredited qualification that enables young people to mark their progress and achievements. The programme will develop young people’s self-confidence and skills, provide mentoring, and help them overcome the challenges of finding a job. Our hope is that giving young people a solid introduction to work will help them grow their aspirations, find sustainable employment and achieve their goals. Geneva Ellis, Director of Income and Development said: “Establishing our Get Into Work programme will help us support young people with one of the key challenges they face when they leave care and meet their needs in a way that works for them. I am really excited to develop this programme and hope that we will give young people a positive introduction to the world of work so that they can go on to enjoy fulfilling careers and lives.” Source: www.stchris.org.uk Foreword by Dame Rachel de Souza DBE This paper is dedicated to all the children in care who have spoken to me as Children’s Commissioner. These children have shared with me their experiences – good, bad and sometimes traumatic. Lots of the children and young people I meet are grateful for the love and support they have been given. But all too often they can be angry and frustrated about the challenges they face and the way they have been treated. These children in care have told me their thoughts and personal experiences in the hope that I can bring about change for the children who follow in their footsteps. And, I have been constantly impressed by the reflective and sanguine way children in care can discuss their experiences. As Children’s Commissioner I want to put children’s voice at the heart of everything we do. I am motivated by all the children I have met and the stories they have shared. That is why, ‘The Big Ask’, my survey of nearly 600,000 children last year, offered children the opportunity to tell me their hopes, aspirations, and challenges. What was striking was that for children in care they were the same as all other children. They wanted to feel safe, stable, and loved; to maintain the vital relationships with friends and family; to be able to pursue their own interests and make plans for the future, and to be helped and supported when things go wrong. It is these essential elements of a good childhood which are too often missing for children in care and on the edges of it, and it is these fundamentals I want to focus on. We have a unique opportunity now to change and reform the lives of children in care. With the Review of Children’s Social Care, the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Green Paper, the Schools’ White Paper and reforms to Integrated Care Services all taking place at the moment. This provides a unique opportunity to address these important issues ambitiously, cohesively and in a child-centred way. And my Office continues to contribute to all these ongoing pieces of work. The case for change couldn’t be stronger – we are failing to give children loving, caring and stable homes; we are failing to get children into good schools which can support them, and we are failing to get children vital mental health care to help them recover from trauma. In some cases, as we have been reminded so tragically recently, we are failing to make the interventions that could save a child from trauma, serious harm and even death. Quite simply, we can and must do better and I will be relentless in pushing for the changes we need to see. This paper focuses on the changes I believe are needed. I do not pretend this is easy to get right every time, but when we are talking about the lives of children no failure rate is acceptable. We need to focus on the experience we want for every child and commit to building a system that can deliver it. We need to acknowledge that the system must do better and then commit to working together to get it to where we want to be. We must celebrate the good the great social care is doing across the country and use this as a foundation from which to build. The Social Care Review can be the catalyst to bring about the bold and radical changes children want to see, but it will take all of us to make it a reality for all children within five years. Full details and download here Norfolk-based discount retailer QD Group, which has stores across the county, has donated £23,205.00 to Break, the East Anglian children’s care charity, who provide young people on the edge of care, in care and leaving care with a healthy childhood and the life-long support they need to enjoy a bright and successful future. These funds have been raised since QD announced Break as its chosen charity partner last year. QD has donated all the proceeds from the 10p plastic carrier bag charge across its stores and garden centres and also customer donations in collection tubs on the tills. Karl Ottolangui, operations director for the QD Group, said: “We are delighted to make this first donation to Break, which is a great way to kick off our new charity partnership. Thank you to our customers who have helped us to raise this brilliant first amount of £23,205. We are all looking forward to really getting behind the charity this year to raise some more much-needed funds for a fantastic local cause.” In addition to the carrier bag charge proceeds and customer donations, staff across the stores, head office and distribution centre are hoping to raise funds through events and outdoor challenges as the year progresses and COVID-19 restrictions ease. QD has also been confirmed as a sponsor for Break’s GoGoDiscover Trail, sponsoring a mighty two metre tall T.rex sculpture, which will be part of this summer’s family-friendly fundraising trail in Norwich for Break. Peter Marron, corporate fundraising and project manager at Break, said: “We cannot thank QD enough for this amazing and generous donation. We are really looking forward to working alongside their staff and customers throughout the year with an array of additional fundraising activities as part of our charity of the year partnership. “It’s a really exciting year for Break, with the T.rex sculptures back onto the city streets with more friends joining them across the county to form a mammoth GoGoDiscover trail. We are really looking forward to seeing the design of QD’s sponsored sculpture come to life in the next few weeks. “Break’s work supports some of the most vulnerable in our community and every penny raised means that we are able to offer opportunities that support and enable children and young people on the edge of care, in care and leaving care to dream big and achieve their goals, no matter their start in life.” The original concept of QD Stores’ quality discounted retailing was first established back in 1985 by the company’s CEO Nick Rubin’s father, and current Chairman, Danny Rubins. The aim was to offer customers a wide range of constantly changing, quality products at discounted prices, which led to the stores’ name QD – short for Quality Discounts. The first store was located in Anglia Square, Norwich, where it is still open today. Source: https://break-charity.org/ Location: Gloucester or Lancaster (with the expectation to have a presence across both locations) Salary: £28,884-31,162 Hours: 30 hours per week Closing date: 12 noon Wednesday 2nd February 2022 Interview date: Provisionally 9th February 2022 at our Gloucester Office Role Summary
To co-ordinate one or more projects working with children, young people, and families to enable them to thrive through delivering high quality services. You will be responsible for supervising a small team of support workers as well as delivering 1:1 and group based interventions where required. Key drivers of considerations As a Support Co-ordinator, you will at all times:
Key requirements of which you should be aware:
- To meet the demands of your role; - To offer support to your team as required. Main Duties and Responsibilities Outcome Based Support Service
- crisis or admission into care; - return to home following a period in care; - supporting a family in order that the child can remain in a foster placement; - providing activity based interventions as required.
Full details and application documents here Part time: 22.5 hours per week, Wednesday to Friday Salary Banding: £21,553.41 - £25,004.94 per annum (FTE £35,922.35 to £41,674.90) Please note we do not operate a performance related reward system of automatic incremental payments. PLEASE NOTE: The role will be based in our Sheffield office but consideration will be given to the post being based in our East Midlands office. We are currently working from home and are reviewing our working arrangements to potentially introduce hybrid working arrangements in the future. Team Fostering is an ethical not for profit fostering agency with a strong reputation and track record for providing high quality, value for money fostering placements for looked after children. We pride ourselves on our values and we expect our staff to commit to and demonstrate these values in their everyday work. This is an exciting opportunity for experienced and qualified social workers to join our successful and growing fostering team. Working with Team Fostering’s Recruitment team, the post holder will support the Agency in recruiting skilled and suitable foster carers by dealing with initial enquiries, undertaking initial assessments and deliver training to prospective foster carers. You will have the knowledge and skills to undertake the full range of fostering social worker tasks, including recruiting, assessing, training and supervising foster carers. Not only will you have excellent communication and interpersonal skills you will also be hardworking, positive, and motivated to improve outcomes for looked after children. The post is based in Sheffield however you will be required to work flexibly across the Yorkshire and East Midlands region. The post holder will need to be available to undertake Initial Visits and contact prospective foster carers in the evening and to occasionally provide training for prospective foster carers at a weekend. There may also need to be some flexibility to allow handover between workers and to cover business needs. For an informal chat about the post please contact Louise Thwaites, Recruitment Manager on 0191 257 6806. To apply, please complete an Application Form and Equal Opportunities Form (available below) and return to hr@teamfostering.co.uk no later than 9am on Monday 31st January 2022. Please note Team Fostering does not accept CV’s. Full details and application documents here Location: Homebased - UK wide - Working Remotely Salary: £50,250 p.a. (£49,500 p.a. Salary + £750 p.a. Homeworking Allowance) + £3,613 London Weighting Allowance p.a (if applicable) Closing Date: 31/01/2022 Interview Date: 09/02/2022 & 10/02/2022 (pm) Hours: 35 hour per week Candidates living in a London Borough will also get a London Weighting Allowance of £3,613 p.a.
Would you like to be part of an amazing opportunity to develop an entirely new Health Service within the UK’s largest dedicated charitable fostering agency, improving outcomes for those young people currently in TACT’s care as well as those who have left care and are TACT Connect members? Do you have a degree and or qualification in Nursing, Clinical Psychology and relevant post-graduate qualification in Children and Adolescent’s Mental Health? Have you worked in Child Health and specifically Young People’s Mental Health services within NHS, Local Authority or multi-disciplinary settings? If you would like to use this experience to deliver quality interventions, advise, signpost and work with a wide range of social care and health professionals in supporting staff and carers make a positive difference with regards to our young people’s health needs…….THEN THIS COULD BE THE ROLE FOR YOU!!!! Core Responsibilities include:
Main Requirements:
This list is not exhaustive, please see Job Description and Person Specification for more details. TACT offer an excellent employee benefits package including:
Please see Applicant Information Pack for more information. For an informal and confidential discussion about the role please contact the recruiting Executive Director of Children's Services (Andy Pallas) on 07793 580 440. Closing: Monday, 31st January 2022 Interviews: Wednesday, 9th February 2022 (pm) & Thursday, 10th February 2022 (pm) via Microsoft Teams Safeguarding is everyone’s business and TACT believe that only the people with the right skills and values should work in social work. As part of TACT’s commitment to safeguarding, we properly examine the skills, experience, qualifications and values of potential staff in relation to our work with vulnerable young children. We use rigorous and consistent recruitment approaches to help safeguard TACT’s young people. All our staff are expected to work in line with TACT’s safeguarding policies. TACT does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them. TACT reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Full details and application documents here Location: West Midlands (Homebased with travelling required) Salary: £35,811 per annum (£33,561 per annum salary + £1,500 per annum Out of Hours Rota Allowance + £750 per annum Homeworking Allowance) Closing Date: 31/01/2022 Interview Date: 17/02/2022 Hours: 35 Hours Per Week Full Time – Fixed Term 12 Month Contract Starting in April 2022
35 Hours per week and 31 Days Annual Leave As a ‘not for profit’ organisation, TACT puts the needs of our children and carers first and look to appoint individuals who are as passionate about this as we are. We know that we cannot provide this level of care without our staff which is why we are proactive in looking after the wellbeing of our employees. As a homeworking organisation, we pride ourselves on the flexibility this brings, along with our flexible working opportunities, to enable you to have a healthy work / life balance. We also provide a full and active wellbeing calendar and activities, along with your input, to ensure you get the most from it. As a foster care charity, TACT invests all surplus income into services, staff, carers, and child development. This means that we have been able to invest in unique projects like TACT Connect, our ground-breaking scheme for our TACT care experienced young people and adults, our expanding TACT Education Service and our new Health Service. It is not surprising that this had led to us gaining 'outstanding’ levels of employee engagement in a recent Best Companies Survey this year. Come and join us and be part of our amazing team of professionals who put young people at the heart of every decision. Our vision is to provide better lives for our children and young people. Find out more about our values here. TACT offer an excellent employee benefits package including:
The TACT West Midlands Senior Supervising Social Worker will have:
Please see the Job Information Pack and Job Description for further information. An enhanced DBS clearance is also required and will be processed by TACT on your behalf. The successful applicant will be required to support Duty and Out of Hours on a rota basis and will be paid an out of hours’ allowance of £1,500 per annum once participating in the rota. Closing: Monday 31st January 2022 Interviews: Thursday 3rd February 2022 (via Microsoft Teams) Safeguarding is everyone’s business and TACT believe that only the people with the right skills and values should work in social work. As part of TACT’s commitment to safeguarding, we properly examine the skills, experience, qualifications and values of potential staff in relation to our work with vulnerable young children. We use rigorous and consistent recruitment approaches to help safeguard TACT’s young people. All our staff are expected to work in line with TACT’s safeguarding policies. TACT is a homebased workforce. We recognise the benefits that flexible home working creates for both the employer and the employee. As a remote working organisation, we are committed to work with our staff to enable consistent inclusion and engagement across the organisation to ensure the optimum standards of service for our carers and children and their foster carers in the development of our services. Previous applicants need not apply. TACT does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them. TACT reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment. Full details and application documents here Location: Cambridgeshire / Peterborough Salary: £20,808 - £22,888 (depending on skills and experience) Contract Type: Permanent / Full Time Closing Date: Monday 31 January 2022 Salary - The current salary scale for this post is £20,808 - £21,848 per annum, depending on qualifications. (The maximum job rate potential is £22,888 which is performance related).
We would welcome job share arrangements About Break Nobody chooses the family or circumstances they are born into. At Break we firmly believe that with the right care, there is no limit to what can be achieved. We work across East Anglia with children and young people on the edge of care, in care and leaving care. Whether you’re interested in working in our residential homes and short breaks for children with disabilities, our pioneering Staying Close Staying Connected project or vital essentials like our family assessment centre and wraparound care offer, one thing is universal: you’ll be joining a team of passionate and dedicated individuals who want the very best for the young people they care for. Why Break? At Break we invest in the future of our staff just as we do for the young people in our services. We strive to provide the highest quality of care, so whether you’re just starting your career in children’s social care or are already qualified, you’ll be supported, recognised and rewarded for your essential part in our vital work. This role will work in our Staying Close Staying Connected project, Staying Close Staying Connected, one of eight pilot models for leaving care being funded by the Department of Education. For children in care, turning 18 can mean finding themselves on a cliff-edge of support. This service is truly leading the way nationally in terms of leaving care provision. About the role As a Break Transition Worker, you’ll be working closely with young people who have recently left their children’s residential care home and are taking their first steps into independence. Success in this role will very much hinge on the strong, trusting relationship you’ll build with the group of young people you’re working with. You’ll make regular visits to their home and support them to increase their independent living skills. Whether that means teaching them one of your signature dishes (talk to Transition Worker Matt in Cambridgeshire for his Weetabix burger recipe), helping them to pay bills, applying for benefits or filling in a job application the role you will play in young people’s lives will be fundamental in supporting mental health, wellbeing and their future. You will help them break down the barriers they might feel as a young person leaving care, and be the best possible version of themselves as they enter independence. You’ll work flexibly and have a can do attitude, be able to adapt your working to suit the individuals or professionals you’re working with, be calm under pressure and be resilient enough to cope with challenging emotions and behaviours. In your role, you’ll have access to the following benefits:
Closing date: 31/01/2022 Interview Date: TBC The first interview will be a Safe Care/ Warner style interview. If successful after the first interview, candidates will then be expected to attend a formal interview. To comply with the Immigration Asylum & Nationality Act 2006 and additional amendments, and UK Border Agency (UKBA) requirements, all prospective employees will be asked to supply evidence of eligibility to work in the UK. We will ask to see and take a copy of an appropriate official document as set out in the UKBA guidelines. Do not send anything now, further information will be sent to you should you be invited to interview. We are committed to equality of opportunity. Your current immigration status will not be taken into account when assessing your application against the selection criteria for the post. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. For more information on this job opportunity, please initially email or call the HR Team via the contact details found on our website. Full details and application documents here |
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