Additional funding has been provided to St Christopher’s to expand our Staying Close model supporting care leavers in England. The Department for Education has provided a total of £407,515 to maintain our existing pilot and develop the model for four of our children’s homes across London and the West Midlands. Staying Close centres on supporting young people living in residential care with their transition to independence. Our current pilot launched in 2017 in partnership with the London Borough of Ealing and Hounslow, working with young people in four children’s homes to build their life skills, relationships and resilience. We focus on helping young people to stay in touch with the people they care about after they move out of their children’s home. This addresses the isolation that many young people can feel once they leave care and means they have people around them who can support them during difficult times, but also be there to celebrate their successes. St Christopher’s Staying Close model is co-produced, empowering young people to take the lead on the help they need when moving on from their children’s home to independence. Part of the new funding will allow us to explore how to develop a peer researcher apprenticeship for a care experienced young person, so that co-production can be central to the project analysis. St Christopher’s has already begun to roll-out learning from the project by implementing the use of Staying Close across all of their services in England. This means that young people moving on from their services, regardless of the circumstances, will be offered the chance to co-produce a plan that helps them stay in touch with staff in the home, if they wish to do so. Chief Executive Jonathan Whalley said: “This extended funding is testament to the life-changing work that our Staying Close team has achieved. I am thrilled that we can replicate our model to benefit more young people as they leave the care system, especially during our 150th birthday year. “These successes would not have been possible without the guidance and expertise from young people using our services, so thank you for all of your help.” Source: https://www.stchris.org.uk
We are seeking to recruit two experienced and enthusiastic Supervising Social Workers for our friendly team, working primarily from home.
There is flexibility in terms of days and hours worked, and the geographical location of the successful candidates. However, we are ideally looking for Social Workers wishing to work 22.5 hours per week. There will be involvement in recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality fostering service for looked after children. The role involves recruitment of foster carers, travel to the homes of our foster carers as required (which will sometimes involve travelling distances), leading occasional projects, running and delivering training and support groups, and taking part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (3 times a year). Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people skills. Applicants must hold a Diploma or BA in Social Work (or equivalent Social Work qualification) and are required to be registered with Social Work England. To allow our Social Workers to provide a thorough, personal and meaningful service to our fostering families, FCC believe that caseloads need to be manageable. We are a not for profit organisation, putting the needs of our children and carers first and are looking to appoint Social Workers who is as passionate about this as we are. Application Closing Date: Monday 23rd March, 2020 For more information, including contact details, job description/ person specification and application form, visit: https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk/supervising-social-worker-east-midlands/ Member News: Barnardo's - Looked after children let down by inconsistent services for health11/3/2020
Health assessments trigger necessary support services for looked after children but they are carried out inconsistently across Scotland to the potential detriment of many young people, children’s charity Barnardo’s Scotland said today (Wed March 11). Health Boards across Scotland were asked under FOI (Freedom of Information) to detail how they approached health assessments for looked after children and care leavers. The results have been published today in a report titled: Care In Mind: Health Assessments for Looked-after Children. It is the second report in a series by Barnardo’s Scotland which examines policies and practices across many different agencies to improve the mental health and wellbeing of looked-after children and care leavers. The report makes a number of recommendations, including:
David Ferguson, Assistant Director of Policy and Influencing at Barnardo’s Scotland, said: “We’re proud to be drawing attention to the mental health and wellbeing of looked after children and care leavers, which is too often forgotten among the many struggles that they face. As the Independent Care Review recently concluded, access to the right services at the right time can make all the difference. Health Assessment for looked after children can be the start of a journey of recovery, and it’s time Scotland’s policy and practice improved.” Barnardo’s Scotland drew the report together with support from Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Monica Lennon. Commenting on the report she said: “All children deserve to grow up in a loving and nurturing environment – and the Independent Care Review, informed by those with lived experience of care, has outlined a way for that ambition to become a reality for all looked after children in Scotland. “Worryingly, the findings of this research reveal a huge level of inconsistency and a general lack of data about the health and emotional wellbeing of looked after children. It’s clear we need to see significant improvements to ensure that our commitments to looked after children are delivered. “I urge Scottish Ministers to act on the findings of the Barnardo’s Scotland report so that improving mental health outcomes for looked after children is made a reality.” The full report can be read here. Source: www.barnardos.org.uk Member News: Stockport family run business William Turner raises £8,967.41 for the Together Trust10/3/2020
Daniel Turner, Managing Director of Stockport business William Turner, came to our Cheadle site recently to present us with a cheque for £8,967.41 raised by the company and its employees during its one year charity partnership with the Together Trust. The family run business, now in its third generation, has been supplying high quality handmade school and corporate wear through independent retailers for more than fifty years. The company’s products, including school accessories such as bags, are manufactured locally in its own factories in Nelson and Skipton. Daniel said: “In 2019 we celebrated 50 years in business. Reaching half a century is a real milestone for any business, but at William Turner we’ve also passionate about supporting our local communities. “Given the nature of our business we wanted to choose a local charity connected to education and as soon as one of our team mentioned the Together Trust I knew it was the one. We’ve all been so impressed with the work the charity does and the positive impact they have on the lives of so many local young people. It’s been a privilege to be involved in supporting that work. “We hadn’t partnered with a charity before and our experience of the team at the Together Trust has been extremely positive. They attended our events, invited us to theirs and gave us fundraising ideas and lots of material to help increase awareness in the company. “We’ll be keeping in touch with our friends at Together Trust and wish them continued success in all the good work they’re doing.” Alicen Thorn, Corporate Fundraiser at the Together Trust, said: “Everyone at William Turner has been so lovely and so generous with their time, throughout the year long partnership. “Because the company manufactures all its products here in the North West all its staff had a real interest in the work that we do for local children and families, especially in our schools. “We support individuals with diverse and complex needs. To do this we need support from corporate partners like William Turner. Donations like theirs help provide specialist equipment, extra activities, additional support from specialist staff and support for families. “We really do appreciate their generous donation and I’ll be keeping them updated on all the good that’s done with the money they’ve raised.” Source: www.togethertrust.org.uk
We are seeking to recruit two experienced and highly motivated Supervising Social Workers to work 22.5 hours per week, working primarily from home. The role involves recruiting, assessing, supervising and supporting Foster Carers to support us in maintaining our quality, child-centred, fostering service. In addition, the successful candidate will be involved in the recruitment of foster carers, be required to travel to the homes of our foster carers as required (which will sometimes involve travelling distances), lead occasional projects, occasionally deliver training and support groups, and take part in an ‘out of hours’ duty system (3 times a year). Applicants need to be able to take a flexible approach to working, have proven fostering experience (demonstrating significant experience of working within Children’s Services) and be able to demonstrate outstanding people skills. Applicants must hold a Diploma or BA in Social Work (or equivalent Social Work qualification) and are required to be registered with Social Work England. To allow our Social Workers to provide a thorough, personal and meaningful service to our fostering families, FCC believe that caseloads need to be manageable. We are a not for profit organisation, who are morally driven in all that we do. We put the needs of our children and carers first and look to appoint Social Workers who are as passionate about this as we are. Application Closing Date: Monday 23rd March, 2020 Interviews will held on: 26th March/15th-16th April For more information, including contact details, job description/ person specification and application form, visit: https://www.fostercarecooperative.co.uk/2-x-part-time-senior-supervising-social-workers-fostering-yorkshire-north-west/ |
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