Every October the fostering world celebrates Sons and Daughters Month, a chance to highlight the role that birth children play in foster families.

This event was set up by The Fostering Network to acknowledge the contributions made by other children and young people.

During their journey to becoming foster carers, people often ask how fostering will impact their family. When your family is on-board with your decision to foster, it can help the young person living with you to feel accepted; they know there is a whole group of people looking out for them and wanting the best for them.

Could you foster?

St Christopher’s is looking for people to become foster carers in our Eastern Region and West Midlands.

There are few limits on who can be a foster carer. As long as you have a spare bedroom and the patience, enthusiasm and care then St Christopher’s wants to hear from you today.

In return you’ll receive 24/7 support, comprehensive training, a generous fostering fee and all the rewards that come with creating brighter futures for children and young people.

Request a call back or ring 0800 234 6282 to speak to a member of our friendly team.

Source:
www.stchris.org.uk

St Christopher’s has an exciting opportunity to join its West Midlands Fostering Panel. We are looking for a Panel Chair to help us provide an excellent foster care service.

Panel plays an integral role in ensuring that children and young people come first and are safe when they live with St Christopher’s foster carers. They examine assessments of prospective foster carers and ensure that high standards are maintained across the agency in line with Panel’s monitoring role.

We are open to applications from a range of backgrounds and expertise with the following skills, knowledge and experience: 

• Experience professionally, personally, or both of the placement of children in foster families and of children being cared for away from their birth families.
• Experience of chairing complex meetings, ensuring that all participants are able to contribute.
• Evidence of attendance at the BAAF Panel Chairs Training event, or a willingness to undertake this before appointment to the role.
• An understanding and appreciation of the effects of separation and loss on children.
• An awareness of the richness and diversity of families and their potential to meet the needs of vulnerable children.
• Knowledge of legislation relating to fostering and Working together to Safeguard Children  
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and listening skills.

You will need to commit to attendance at Panel as agreed with St Christopher’s and to contribute to the development of panel including review of panel members and panel member training.

Please note that paperwork is shared with Panel members electronically, so applicants should have secure access to a laptop or similar.

All applicants will be required to undertake a DBS check as part of the interview process. 

What we offer

As part of their role Panel Members receive:
​

• Induction and practice development training.
• Membership to FN and CoramBAAF  
• Annual appraisal
• Payment for preparation and attendance
• Travel expenses

For more information or to express your interest, please contact Annette Richards on 07921 603 493/ annetterichards@stchris.org.uk, or Debbie Stone on 07894 386 365/ debbiestone@stchris.org.uk.

Young people and children at St Christopher’s have shared their thoughts with the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care in England.

The report, titled “It is different living in the system than working in the system”, is taken from a quote from a young person. We felt this was an insightful summary of how professionals can forget about children and young people’s lived experience.

Young people from children’s homes, semi-independent homes and foster homes, as well as care leavers who formerly lived at St Christopher’s, contributed their views. The suggestions are from UK nationals and young people seeking asylum in the UK, representing a range of experiences of care.

Based on their feedback, and additional context provided by St Christopher’s foster carers and staff, the report was arranged into eight key themes. Young people shared what worked well, what did not work so well, and the changes they want to see in the care system.

Stability
“I had a social worker but we never heard from her, now I have a new one and it’s getting confusing.”

Safeguarding
“[I like] having somewhere warm and safe to live and I have a bed. I don’t always agree with the system.”

Mental health
“You should get help for mental health because if you don’t it will get bigger and bigger and one day you just explode.”

Relationships
“More trust and more help to people who have more needs and who don’t get to have social workers who are respectful.”
​
Leaving care
” I feel like everyone should have the option of their leaving care age being extended to 25.”

Unregulated accommodation
“What people who support children and young people do is so important and needs to be more skilled.”

Young people seeking asylum
“It would help if there was someone around every week to give advice and talk to people in an accessible way.”

Children in care are still children
“More family contact, go out more, go out on your own, fizzy drinks and change of social worker.”

We hope that this feedback helps the Care Review to reflect on the issues that are most important to young people and consider how care can become child-centred across the board.

Thank you to the young people, staff and foster carers who helped to make this report! Read St Christopher’s Care Review submission today.

Source:
https://www.stchris.org.uk

Only 6% of care leavers go to university – so what can we do to make sure more young people in care have this opportunity, in line with St Christopher’s strategic aim to promote lifelong learning and thriving?

We spoke to Catherine, a recent St Christopher’s care leaver, to learn about her experiences of education and what needs to change so that young people in care have the knowledge and confidence to apply.

How old were you when you came into care?
I was 14 when I came into care and now I’m 18 and have just left. I lived with my main foster family for just under four years.

The last 18 months has seen so much upheaval for everyone. How has the pandemic been for you?
It started when I was in the middle of Year 12 with exams coming up. I would wake up at the same time every day, leave my phone off and act like I was at college, even though I was at home. It was easy for me to get into a new routine.

When we were told about teacher-assessed grades I wasn’t that worried as I thought they would have enough evidence to give me a good grade, so it helped keep me calm. Come results day I had been downgraded by two grades, which I wasn’t prepared for so I didn’t know what to do! Luckily the government changed the rules so that teachers could give your predicted grades instead.

You are going to university in September – have you always wanted to go?
Before I came into care I did want to go but I think that’s just because school told us to aim for it. However, I didn’t understand how you actually get to university and I never thought about the course or where I would like to go.

It wasn’t until I spoke to a careers advisor in Year 11 that I started thinking about medicine and felt that initial spark of interest. I want to become a dermatologist because you can help people with clinical treatment and with the psychological effect of any skin problems.

I would have liked to see more stories from young people like me. Even if they don’t know where to begin or feel down about applying, I hope somewhere a young person is reading this and it helps them gain the knowledge to apply to uni.

Have you faced any challenges applying for university?
I discovered I was restricted in a number of ways. Like I had been off school for a couple of months with illness and ended up at a special needs school for my GCSEs. This meant I could only do a few GCSEs, which meant I couldn’t meet the requirements for some medicine degrees when they wanted seven or eight GCSEs at high grades.

Then I found out about a foundation or gateway year for medicine courses. They’re designed for disadvantaged students – people who are capable of studying medicine but don’t have the right academic background due to no fault of their own, such as not doing the right subjects. They have contextual criteria you can meet, like if you’re a care leaver, from a low income household or if your parents didn’t go to university – it’s different everywhere. Nobody had ever mentioned this pathway even though it is designed for people like me who are underrepresented. It was the first time I felt like it was a route I could go down and I stood a chance.

Learning about the foundation year got me really engaged. And it eases the transition as I’ve got a year to get to know the area, teachers and other students.

How did your foster carer support you?
My foster mum was amazing. She took me to school every day and took me to all my college interviews. Everything I said I wanted to do she was always respectful and supportive and tried to do everything that she could to help me. If things weren’t going well with my social worker, school or college, she stepped up and put her foot in the ground, especially when I felt like I couldn’t put my point across. I’m really thankful she was able to do that when I couldn’t.

We were a family unit as her daughter lived there too, and her other daughter and grandson visited regularly. It was nice to have different age ranges in the house.

Although my carer didn’t know the ins and outs of applying to university, she still tried to get involved and was always there to offer me advice. I was really appreciative of it.

Now that you have left care, what support do you have?
I have a Personal Advisor (PA), who I’ve been in contact with since I turned 17. I never knew you had a PA when you left care and when they explained their role it sounded like a social worker. However she does more than that – she visits, checks how I’m doing and helps with finances and job applications, all tailored to what I need. She says she is going to drive to university to visit me every two months, I’m really impressed by that because you get a better understanding when you meet up with someone in person.

And I still go to visit my foster family about once a week – it’s two buses away but always worth the journey. Nothing has really changed, I still feel part of the family and I’m welcome any time. They have another foster child now so it makes me think of what I was like when I first started living there and how far I’ve come and how I can make them feel welcome. I hope to see other young people living with them achieve the same things as me. I like that any new foster child will see I’m still in touch with the carers and that it’s not all over once you move out.

What needs to happen for more children in care to go to university?
University was never presented as an option to me, I think it was assumed I would get a job. When I have spoken to other young people in care, they seem to have had the same experiences. It’s a shame because if you sit down with young people and just ask what they want to do, regardless of their experiences, they can still go on to do loads of different things like university or higher education.

I’m not saying everyone should go to uni but it’s just about knowing all your options. Like at every meeting they always push apprenticeships. It’s great they know all about that but they need a range of things that can fit everyone. They always say only 6% care leavers go to uni but then keep pushing the non-university options to us.

There needs to be more awareness too, like better representation in the media. It’s the case with a lot of disadvantaged groups that you’re always being told you’re disadvantaged but never see anyone from those backgrounds going off to do something they are not expected to do. It’s like they acknowledge the problem but don’t give you ways to support yourself or solutions! Maybe it would help if social workers could be taught about what they can do to get young people into uni and have more information about foundation years – that really was a lightbulb moment for me and could have saved months of me worrying that I couldn’t go to uni.

Professionals should know about funding too. If you’re a care leaver you’re entitled for a bursary but I had to find this out for myself. If teachers, social workers and carers could be loaded with this information then it can start young people off so they can go and do more research themselves.

There is currently a care review in England. What would you change about the care system?
Staying Put programmes. From what I know not many people end up with the Staying Put programme due to funding. When we looked into it, it was all money money money and you don’t feel like a person, it’s like they’re telling you you’re not worth couple of hundred pounds a week.

Having a more consistent social worker would help too. I’ve had seven social workers in four years I’ve been in care. I’ve had a couple that have just gone away and nobody has told me why or when they are coming back. If there was an emergency, who was I meant to call? Luckily I could speak to my foster mum’s social worker at St Christopher’s and she was always really supportive.

If you had one social worker the whole time you can build a good relationship with them. Maybe you could meet a couple of social workers when you first come into care and decide which one you like. If on first impressions you don’t think you’ll get on with them then you won’t try to build the relationship with them to start with so it would help if you could pick.

Finally, what are you most looking forward to about university?
I’m not gonna say the freedom as I’m sort of already at the halfway mark of living by myself. I cook and clean and look after the house and my granddad, who I live with. But I am looking forward to joining societies and want to do something that I never thought I would try before. I’m open to getting to know a lot of people – I think there are so many different people that you will find people who are like you.

Thank you so much to Catherine for sharing her story. If you want to help a young person reach their full potential, enquire about fostering with St Christopher’s today.

Source:
https://www.stchris.org.uk/

This role is part of a one year online safety in fostering project. The successful candidate will support and empower young people to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs – including safeguarding – reflective of their lived experiences.

About Us
Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people and we are proud of our history for providing fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong.  We hope to attract application from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities.

About the Role
As Project Officer, you will be expected to build trusting, positive relationships with young people to enable them to feel confident to express their wishes and feelings whilst also safeguarding them and promoting their welfare. You will identify with young people what they need to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs. You will liaise with the Head of Fostering and grant funders to complete regular progress reports to a high professional standard using mixed media. You will be expected to work in a participative way and share reflective practice with our Participation lead. You will encourage young people to fully participate in society by developing links with the community, expanding their social network, with consideration of how this applies to an online context within foster care.

Applicants should have

• Experience of listening to young people’s views and ensuring that they are involved in decisions about their life.
• At least 1 years’ experience working with children and young people.
• Experience of leading group activities and mentoring children and young people through the learning process, working closely to identify strengths and development opportunities.
• An understanding of the issues affecting looked after children and those on the edge of care. 
• Knowledge of Safeguarding in a foster care context; concerns and issues around young people’s digital lives.
• Excellent communication and dynamic inter-personal skills, with the ability to initiate and maintain effective communication, honest and supportive relationships with young people, colleagues and external agencies. 
• Ability to deal with complex issues in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

What you should expect from us

• £24,000 per annum pro-rata
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry Leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and Social Pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, Enhanced Maternity and Company Sick Scheme.
• BUPA Employee Assistance Programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Interest-free season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme.
• Discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary Funded Training Programs.
• Employee Awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process
At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

Your online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. For the full Job Description and Person Specification click here.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk

Closing date: 03/08/2021

We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes.

Full details and application documents here

Young people living with foster families in England often move out to live independently when they are 18. Under Staying Put, young people have the chance to stay with their foster families up to the age of 25 instead. This provides stability and support at a crucial stage in young people’s lives and gives them a wider range of opportunities, such as going to university.

With many students currently finishing their degrees, we spoke to Kanyin, a 21-year-old young person who lives with a St Christopher’s foster family. Kanyin is about to graduate from Coventry University, so she shared her experiences of how Staying Put with her foster family supported her to complete her degree and deal with the pandemic.

​St Christopher’s fostering teams were nominated for a prize at the Mind Of My Own VoxCon 2021 awards on Friday 21 May.

Mind Of My Own is an app that allows young people to communicate with social workers and other professionals. They can give feedback on the service and support they have received, and advocate that their rights are respected.

Our fostering teams were nominated for the ‘Greatest Usage’ category because of their work encouraging more young people to use the Mind Of My Own app to share their views and experiences. Within this category, St Christopher’s was the only fostering agency to be nominated.

Despite not winning, the nomination still recognised the emphasis our teams place on listening to young people and acting on what they say, in alignment with our child-centred approach to participation.

Winners were announced at an online awards ceremony that celebrated the creative ways nominees have supported children and young people to give their feedback.

At last year’s awards, St Christopher’s won the category for ‘Most Creative Mind Of My Own Comms’ for a video designed by young people. In the video, young people explained how the app helped them to be heard by professionals.

Congratulations to St Christopher’s fostering teams! You can learn more here about what it’s like to foster.

Source:
www.stchris.org.uk

About Us
Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people and we are proud of our history for providing fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong.  We hope to attract application from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities.

About the Role
We are looking to recruit a Fostering Support Worker (Bank) working closely with the supervising social workers, local authorities and other professionals to support foster placements.  

The role will involve:

• Planning and implementing appropriate activities to meet the individual needs of looked after children
• Running support groups, both for looked after children and birth children
• Providing support sessions during the day, evenings or weekends
• Transporting young people to activities and appointments and supervising family contact sessions

Applicants should have:

• Experience of working with children and young people in a paid or voluntary capacity
• Experience of administrative work including data entry and report writing
• Ability to work with challenging behaviour and resolve conflict
• Ability to maintain personal and professional boundaries
• Good communication and administrative skills and the ability to build and sustain sound professional relationships

Recruitment Process
At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

Your online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification.

For the full Job Description for this role and more detail about what will be required, please click here.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk

Closing Date: 28.05.21
Interview Date: 16.06.21

We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes.

Full details and application documents here

Foster Care Fortnight takes places from 10-23 May 2021. The theme this year is #WhyWeCare, encouraging people involved in fostering to tell everyone what makes them want to help children and young people.​

St Christopher’s runs two fostering services, one in the Eastern Region and one in the West Midlands. Between the regions there are 54 foster families caring for 70 children and young people.

Could you be a foster carer?
St Christopher’s is looking for people who want to create brighter futures for children and young people through fostering. We are a registered charity, which means we can put the needs of young people at the heart of all of our work.

When you are a foster carer, a young person moves into your home with you. You look after them just as you would with your own child, helping them with education, friendships and enjoying their childhood.

There is no one-size-fits-all foster carer – St Christopher’s welcomes applicants from all backgrounds with all different life experiences, as long as you can meet these requirements to foster:

• To live in the West Midlands or the East of England
• One or more spare bedrooms;
• Capacity to travel (e.g. a driving licence or willingness to use public transport);
• Some experience with children and young people;
• And the time, commitment and energy to make a difference to a child’s life.

Learn more about fostering
Sign up to a free online drop-in session, where you can find out what it’s really like to foster from current Foster Carers.

Visit our YouTube channel to watch videos about fostering or read stories from our foster carers on our website.

Request a call back today or call 0800 234 6282 to speak to a member of our team. Even if you are at the early stages of considering fostering and just want to ask some questions, we are happy to help.

Source:
www.stchris.org.uk

Location: West Bromwich (remote working possible)​
Contract Type: Fixed Term
Closing Date: 23 May 2021
Salary: £24,000 per annum pro-rata
Specific Hours: Part time, 20 hours per week

This role is part of a one year online safety in fostering project. The successful candidate will support and empower young people to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs – including safeguarding – reflective of their lived experiences.

About Us
Our vision is for every child and young person to be safe, loved and happy, to achieve their potential and have a bright future.

St Christopher's is a leading charity for children and young people and we are proud of our history for providing fostering, children's homes and a range of innovative leaving care services across the UK & Isle of Man.  We have a passionate commitment to our young people, placing them at the centre of everything we do.  We provide positive life experiences for young people who are unable to sustain a placement in their parental or foster home.

We are an equal opportunity employer and keen to develop an inclusive workforce were people feel they belong.  We hope to attract application from under- represented groups including people from different cultures, nationalities, socio economic backgrounds, ages, disabilities, religion, faith, sex, orientation, child care responsibilities and with gender diverse identities.

About the Role
As Project Officer, you will be expected to build trusting, positive relationships with young people to enable them to feel confident to express their wishes and feelings whilst also safeguarding them and promoting their welfare. You will identify with young people what they need to develop online safety in fostering policy and procedures that meet their diverse needs. You will liaise with the Head of Fostering and grant funders to complete regular progress reports to a high professional standard using mixed media. You will be expected to work in a participative way and share reflective practice with our Participation lead. You will encourage young people to fully participate in society by developing links with the community, expanding their social network, with consideration of how this applies to an online context within foster care.

Applicants should have

• Experience of listening to young people’s views and ensuring that they are involved in decisions about their life.
• At least 1 years’ experience working with children and young people.
• Experience of leading group activities and mentoring children and young people through the learning process, working closely to identify strengths and development opportunities.
• An understanding of the issues affecting looked after children and those on the edge of care. 
• Knowledge of Safeguarding in a foster care context; concerns and issues around young people’s digital lives.
• Excellent communication and dynamic inter-personal skills, with the ability to initiate and maintain effective communication, honest and supportive relationships with young people, colleagues and external agencies. 
• Ability to deal with complex issues in a sensitive and appropriate manner.

What you should expect from us

• £24,000 per annum pro-rata
• A friendly working environment, a fun, open and honest culture.
• 25 days holiday rising to 27 days after 3 years’ service, plus Bank Holidays, pro-rata.
• Industry Leading training programme including access to level 3 qualifications, children’s right and participation, CSE, empowerment, mental health and Social Pedagogy.
• Contributory pension scheme, Enhanced Maternity and Company Sick Scheme.
• BUPA Employee Assistance Programme, offering counselling, financial advice and legal support.
• Interest-free season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme.
• Discount shopping scheme at hundreds of retailers across the UK.
• Discretionary Funded Training Programs.
• Employee Awards based on performance and length of service.
• Fantastic opportunities to develop your career within our range of services.

Recruitment Process
At St Christopher’s we are committed to the safeguarding of all children and young people in our care. During the recruitment process you will be expected to complete an online application form to ensure we capture essential information to meet legislation, best practice and vetting requirements.

Applicants will ideally already be on the DBS Update Service; if this is not the case St Christopher's will carry out a DBS (police) check prior to starting.

Your online application must include a supporting statement addressing the criteria stated in the Person Specification. For the full Job Description and Person Specification click here.

For more information or assistance during the application process, please contact recruitment@stchris.org.uk

Closing date: 23/05/2021

We advise to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

St Christopher’s Fellowship has a minimum age requirement of 21 for roles working directly with children and young people in our residential and semi-independent Homes.

Full details and application documents here