TACT Fostering and Adoption is the UK’s leading charity provider of fostering and adoption services. Working in nine offices across Scotland,England and Wales, we are dedicated to providing creative, effective and outcome-focused services for children, young people and families.

We are looking for that unique person who can assist TACT in offering a range of services which impact positively on the welfare of children. To work in partnership with parents, carers, children, young people, local authorities and their social workers according to the agreed contract of work.

The overall purpose of this role is to work closely with looked after children, the birth children of foster carers and foster carers to achieve agreed objectives for excellent care as outlined in the 7 core aims for Children in Wales / 5 Every Child Matters Outcome Areas in England. Candidates with the ability to speak Welsh would be desirable.

Due to the nature of this post the successful candidate must be willing to show flexibility regarding hours and days of work which will include evenings and weekends. Occasional overnight stays may be required for organised events. 

An enhanced DBS clearance is required for this role which TACT will undertake.  Please see the Job Description and Information Pack for more details.

Closing: Friday, 3rd May 2019
Interviews: Monday, 13th May 2019 in TACT Wales Office (CF11 9LJ)

TACT reserves the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, you are advised to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Full details and application documents here:
www.tactcare.org.uk

TACT Connect – a new initiative by TACT to celebrate and support care experienced people throughout their adult lives, has been launched with a special art exhibition showcasing pieces created by Connect members.
19 year old Channan was among members of the Connect community on hand at the launch event to talk to visitors about their art work, which all shared theme of ‘message to my younger self’.

T​ACT Connect – a new initiative by TACT to celebrate and support care experienced people throughout their adult lives, has been launched with a special art exhibition showcasing pieces created by Connect members.

19 year old Channan was among members of the Connect community on hand at the launch event to talk to visitors about their art work, which all shared theme of ‘message to my younger self’.

Her particular creative effort features a photo of Janette who fostered her through TACT from the age of one, and then adopted her when she was 8. Among the many personal messages in the artwork is Janette’s wise advice to Channan – its ok not to be ok. The fact that she is HIV positive is also depicted, and there is an image of her taken during a school visit to talk to pupils about the disease.

Channan said: “It is great to be given the opportunity to connect with other young people who have been in care and have similar life stories. Creating my art piece made me think a lot about my own story, I found it therapeutic.”

TACT Connect aims to create a dynamic network of TACT care leavers, who will be able to meet each other through special events, learn and access new skills, and gain support in reaching personal aspirations.

Mark Riddell – National Advisor for Care Leavers was among the guests at the launch event.

Mark said: ”Initiatives like TACT Connect are important because they are led by the voices of care experienced young people. This is a new concept and it would be good to see similar work happening elsewhere in the country. We need to be ambitious about how we support care experienced people, and TACT Connect is a really good starting point.”

The exhibition will take place at Centrala, in Birmingham, from Tuesday 9th until Friday 12th April 2019, 11am – 6pm.

Source:
www.tactcare.org.uk

Location: Northants
Salary: £40,500 pa + £1,500 OOH Allowance
Closing Date: ​02/04/2019
Interview Date: 16/04/2019
Hours: 35 Hours Per Week

TACT, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity, now has over 500 dedicated carers, who look after over 600 children and young people across the country. Our reputation and growth rests upon our strength in providing successful placements. As a charity, we do not have shareholders who receive profits and we invest all of our surplus income into service, staff, carers, and children’s development.

TACT's East Midlands service has been rated "Outstanding" by Ofsted and we are offering an exciting opportunity for an experienced, dynamic individual to assist and support the Area Manager in the operational management of the Area Team and the recruitment, assessment, training and support of a diverse range of foster carers and placements.

To be considered, you will need to have experience of working with children and young people in a statutory setting and ideally have a management qualification.  You will also need to be HCPC registered and have a DipSW, CSS or CQSW qualification.  An enhanced DBS clearance is required and this check will be undertaken by TACT on your behalf.  The use of a car is essential.

You will be required to work an out of hours rota, attracting an additional allowance of £1,500 per annum. 

TACT offer an excellent benefits package including 31 days paid holiday, flexible working arrangements, group income protection scheme, x10 death in service, stakeholder pension scheme, child care vouchers and fantastic learning and development opportunities. Please see the job information pack for further information.

Closing: Midnight on Tuesday, 2nd April 2019
Interviews: Tuesday, 16th April 2019 at TACT East Midlands (NN15 7HH) 

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.

More details and application documents here

A glossary of words and terms that aims to change the language of the care system has been published.  Language That Cares is a collaborative effort led by adoption and fostering charity TACT (The Adolescent and Children’s Trust) and the charity’s children and care experienced young people, with contributions from 15 local authorities and organisations.​

Read the glossary here 

TACT East Midlands has been rated Outstanding by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), for its work with foster carers and looked after children in the East Midlands. 

Outstanding is the highest judgement that an Ofsted inspection can bestow on an independent fostering agency. In summing up why TACT East Midlands deserved such an accolade Ofsted stated that it ‘provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions (of TACT) contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people.’

Among the many elements of TACT East Midlands’ service that warranted high praise from Ofsted were:

• Children, some of whom have very complex needs, make exceptional progress because of the extremely high quality of individualised care and support provided by their foster carers.

A TACT care leaver said: ‘My foster carer didn’t just give me a place to live but she gave me a place in her heart. TACT and my foster carer were the main people who put me on the right path.’

• Placement stability is a major strength, with nearly half of the current placements being of over two years’ duration.
• A real commitment to making the best matches is a significant factor in successful placements, and the rate of unplanned endings is low.
• Foster carers receive an excellent standard of support and access to relevant training. These are major contributory factors in the positive outcomes that children achieve. This includes access to a psychotherapist, the use of the children’s resource worker and highly committed and skilled supervising social workers.

​ One foster carer said: ‘They (TACT) are a brilliant bunch of people to work with. They return calls straight away. I never have to chase them. Our supervising social worker is brilliant. I cannot fault them.’

TACT CEO Andy Elvin said: “I am extremely proud that our East Midlands service was rated so highly, and I know that in terms of quality of provision it is the same story across the whole of TACT. It is brilliant that Ofsted has recognised the skill, commitment and expertise of our Outstanding East Midlands staff and of course our fantastic foster carers.”

Source: www.tactcare.org.uk

We are thrilled to announce that a video featuring TACT ambassador Solomon O.B. performing his new poem Raising Celebration​ has made it onto the shortlist for the Charity Film Awards!​ These prestigious awards have been created to celebrate the success of film in fundraising, to increase exposure of charity films and to encourage donations for good causes.

Thank you to everyone who has supported TACT in the public voting round.
Shortlisted films will be now judged by a panel of judges who will select the finalists in March.

Solomon O.B – 25 Years of TACT Fostering & Adoption​

TACT, the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity now has over 500 dedicated carers, who look after over 600 children and young people across the country. Our reputation and growth rests upon our strength in providing successful placements. As a charity, we do not have shareholders who receive profits and we invest all of our surplus income into service, staff, carers, and children’s development.

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a national non-profit making organisation at a local level. We are interested in individuals for whom quality of service is paramount and in those who share our commitment to working in partnership with children and their foster carers in the development of the agency.

The overall purpose of this role is to recruit, assess, train and support a diverse range of foster carers and placements.

You are required to have the following experience:

• Post qualifying experience which should be in family placement work or post qualifying experience in other child care settings.
• A proven track record in working with and on behalf of children, respecting and maintaining their individuality and promoting their positive development.

You will need to be DipSW, CSS or CQSW qualified and registered with the HCPC. An enhanced disclosure is also required and is requested for you by TACT.

You will be required to be on an out of hours’ rota and you will be paid an out of hours’ allowance of £1,500 per annum once participating in the rota. 

TACT offer an excellent benefits package including 31 days paid holiday, flexible working arrangements, group income protection scheme, x10 death in service, stakeholder pension scheme, child care vouchers and fantastic learning and development opportunities. Please see the job information pack for further information.

Closing: Sunday, 27th January 2019
Interviews: Wednesday, 13th February 2019
​
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, including application documents can be found here

TACT have filed their financial results for 2017/18 with the Charity Commission and Companies House. In 2017/18 TACT made a significant investment in their services for vulnerable children. Read more here:

As the UK’s largest fostering and adoption charity, The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT), sees it as integral to our charitable mission to be at the forefront of innovation in the children’s care sector.

With this ethos in mind, the 2017/18 Financial Year has seen us invest in growing our footprint in the UK and pioneering the delivery of new models for permanency services. The most visible of these was our successful bid for the Peterborough City Council (PCC) permanency service and our takeover of the service in April 2017.

Being a charity has allowed TACT to take a long-term view on this investment, over £1.6 million, with a clear expectation that over the lifetime of this 10-year (and potentially 20-year) contract we will achieve a break-even situation, and position TACT as the partner of choice for other Local Authorities looking for innovative solutions in the delivery and improvement of permanency services.

The children in our care are already seeing the benefit of this investment, with the feedback from the children, the carers and the staff being extremely positive. The improvement has also been noted by Ofsted, who in their recent ILACS inspection of PCCs children services (including our service), gave the Council their first “Good across all areas” rating in Peterborough’s history. Justifying our vision for the standards of care for looked after children and young people, and our investment in the front end of this contract.

Alongside this, we have continued to invest in geographical growth across our pre-existing fostering services across England, Scotland and Wales. As in all such ventures the first years are investment years, which will lead to growth and a return in the coming years.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t been all good news in 2017/18, we have reviewed our property portfolio and determined that it is no longer fit for purpose, we will be disposing of a number of our legacy properties in 2018/19 and investing in new space that will allow us to deliver services in a more appropriate environment. This process has also identified that the valuations of the properties in the portfolio need to be adjusted down by £595,000 in our accounts for 2017/18.

The broader market in which TACT exists, is now rife with private equity investment and leveraged debt. We are in the fortunate position of having been the first one to take on a whole local authority permanence service, and to have a widening and deepening geographic presence in England, Scotland and Wales.

As a charity, we seek to offer high quality affordable services to local authorities, through the provision of safe and stable foster and adoptive homes. 2017/18 was an exciting and expensive year for TACT but one that we are confident will pay off for our foster, adoptive and kinship children and families – and TACT – in the medium and long term.

In 2018/19, our expectation is that we will move towards breaking even financially, with the positive impact from our investment showing from the 2019/20 financial period.

Source:
www.tactcare.org.uk

A Peterborough care leaver hopes to help fellow foster children after finding work with a charity which supported her through childhood. Mum Laura (20) is working with The Adolescent and Children’s Trust (TACT) which runs Peterborough City Council’s new Permanency Service, which includes fostering and adoption. Here in this first person piece, she explains how her life has been transformed: I am 20 years old and I live in Peterborough. I went into care, along with my older sisters, shortly after I was born due to fact that our mother and father both had drug and alcohol problems and neglected us.

I don’t have any real memory of my first foster placement as I was so young, but at 10 months old I was adopted by a couple, who, when I was two, split up, and I remained with my adoptive mother. Unfortunately, our relationship started to break down because she was alcohol dependent and abusive, and that, coupled with discovering that I was pregnant with my daughter Naomi, led me to going back into care when I was 16. When I returned to care I was referred to TACT. The plan was for me to go into a mother and baby placement, so I could be assessed for my parenting skills and then move on to independent living. However, my first two mother and baby placements broke down, and at first I thought it was the fault of the carers, but I realise now it was because I just didn’t want to have an assessment to prove I’m a good mum.

My social worker and independent reviewing officer realised the root of the problem and they arranged for me to return to my favourite TACT foster carers Kris and Dave, without having to be subjected to a parenting assessment. I loved it at Kris and Dave’s. I felt part of the family, they looked after me and supported me. I remember Kris threw me a little baby shower and I was so overwhelmed I cried. I used to love the little things like sitting and watching TV dramas with Kris and we’d talk loads, or when Dave would make me belly laugh. My daughter Naomi used to find Dave’s silly faces funny too. In the summer they took me and my foster sister to loads of places like London and Hunstanton. They always treated us well and made us laugh and comforted us when we needed to be, and we had the best meals! Going into care in my teens was at times stressful and emotional, but overall it was actually a positive experience. It gave me a voice for the first time. I felt valued and respected - what I had to say mattered.

Instead of my life being in the professionals’ hands it was in mine and they helped me along the way. I was taught how to manage my money and budget and I was given advice about education and my options as well as how to deal with my relationships.

Through TACT I was also given therapy to help me deal with the past which was amazing and super helpful. Eventually, at the age of 17, I was ready to move on to independent living with my daughter Naomi. Leaving Kris and Dave was stressful, but I think moving out of a family home always is. I got my flat very quickly and I loved it, my TACT social workers came with me to view it and sign the contract, and Kris and Dave helped me move in and set up my bills. I was given a grant to furnish my flat which made me feel spoilt, and once I had moved in I felt very grown up. Suddenly I had it all, which I never imagined would be possible when I was living with my adoptive mother. After I moved out I went back to college where I studied health and social care level 3, I didn’t know what I wanted to do but I knew I wanted to help people like me.

One day my personal adviser, Frank, told me about an apprenticeship run by the Rank Foundation group which provides young people with the opportunity to work in a field of their choice and get involved in the community. So I applied, travelled to London for an interview, and very soon after I discovered I was successful. It all happened so fast. And having decided I wanted to use the apprenticeship to work with children in care, TACT Peterborough took me on as an assistant children’s resource worker. I am so excited about the opportunity, and I’m hoping to work with children and young people living in foster care, social workers and foster carers with anything I possibly can, such as speaking on behalf of the person at child care reviews or other appointments and working as an advocate. I am in a good place in my life right now, and I can attribute a lot of that to the opportunities, support, love and stability that I received whilst in foster care. I want to say to Kris and Dave, and indeed all foster carers, keep doing what you’re doing, which isn’t easy so hats off to you guys, and thank you for giving children and young people better futures.

Source:
www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk