 Foster care Fortnight is here! A massive two weeks for fostering in the UK, celebrating our fostering moments.
Whether that’s the friendships you’ve made, the children you’ve reunified with their birth families or the holidays you’ve enjoyed with your looked-after-children – We want to hear from you! Foster Care Fortnight is a fantastic opportunity for us to demonstrate exactly what makes fostering special, and encourage those who can to open their doors and hearts to vulnerable young people who are in care through no fault of their own. And every year, we must recruit thousands more foster carers. Over the two weeks, we’ll be sharing Andrew Turner Awards, Carer interviews and more just like this carer feedback: “We have seen the Trust grow and change over the years which has helped us, as well as many other fostering families grow too.” “Our lives have fully changed since being with The CFT, it has been challenging yes, it has also been extremely fulfilling and enjoyable. I would highly recommend The CFT to anyone who wants to foster or even just looking into it.” For those looking to get to know us and our incredible community of carers, social workers and staff The Children’s Family Trust have been supporting, mentoring and training foster carers since 1945. Over that time, our service has developed, but our ethos remains – Providing young people a family for life. That means a looked-after-child, whether they were fostered with us for 6 days, 6 months or 16 years have somewhere they can access support without question. As a not for profit, we can ensure resources are made available as and when they’re needed. Being a charity also allows us to keep our caseloads low, so staff are there for you whenever and however you need. A tailored fostering experience ensures families have stickability and the confidence to make the right decisions. Whether thats daily check-ins, BSL interpreters or advanced training that supports your placement, we’re here to ensure our families have every tool possible to make fostering a success. So, if you’re looking into fostering this Foster Care Fortnight – Get in touch with us, and get to know what making a difference with The CFT really looks like. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/  DEAF AWARENESS WEEK RUNS FROM THE 6th – 13th May 2024. In celebration of the deaf and hearing impaired community, we’re Counting You In to a fostering career with The Children’s Family Trust. As a fostering charity, we’re uniquely placed to support Deaf and Hearing impaired carers to a successful career, supporting vulnerable young people in the community. As our goal isn’t profit making, we focus on support, guidance and a tailored approach for all our carers. Diverse carers are needed more than ever The UK is in the midst of a fostering crisis, needing to recruit more than 7,500 carers in the next 12 months alone. We believe, with the correct support network, the deaf and hearing impaired communities can step in and provide exceptional care for the 70,000 young people and children currently in care. This Deaf Awareness Week, we want those who may have faced adversity gaining support and access to a fostering career, to work with us and Count Yourself IN to a fostering career with The Children’s Family Trust. Check out our video, Made in collaboration with Doncaster Deaf Trust and Northern Heart Films. Our approach
Our approach to fostering relies on solid relationships shaped through honest and thorough assessments. Putting our carers in the driving seat. Having clear choices that lend themselves to the positive skillsets of our carers ensures placement breakdowns are rare. And our positive working environments and flexible working means our workforce stick around, so staff turnovers are also minimised. What’s stopping you? With the support of the right Fostering provider, we believe there’s little in the way of the deaf and hearing impaired communities to foster. So what’s stopping you? An enquiry is no commitment! Get in touch today. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/  Location: Bromsgrove Salary: Competitive - £42,636 to £51,555 PA plus Car Allowance £4,800 PA and Out of Hours £1,200 PA Contract: Permanent Hours: Full Time - 35 hours per week over 4 days - Monday-Friday Closing Date: 30 May 2024 We are a highly successful National Charity and an Ofsted rated Outstanding Fostering Agency. We are looking for a Foster Team Manager to provide support to our lovely Registered Manager by supervising and supporting less experienced staff on professional matters, undertaking tasks delegated by our highly skilled Registered Manager and developing The CFT’s outstanding fostering service. We are a wonderful organization to work for! Our independent continuous improvement surveys tell us this annually!
Where do you fit in? To provide support to the Registered Manager by supervising and supporting less experienced staff on professional matters, undertaking tasks delegated by the Registered Manager, developing the CFT's fostering service and developing links with universities to provide student placements and or other services as required. What’s in it for you? In addition to a competitive salary, a very generous car allowance, and out of hours allowance, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:
 Location: Birmingham Salary: £55,000 to £60,000 per annum plus car allowance of £6000 and benefits package Contract: Fixed Term Hours: Full Time - 35 hours over 4 days between Mon-Fri. 12 month Fixed Term Contract Closing: 16 May 2024 The Children’s Family Trust is seeking a highly skilled and experienced Psychotherapist / Clinical Psychologist specialising in complex trauma and trauma informed approaches to join our team.
This position is integral to the implementation of trauma informed practices across the Children’s Family Trust in alignment with our plans and vision. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in initially conducting an organisational assessment, providing supervisions, offering clinical consultations, delivering training, developing group interventions and monitoring the progress of trauma informed initiatives. The position offers a unique opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of children and young people impacted by trauma. If you are passionate about trauma informed care and possess the skills and experience outlined above, we encourage you to apply. The role will involve some travel to our regional offices located in Bishop Auckland, Wakefield, Bromsgrove and Waterlooville). In order to be successful in this role you will need
Further details and application documents here  Sarah & Levi* reached a HUGE 10 years of fostering with The Children’s Family Trust. In order to celebrate the milestone and their incredible longevity, we gave them the keys to the website and asked them to blog exactly how fostering has developed, and any words of encouragement for those experiencing difficulties or struggling to make the first steps.
We have been with CFT for 10 years now, our journey has taken many twists and turns over the years. The Pandemic was especially crazy in our household like many other across the world. Myself and Levi looked into fostering because we just wanted to help, that was it. The more children we could help the better. We saw CFT along with many other fostering agencies at Birmingham Pride. What they stood for and the fact that CFT is a Charity really stood out to us both. Witnessing the Trust grow and change over the years has helped us as well as many other fostering families grow too. Currently, we have one child in a long term placement with us, and we’re currently going through the “staying put” process now. Our lives have totally changed since being with CFT. It has been challenging however it has also been extremely fulfilling and enjoyable. The fact we have an amazing young person with us to share our journey is a bonus. We would highly recommend CFT to anyone who wants to foster or even just looking into it at the moment. Our advice to those thinking about becoming foster carers: Training – Attend as many training course as you can. Even if you dont have a child/ren in your care at that point. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to ask questions and speak to other carers, this will prepare you for when you do have a child/ren in your care. Champion Individuality – All children are different, what works for one child won’t work for another. It sounds simple iI know but simplicity is key. Utilise Available Support – Ask for help if you need it, what ever form that takes. Your Supervising Social Worker is there for this exact reason (as well as everything else they do too). The Application Process – The Form F is a very detailed application form that everyone has to do. It was for us, very thought provoking. This process will probably make you question some of your up bringing and also what sort of parent or carer you what to be. It won’t be the last time you question things as every training course you do will also have this effect in some way. Embrace the ability to look at something and think differently about it or look for something that can be changed moving forward. Be an Effective Advocate – Finally, the most important piece of advise we can give anyone is to listen to the child/ren in your care. You are their voice in meetings of any sort when they don’t have a voice / haven’t found it yet or don’t think anyone will listen. You are the one constant in their life that no matter what will fight for them and will be there as their safety net if they fall. In a lot of cases you are also going to be the person that shows them what a family is and how it feels, embrace this as a whole. It is hard to begin with and can be energy draining, it is also the best and most fulfilling feeling in the world. *Names have been changed to protect our carers identities. Source: thecft.org.uk/case-studies  Location: Lincoln Salary: Competitive - please see advert for details Contract: Zero Hours Hours: Part Time - Ad hoc Closing: 26 March 2024 The Children’s Family Trust (CFT) is a well-established Registered Charity and an Independent Fostering Agency. We provide a wide and varied range of foster placements and have historically specialised in long term ‘Family for Life’ placements. We firmly believe our Foster Carers are our most valuable resource deserving the highest levels of support and remuneration we can offer. We work in partnership with Local Authority Social Workers committed to keeping our children safe and secure in stable and loving families.
Due to continued success and growth we are looking for independent, self-employed FORM F ASSESSORS For our East Midlands and Lincolnshire Regions The Core Tasks:
You will need to be a qualified social worker and registered with Social Work England, have previous experience of completing Form F Assessments. Pay:
The Children’s Family Trust is an equal opportunities employer and committed to promoting the welfare and safeguarding of children, ensuring that they are kept safe. As you will be in an environment which involves child protection and working with Looked After Children, you will need to be covered by an enhanced DBS clearance and provide satisfactory references and overseas police check (if needed). Full details and application details here  Everything you need to know from Practice Team Manager, Liz Oldfield.
We sat down with our South East Practice Team Manager, Liz Oldfield to discuss the in’s and out’s of fostering a parent and their child. In this post you’ll find out why there’s a national emphasis on this type of fostering, how vital it can be in breaking generational cyles of children entering care and the expected outcomes and practices versus traditional, mainstream fostering. Many people may not know that Parents and their children require fostering through the same services as young children, how long has it been around in a formal capacity? It’s hard to define really, but certainly over the last decade the need has grown. That may be because courts are keener to keep mothers and babies together. But most certainly it is the most sought after placement we get asked for. Why are we seeing such an influx of referrals, now more than ever? The impetus is definitely coming from the courts to do everything possible before they remove a child, especially a baby. But we get referrals for a mum who’s maybe had 5 children removed. There are incentives out there about trying to do it differently THIS time and to acknowledge that maybe the support just wasn’t there the first time around for parents. Lets ramp up that support instead of doing the same thing and have the same results. Lets stop that revolving door of children coming into care and their children coming into care and put extra resource in to support this parent. Is it a service specifically for women and babies? What are the outcomes of Parent and Child fostering? It is Dad’s aswell. Mum’s, Dad’s and Child or just Dad’s and Child. It’s why it was renamed Parent and child instead of mummy and baby which we used to call it. So, once we’ve given them all the support we can, then it’s down to the family to really do it on their own. But you’re giving them every possible chance to learn maybe what they didn’t learn from their parents about parenting. It’s about learning in a safe and supportive environment where there’s less pressure on them from other things like managing finances, other people or influences. They don’t leave until they can understand finances and manage their money, they can cook for themselves, they can feed their baby, they can clothe their baby, they can wash their baby and understand health and hygiene and so forth. Placements typically last between 3-4 months or once they’ve demonstrated all these skills. Parents may have aspirations for their future and facilitating that through training, education etc. It may even be as simple as mixing with other people, going to baby groups going to mum and toddler groups. Just getting them to have positive relationships because often they haven’t had that in the past. We do a lot of independent skills with them and sometime aspirations can be unrealistic but entering education would be something they’re expected to do. Stepping stones, and understanding what is feasible at that particular time. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/  Societal prejudice that exasperates trauma
As a population we often forget that children are in care through no fault of their own, and we brand them with societally held prejudices that exasperates their trauma. Their actions when experiencing trauma (and the upheaval of everything they know) cannot be helped without the therapeutic support from a supportive, confident & well trained care giver. We see daily how therapeutic and tailored support makes small, incremental changes in our children’s behaviour and attitudes towards their futures. Small changes that snowball into monumental moments that beforehand, seemed far out of reach. Small changes create monumental moments. This has been the reality for our North East foster carer Debbie and her foster daughter, SW. SW came to The CFT with a reputation as a bit of trouble-maker who frequently absconded from school. But through the hardwork of her care givers and her sheer focus and determination has turned her school life around and is now an A-Level student with hopes of becoming a primary school teacher. Debbie wanted to share this fantastic milestone through our Andrew Turner Award which SW was awarded, acknowledging her unbelievable turn-around. Here’s Debbie’s nomination in full – When S came to us in 2021, she came with a reputation as a bit of a troublemaker in school, having been known to runaway. It was clear at the end of year 10 that this school was not suitable or meeting S’s needs. We fought social workers, schools and all the relevant people who said moving her at this point in her studies was wrong. We persevered and won the battle and S began her final year of school at a different academy. Despite changing some subjects, or modules it was clear if S was going to achieve at the end of the year (and prove that we were right to move her), that she was going to have to work very hard, and boy did she. When many of friends were out socialising, S would be found with her head in her books, studying at any free opportunity she had. She had to be encouraged to take a break, but she was determined. At the end of her school year she passed every single subject, and although she had to condense two years of study into just 9 months, she gained an average “6” in her subjects. December last year S was invited back to school for an awards ceremony that we attended with her. S picked up 3 individual awards: Progress in Geography, Achievement in Food and Nutrition and Pastoral Team Award. S has now begun her A-Level studies with the aim of eventually becoming a primary school teacher. Hopefully S is as proud of herself as we are of her!! Confident carers providing the best chance for children to thrive As a foster carer with The CFT – Confidence is a huge part of ensuring as a team we provide the best outcomes for our children. Confidence means being steadfast in the face of adversity. Confidence means demonstrating that when you know something isn’t right, to fight for positive changes no matter the barriers. We stand alongside our carers, who arguably get to know their foster children much better than any teacher or health professional ever could. Fighting for change meant SW had the best possible chance to make her future a reality, making positive choices at home and in school. What an outstanding achievement. If you can support a young person to reach their full potential – we want to hear from you. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/  No margins for error. Any organisation that works with young people must be held to high standards of practice. This is why OFSTED scrutinise the procedures that ensure the safety of not only the young people but our foster carers aswell. We’re incredibly proud of our Good and Outstanding grades, but the details behind these grading systems can be elusive to those not involved in the day to day of fostering and may not encompass how our service is received, beyond the formalities of practice and procedures. Whilst the OFSTED process is extremely important, it doesn’t happen all that regularly. And we want regular assurances that our stakeholders are being served to the standards they deserve and that we set for ourselves.  Continuous Improvement – Carers and children in the driving seat!
This is why we commission a 3rd party to develop a survey aimed evaluating the thoughts, feelings and morale of our staff, foster carers and young people. This involves collating the views of all stakeholders involved with the Trust as well as benchmarking us against the ‘norm’ for hundreds of other organisations – Small, large, for profit and not for profit. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing the results that communicates exactly what it’s like to work, foster and be fostered through The Children’s Family Trust. Our service is driven by the success of our teams, foster carers and looked after children and we thank every single person who responded to the survey. Even the young boy who suggested we could improve with more chicken nuggets and quite frankly, we agree. If you’d like to join our team of foster carers, get in touch today and curate a service that works, for you. Source: https://thecft.org.uk/  Salary: Competitive - Up to £26,000PA plus car allowance of £4,800PA Location: Bromsgrove Contract: Permanent Hours: Full Time - 32 hours per week Closing: 23 November 2023 We are seeking a motivated, enthusiastic, conscientious and creative Support Worker working closely with our team of Supervising Social Workers and Foster Carers to deliver the best outcomes for children and young people in foster care.
Flexibility is required in terms of place of work and hours of work. The position is based from our West Midlands Regional Office, Bromsgrove however there will also be requirement to travel to our Foster Carers and work with the children in their care. You will be required to work 32 hours per week - Monday to Friday, over 4 days and some weekend and evening work. (we are currently running a trial of working 4 days per week but paid for 5!) This trial will be reviewed in March 2024. (The full time non trial working hours are 35 per week). THE CHILDREN’S FAMILY TRUST (THE CFT) Is a well-established Registered Charity and an Independent Fostering Agency providing a wide range of foster placements. We firmly believe our Foster Carers are our most valuable resource deserving the highest levels of support and remuneration we can offer. We work in partnership with Local Authority Social Workers and are committed to keeping our children safe and secure in stable and loving families. JOB PURPOSE The Support Worker post has been created to support foster carers, children and social workers. The post will require working outside normal office hours in order to meet the needs of the service. This will include evening work, bank holidays and weekend work, therefore flexibility is a must! JOB DESCRIPTION In addition to the functions detailed below, employees are required to carry out such other duties as may reasonably be required. The role will include undertaking specific tasks in relation to supporting foster carers and the children placed with them and includes:
THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATE We are looking for an individual who is child focused and able to work as part of a wider team to achieve the very best outcomes for our children and have the ability to communicate well with both children and adults. Experience of working with children and young people is essential, experience in the fostering sector would be an advantage but not essential. No formal social work qualifications are necessary, but an understanding of, and empathy for the work required is necessary. You will be able to demonstrate a professional approach and be able to deal with difficult, challenging and stressful situations on occasion. You will need to be approachable whilst also understanding the confidential aspect of the role. A full driving license with business cover and fully comprehensive insurance is essential and you must be confident in transporting children and young people in sometimes stressful and difficult situations. WHAT YOU GET IN RETURN We are a progressive organisation who promote a friendly and supportive working environment, where you will be rewarded for your hard work and results. As well as a competitive annual salary we also offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:
*Please note, this role requires an enhanced DBS check and overseas Police check (if required). Full details and application documents here |
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