Additional Services – Therapeutic and Youth Support
Scope of this chapter
This chapter applies to all staff and approved foster carers and explains the way in which the Fostering Agency provides additional support.
Regulations and Standards
The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011
Regulation 17 - Support, training and information for foster parents
Fostering Services National Minimum Standards:
STANDARD 21 - Supervision and Support of Foster Carers
All foster carers are allocated a Supervising Social Worker. All Supervising Social Workers are DDP level 1 and DDP level 2 trained (or working towards this). This role is key in providing support and supervision to the fostering household and to ensure that the environment is safe, supportive and nurturing for the child. The Supervising Social Worker provides monthly supervision to the foster carer/s and ongoing support as and when needed (see Supervision, Support and Training of Staff and Foster Carers). The Supervising Social Worker helps the foster carer to identify the learning and development needs each year through a Training Plan and can facilitate access to other learning resources. The Supervising Social Worker liaises with the child's Social Worker on a regular basis and attends important meetings relating to the child and young person.
The Agency has a team of Youth Support Workers who are Youth Work and DDP Level 1 and Level 2 trained (or working towards this). They offer invaluable support to the children and young people. Each child aged over 5 years is allocated their own Youth Support Worker, who provides one to one mentoring, befriending and coaching based upon the child's needs.
The Youth Support Team also coordinate and provide a comprehensive range of groups, activities and events for children and young people to attend and become involved with. All of these activities are arranged and planned to promote children's development, for example in independence skills, self-esteem, team working:
All children receive a Welcome Pack when they join the Children Always First fostering family. This is the first point of contact that the child has with the Youth Support Team and where the relationship building begins. The Youth Support Worker will go through the Welcome Pack and Childrens Guide with the child.
The Youth Support Team run Youth Groups for different age groups, giving young people their own safe space to be able to express themselves, socialise and discover new things. Some sessions are structured to allow the exploration of new topics, and informal education. There is also an open house youth club which is purely for fun and all young people can attend.
The Youth Groups are to ensure that every young person has a voice and their voice is heard, therefore consultation throughout the year takes place to make sure that what is delivered is meeting the current needs of the young people.
We acknowledge that foster carers' own children or children that live with them, play a huge part in the fostering task. This can sometimes be challenging. Children Always First will provide mentoring and support for these children if required. They are also very welcome to join in the activities or non-fostered specific activities.
Carers and children can expect a variety of up to 3 big social events per year. This includes an Easter, Summer and Winter Event. The Youth Support Team provide a fantastic calendar of social events for children and young people across the age ranges. This includes monthly youth groups, "Have Your Say" consultation groups and school holiday trips (social 'get togethers').
The Agency promotes fun and interesting activities for children and young people. This can be outdoor activities, paintballing, bowling, park days, Go Ape, cinema trips etc.
Children Always First prides itself on consulting with children and young people and making sure they take a full and important role in shaping our services. The Youth Support Workers organise and support a consultative group (Have Your Say) to reflect on any issues which may affect them. "Have Your Say" groups then meet with the Registered Manager twice a year. Additionally, the Agency sends each child and young person an age-appropriate questionnaire which helps our quality assurance and ensures that each individual voice is heard.
Our staff and carers receive ongoing training and support and are continuously supported to meet the needs of traumatised and often challenging children. Staff engage with quarterly group clinical supervision from the Clinical Consultant and Clinical Lead, and foster carers can have direct access to specialist support.
Foster carers engage with specialist therapeutic parenting training that is designed to provide support and guidance to the range of carers of children who have experienced trauma and attachment difficulties. Following on from this in-depth training, foster carers are invited to attend monthly DDP Informed reflective groups to reflect on the day to day challenges of parenting traumatised children. This reflective group is facilitated by the Clinical Lead.
The Agency offers Jigsaw meetings for the network. The meeting is facilitated by a supervising social worker and attended by a Clinical Consultant, and enables the professionals and carers working with the child or young person to gain an in-depth understanding of the pre-care experiences of the child from an attachment and trauma informed perspective.
The Agency offers clinical guidance sessions with one of the agency's Clinical Consultants. This is an individual session where carers can talk through any issues they may be experiencing with their children. The consultant will explore these issues in a DDP informed way to gain a greater understanding of the child and Foster Carer's experience, and if appropriate will offer DDP informed guidance and support for the child and Foster Carer.
Last Updated: July 25, 2024
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