Newcastle City Council Children s Services Directorate. Foster a Future. Fostering Service Statement of Purpose

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1 Newcastle City Council Children s Services Directorate Foster a Future Fostering Service Statement of Purpose

2 Foster a Future

3 Statement of Purpose Contents What is a statement of purpose? 4 Mission statement 4 The aims and objectives of the Fostering Service 5 Principles and standards of care 8 The facilities and services provided by the Fostering Service 9 Partnership support services for foster carers 12 Newcastle Fostering Service staff 14 Number of children and young people in foster placements and number of carers 20 Summary of the procedures for carer recruitment, training, approval, support, and review 20 Procedures for the investigation of allegations or complaints made against foster carers 28 Distribution of this statement 29 Consultation 30 Comments 30

4 Foster a Future What is a Statement of Purpose? The Statement of Purpose is the means of providing information about Newcastle City Council s Fostering Service as required by Standard 16 of the National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services and the Fostering Services Regulation (2011). The Statement of Purpose is a source of information for the families, foster carers, and short break carers of children and young people cared for in foster placements. It is also for people thinking of becoming foster carers, and for staff within Wellbeing, Care and Learning Directorate, the City Council, and from other agencies. A leaflet titled About Being Fostered is provided to children and young people being cared for in foster care placements. Ofsted regularly inspects the Fostering Service to ensure that they achieve the aims and objectives set out in the Statement of Purpose. The Statement of Purpose is revised annually and includes the views of children and young people in foster placement, foster carers, social workers, managers and other professionals working with children and young people. Mission Statement The Newcastle Fostering Service aims to provide a good quality, highly regarded service that inspires confidence in children and young people, carers, staff, managers and partner agencies. The service will provide and maintain foster placements that enable looked after children to most fully achieve their personal, social development, education and employment potential. 4

5 Statement of Purpose The aims and objectives of the Fostering Service Newcastle City Council s Fostering Service to aims to: Meet the needs of all Newcastle s children who have been assessed as requiring a foster placement. Provide a range of good quality family based care for children who are unable to stay with their own families. Provide looked after children with a safe, stable, nurturing family experience which will promote their health, educational achievement and wellbeing. And which will assist them in coming to terms with their life experiences and reaching their full potential. Value diversity by recruiting and training carers who respect, promote and reflect the ethnicity, race, culture and religious identity of the children and young people they care for. Respect the gender and sexuality of children and young people. Listen to children and young people about their needs, wishes and experiences. Work together with the Placements Service to ensure that children and young people are placed with carers who have the range of skills and experiences to meet their needs. Work closely with the independent fostering agencies to ensure that there is a range of placement choice. Be wholly committed to children and young people cared for in foster and short break care placements and to be centred entirely on their needs. Advise children and young people in foster care placements of the Complaints Procedure and assist them in making a complaint if they choose to do so. Work together with the allocated social worker from the Social Work East, West and Initial Response Service or Hospital Social Work Team. Ensuring that the child or young person s views about their foster placement are listened to and taken into consideration when decisions are made, especially when there is a looked after Child Review. Work together with the Aspire Team to enable children and young people in foster care to maximise their learning and educational skills and opportunities, and achieve the best standards of health care and health awareness. Work together with the 16+ Team to ensure that young people are supported as they make the transition from foster care to independent living and gain from training and employment opportunities. 5

6 Foster a Future Train foster and post approved carers to a very high standard by using current foster carers and social workers to do this. They will be assisted by a skilled Training Coordinator. Enable carers to participate in a wide range of training opportunities, and where appropriate, to undertake the level 3 Diploma for the Children and Young People s Workforce. Support foster carers in providing the highest possible care to children and young people. This is the priority of the fostering service. Every carer will have a social worker allocated to them from the fostering service as their supervising social worker. Additionally support carers by having a Duty Service available from the fostering team during the day also the services of a resource worker. The emergency duty team will provide out of hours support and assistance at the weekend and every evening. Work in partnership with Fostering Under Newcastle, the foster carer group in its support of carers. Also to extend the range of support services and work together with the Executive Committee and the Finance and Education Subcommittees of Fostering Under Newcastle to include the views of carers in the planning and running of the Fostering Service. Promote the partnership between the Fostering Service and the children and young people in foster placements through a range of activities and groups. Work closely with children and the National Youth Advocacy Service and foster carers to include the views of children and young people in all aspects of their care and the services provided by the Fostering Service. Keep abreast of research developments and implement suggestions for good practice and a better quality of service based on local and national research findings. Strive to provide a level and quality of service that meets the National Minimum Standards and achieves excellence. Employ highly qualified well motivated staff who are dedicated to the recruitment, training, assessment and support of foster carers and be solely focused on the needs of children and young people who are cared for in foster placements. To meet the key aims of Newcastle City Council and the objectives of the Newcastle looked after children strategic plan

7 Statement of Purpose Our aims will be met through the following objectives: Foster a Future will continue to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of skilled and experienced Foster Carers to meet the demands of the looked after population. This will enable placement stability and increased choice for all children requiring a foster placement. We will match the child to the carers assessed skills and abilities recognised within their approval category. To enable the child s needs to be met as detailed below: Emotional and behavioural development Health Family and social relationships Social presentation Self care skills Education and educational achievement Identity Maintain our commitment to participation by consulting with the Foster Carer s Participation Group and members of the Fostering Under Newcastle Support Group. Within this we will adhere to the Foster Care Charter. In addition we continue to value, promote and engage with Voices for Choices, Newcastle s looked after children s council, enabling them to have a significant impact upon children s services provision. Newcastle City Council has committed itself to adhering to the Children s Pledge and continues to monitor and review its processes in respect of consultation with parents, carers, children and young people. 7

8 Foster a Future Principles and standards of care The Fostering Service will deliver a service to children, young people and their foster carers or short break scheme foster carers, which complies with the National Minimum Standards requirements of the Fostering Services Regulations 2011 issued by the Secretary of State for Health under sections 23 and 49 of the Care Standards Act The Fostering Service will strive for excellence and to achieve the higher standards set by the best practice guidance of the UK National Standard for Foster Care In addition to the aims and objectives set out in this Statement of Purpose, the Fostering Service will work closely with colleagues to ensure that in accordance with Quality Protects and business plan targets: Care Planning is clear and outcome focussed. There is a reduction in the number of looked after children by means of effective reunification planning. Placement stability is achieved by permanence planning. Ensure that at least 80% of looked after children across the entire age range will be cared for in family placements and placement choice extended and monitored. Placements with independent fostering agencies are controlled to reduce the overall costs of foster care in line with performance targets set by the Department of Health. Black and ethnic minority children and young people are placed with carers who respect and promote their cultural, racial, linguistic, and religious identities. Work in partnership with Voices for Choices and foster carer participation groups in service planning. Ensure the Fostering Service complies with Best value requirements. Develop effective partnerships with children s services agencies and independent fostering agencies. We also aim to ensure that the content and spirit of the Foster Carer Charter is embedded in service delivery. In doing so our foster carers will be engaged, supported and fully consulted at every stage of a child s placement, so that they can do their best for each and every child in their care. 8

9 Statement of Purpose The facilities and services provided by the Fostering Service Fostering Placements Emergency Placements Some placements are made at times of crisis for families or when a child s safety can only be achieved by providing foster care. Sometimes the children and young people in emergency foster placements are subject to Police Protection Orders, or Interim Care Orders. These placements are arranged by the Placements Team. This team receives detailed information about the personal history and needs of the child or young person from their social worker and identifies an appropriate foster placement. The Placements Team liaises with the social worker, the foster carer and the foster carer s own supervising social worker from the Fostering Service to ensure the identified foster placement is suitable for the child. Short term and respite placement Short term and respite placements are helpful in enabling families who are caring for a child or young person to have a short period of time apart while they tackle a serious problem, resolve a crisis, have a health need attended to, or take a break. In the same way, children and young people many also need a short break from their usual carer for similar reasons. The benefits of short term or respite placement are identified and assessed by the social worker from Social Work East, West, the Children with Disabilities Team and the Initial Response Team. They then make a request to the Placements Services. Both full time foster carers and short break carers work very hard to meet the needs of the child or young person they are caring for. Occasionally they will also need short breaks while they attend to their own needs and the needs of their families. Their supervising Social Worker arranges the break with the Placements Service. Respite or short breaks not only benefit carers, but also children and young people as it enables them to experience new people and different situations. Short breaks for children with disabilities We also provide short break foster care for families with children with disabilities. The children or young people spend most of their time at home with their families but they also have short stays with foster carers anything from a few hours to a few days. This provides both the children or young people and their families with a break. 9

10 Foster a Future Family, friends or connected persons foster carers A connected person is a person who is a relative, friend or any other person connected with the child. This may be someone who knows the child in a more professional capacity such as a child minder, teacher or youth worker. A relative is defined in the Children Act 1989 as a grandparent, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, whether of the full blood or half blood or by marriage or civil partnership and stepparents. Our family and friends foster carers who are caring for a child at the request of the local authority are provided with an allowance to meet the costs of caring for the child as well as a range of services and support for the child in-line with our mainstream foster carers. At the point of the joint visit to carry out a viability assessment all family and friends applicants are provided with the clear process of how the assessment process will be and what this means in relation to approving them as foster carers. This is to enable them to make an informed decision on whether to proceed or not. Training and support is offered to the same standard as all foster carers. We also provide them with the DfE leaflet describing family and friends and support networks they can access. Mother and baby placements We also provide mother and baby placements where appropriate with experienced foster carers with the relevant skills and accommodation. Permanent placement Children and young people are sometimes cared for in permanent foster placements. It may be that they cannot return home to their families for very serious reasons, or, it is not appropriate for them to be adopted. Children and young people in permanent foster care are usually, but not always, subject to Care Orders. When the care plans are being made for a child or young person, the need for a permanent placement is identified. The Fostering Service recruits, trains and approves some of its foster carers to provide permanent care. When the need for a permanent placement is identified in the care plan, the social worker for the Children and Family Team makes a referral to the long term family finder, a supervising social worker within the fostering service. A referral meeting is held to advise the Fostering Service as accurately as possible of the child or young person s personal history and individual needs. The long term family finder will then strive to identify an appropriate placement for the child. The Long Term Family Finder The Long term family finder will match a child or young person with the carer who can best meet their needs. The Fostering Service uses the forms and assessment 10

11 Statement of Purpose format of the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering to provide information about the prospective permanent carers to the Fostering Panel. In addition the child s social worker provides a matching report. The Panel is made up of health and education professionals, social work practitioners and managers, foster carers and an elected Member of the City Council. The Panel considers the needs of the child or young person, looks at the skills, abilities and experience of the proposed foster carers and either approves or rejects the match. Community Fostering Scheme The Community Fostering Scheme works with the child s social worker to help maintain the child in their own family home. If the child has already been placed in foster care, they help to reunify the child with their own family if this is the plan for them. The foster carers in the scheme are skilled and experienced at engaging with children and their families and in helping them to achieve their goals. The scheme ensures that there is always someone there to listen to the child and to put their wishes and choices at the front of any decisions that are made. Foster carers working for the scheme have regular supervision with a social worker from the Fostering Service and the coordinator of the scheme. They also meet regularly for group supervision and to share experiences and learning. Black minority ethnic Support Scheme Newcastle Fostering Service is committed to matching the needs of children with appropriate foster carers and with ensuring that as many children as possible are fostered within the service and within the boundaries of Newcastle. From time to time it is not possible to place a child from a specific black minority ethnic community with a foster carer from the same ethnicity despite recruitment initiatives.. When this happens we hope to be able to provide the child and their foster carer with a trained and qualified foster carer from the same ethnicity as the child. They will visit the child and advise and help their foster carer to best meet the child s needs. Supervision and Review of foster Placements Children and young people in permanent and short term foster placements are visitedby their own social worker. This is a statutory responsibility and their care plan is regularly reviewed to make sure they are happy in their foster placement. Each foster carer, regardless of the types of placement they provide or the scheme they are working with, also has a social worker, called a supervising social worker. They make sure the foster carer is providing the best possible standard of care and safety to the child. Foster carers are supervised on at least a 4-6 weekly basis. In addition to regular supervision, foster carers are reviewed after six months of becoming foster carers and then annually to ensure they are meeting the standards required of foster carers by the Fostering Services Regulations The Manager for Quality Standards manages the Review Officers to ensure that they are reviewed independently of the Fostering Service. 11

12 Foster a Future Partnership support for foster carers The Fostering Service works in corporate partnership with colleagues from the city councils Wellbeing, Care and Learning Directorate, the Health services and with schools and independent agencies to ensure the child benefits fully from their foster care placement and to support the Foster Carer. Our main partners are: Aspire Dedicated support services for looked after children in Newcastle. Aspire is a partnership between services contributing dedicated staff to a multi-agency, multidisciplinary support team for looked after children. Vision Aspires vision is to provide an effective, efficient and well coordinated wrap around service that supports and empowers children and young people and leads to positive outcomes in all five areas of the Every Child Matters agenda. In addition to direct work with young people, Aspire seeks to support other services and work in collaboration with those services. Designated teachers - every school has a designated teacher for looked after children. Social worker from the Children and Family teams - every child or young person in a foster placement has their own social worker. Looked after Children Reviewing Officers from the Children Standards Unit - they regularly review the care plan to ensure it still remains appropriate and they make sure that they views of the child or young person are taken fully into consideration when decisions are being made. Independent visitors - trained volunteers who will visit children and young people at their request and advocate on their behalf. National Children s Homes is contracted to provide this service. The 16+ Team - preparing young people who are 16 years old and cared for in foster placements to take the steps towards independence by planning, training for employment or further education. Every young person is allocated her or his own social worker from the team. The Children with Disabilities Team - all children with disabilities who are cared for in foster placements have their own social worker from the team. Their foster carers or short break care carers are skilled enough to provide respite, short break, short term or long term placements. They are recruited and trained by the Fostering Team. 12

13 Statement of Purpose Foster carer reviewing officers - every foster carer and short break care carer has an annual review to ensure that they are meeting the standards required of them. Fostering Under Newcastle - is the foster carer group. Its aims are: - To be in partnership with children s services giving carers a voice. - To provide a group for carers to turn to for help, advice and support. - To raise awareness of the general public about the work undertaken by foster carers. - To suggest changes to the Fostering Service to benefit carers. - To support carers with practical assistance. Fostering Under Newcastle organise social activities for foster carers, children and young people, mails a monthly newsletter to all members and holds support sessions for carers. The executive committee and the education and finance sub committees have regular meetings with the Registered Manager of the fostering unit to plan and make joint decisions. Mediation Service provided by Foster Talk. This service provides help and assistance to foster cares, and advocates on behalf of foster carers, if they are subject to an allegation of abuse or if they are unhappy with the decisions of the fostering panel. Regular consultation takes place with foster carers and short break care carers and Voices for Choices to help the Fostering Service identify and provide the support foster carers and short break care carers need. During the evenings and at weekends, foster carers can access support from the out of hours helpline service, staffed by experienced foster carers from the Newcastle Fostering Service. These will advise and assist appropriately, or if circumstances require, contact the Emergency Duty Team to provide qualified social work assistance or intervention. In addition the service looks closely at matching new carers with experienced carers with a view to support and mentoring. 13

14 Foster a Future Placement plan and child s care plan The placement plan forms part of the child s care plan and must be drawn up before the child is placed (regulation 9 (2) of the 2010 regulations). The placement plan sets out in detail how the placement is intended to contribute to meeting the child s needs as set out in the care plan. The Foster Carers should play an active role in agreeing the contents of the child s placement plan and must have a copy of the child s placement plan (Standard 31). An effective placement plan will ensure that the foster carer receives essential information about the child, including his health, educational and emotional needs, how these may affect the child day to day and appropriate strategies for responding to these needs. This will include information about any behaviour which was of concern in a previous placement. Schedule 2 of the 2010 Regulations sets out the matters which must be included in the placement plan and relevant statutory guidance is included in Volume 2. Where it is not possible to draw up a placement plan in advance of the placement, a placement plan must be made within five working days of the start of the placement. Newcastle Fostering Service staff Registered Fostering Service Manager: Management responsibility for Supported Lodgings and Shared Care Scheme. Michael Dack: Qualifications: Cert Mgmt (open); Diploma of Social Work (DipSW); Post Qualifying award Part 1; Post Qualifying child care Award (PQCCA): BSc in Childcare Social Work; BEC (Business Studies); BTEC (Leisure Management); HNC (Care Practice); Experience; Residential social worker; team leader, residential unit; deputy officer in charge, residential unit; Social Worker, children and family team; supervising social worker, fostering team; Deputy Fostering Manager, fostering team; Team Manager Fostering Team. Team Managers: Helen White: Qualifications: Diploma in Social Work passed with Commendations (DipSW); BTEC Childhood studies (Nursery Nursing); Special Educational Needs Certificate; Practice Assessors Award. Post Qualifying Award Part 1 and 2 and Leading Effective Teams Management Training. Experience: Nursery Nurse working in Primary Educational and Special Education Needs Support service for children with Autism, Aspergers Syndrome and Emotional, Social and Behavioural difficulties; parent support worker/nurture group facilitator for early excellence; social worker working with Children and Families Team; Education Liaison Worker/Social Worker for Looked after Children with EAHST/ASPIRE; Supervising social worker, Senior Practitioner Foster a Future. 14

15 Statement of Purpose Michael Briggs: Team Manager: Michael Briggs. Qualifications: Social Work BSc (Hons), 2008; Practice Teaching (FLAPS, 2010); NVQ Level 3 children and young people (2001) Experience: Residential Care Officer ( ) and Deputy Officer in Charge ( ) at Cheviot View/Hartburn Walk Short Breaks for Children with Disabilities. Other: Supervising Social worker Shared Care (2007); Placements at IRS. Senior Social Worker Practitioners Training Scheme Coordinator and Senior Social Work Practitioner: Sandra Quinnin: BA (Hons) degree National B-Tec in Health and Social Care. BSC in Post Qualifying child care Award Parts 1 and 2. Experience: in working with Children and Families Team and in Adults with Learning Disabilities. Joined the fostering team in 2002 experienced in the Assessment and supervision of foster carers and took over as Fostering training coordinator in Progressed as a Senior Social Work Practitioner in Connected Persons Lead Graham Clark: Qualifications: ICSA (Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators); Diploma of Social Work; Post Qualifying Award Part 1. Experience: Youth Work, residential social work, residential social work, residential unit, social worker children and family team, social worker leaving care support team, supervising social worker, fostering service. Started in Fostering Jan Qualified in May 2003, Started with council Community Fostering Coordinator Jackie Groom: Qualifications: BA (Hons) Degree in social work. Experience of working within children and families teams and duty teams. I qualified in July I joined Newcastle Council July 28th 2008 when I joined the fostering team. Supervising Social Workers Marie Robinson: Qualifications: BSC; Social Administration 1981 Social Work (CQSW) 1987; Practice Teaching Award (CCETSW), Post Qualify Award Part One (PQ1) Experience: Residential Social Worker, placements social worker, supervising social worker, fostering service. Acting Deputy Manager, Fostering. John Walker: Qualifications: Diploma from the Open University in Understanding Health and Social Care (2002) BSC (Hons) Social Work degree (2007) Experience Residential child care setting, outreach work, I am a facilitator for the Incredible Years Programme. I started with Newcastle City Council in 2007 and joined the Fostering Service in 2008 as a resource worker and became a supervising social worker in

16 Foster a Future Leslie-Ann Fawole: Qualifications: MA (Social Work, USA) BA (Business Administration) AAS ( Marketing); Certificate of Group and Individual Counselling. Experience: Social worker, fostering and adoption team; social worker, children and family team; social worker, elderly person s team, social worker, inspection team; Residential social worker, residential unit; supervising social worker, fostering service. Ellen Tate: Qualifications BA (Hons) Dip SW Qualified in 1995; Post Qualifying Child Care Award (PQCCA); Practice Assessors Certificate. Experience: residential social worker, residential unit; support worker, mental health; manager, residential unit; social worker, children and family team; supervising social worker, fostering service. Started working with the council in 2000 and have worked within the Fostering Unit since Brian Proctor: Qualifications: M Phil (Master of social worker); B.Ed; BA (Hons); RSA Teaching Diploma of Adult Education; Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW). Experience: residential social worker, residential unit, social worker, children and family team; social worker, family support team; social worker, leaving care team; supervising social worker, fostering service. Angela Hogan: Qualifications: Diploma of Social Work (DipSW) 2004; Completed PQ Consolidation module; NNEB. Experience: Residential Nursery Nurse supporting children/young people with autism; social worker within the family support team; supervising social worker within the fostering service 2007, started with Newcastle Susan Hamilton: Qualifications: Certificate of Qualification in Social Work (CQSW) 1992; Post Qualifying Award Part 1. Experience: Social Worker for Newcastle City Council starting 1993 in adult care team; social worker, children and family team; social worker, customer service duty team. Moved to Fostering Service 2005 working as assessment social worker and supervising social worker. Sarah Booth: Qualifications: BSC Social work qualified June 2006, Post Qualifying Part 1. Experience: Social worker long term team, social worker assessment and monitoring service. Fostering supervising social worker, residential worker. Started with Council July Joined Fostering July Amanda Barker: Qualifications: BTEC Diploma in Social Care Diploma of Social Work 2002 (DIPSW) 2003; 2010 Post Qualifying Award Part 1: Experience Social Worker: Supervising social worker fostering team 2008, Paediatric Renal Social Worker, social worker children and family team. Julia Ramshaw: Qualifications: B Sc Degree in Childcare (2003) PQCCA (2003) CSS (1980), PQ 1 (2001) Completed D32, Assessing candidate performance: D33 Differing sources of evidence; D34 B Tech Certificate for Internally Verifying the assessment process; Management and Supervision of practice education; Advanced diploma in Practice education and development. Experience: I have worked in children s social care services since 1973 in Residential Units: children with disabilities since 1991 and shared care scheme since November

17 Statement of Purpose Gavin Ritchie: Qualification: BA (Hons) Applied social studies and certificate of qualification in social work (1984); Practice teaching award (1996); Post Qualifying Consolidation of Social work practice with Children, young people, their families and carers (2008). Experience: Generic practice with Humberside and Sunderland until specialising in youth justice with Northumberland and later in their Youth Offending Service. Moved to Newcastle Leaving Care 2007 until 2012 when I joined fostering service as supervising social worker. Kevin Hugman: Qualifications: Diploma in Social Work 2003, Post Qualify Award Part One (PQ1), CMS Certificate in Management studies, Diploma in Health and Social Care, certificates in Drug/Alcohol Awareness: Experience (10 years) Residential work with children/adults with a learning disability, (3 years) Registered manager of a group home for young people/adults with a physical disability, (8 years) working in independent fostering with FCA, (year and a half as) deputy Manager and (2 years) agency work working in Disability area teams and other regional fostering teams (Gateshead, Durham and South Tyneside). Lead in the Fostering Pre-approval program. Michelle Hunter: Qualifications and Experience: Qualified in 2007 with a BSC (Hons) in Social work. I started with the Initial Response Service in September 2007 and left on the 2nd September 2011 to join the Fostering Team. I completed the Post qualification consolidation of practice children and young people module in January Jayne Drew: Qualified as a social worker in Qualifications: BTEC (Social Care) Diploma of social work (DipSW) BSC in child care PQ1 and PQ2 post approval qualification in social care. Experience: Children and Families team. Newcastle Council January 2001, children with Disabilities team. Fostering Team, January 2001, I currently have responsibility for completing Form F assessments. Sarah Quinn: Qualifications: BA (History); Social Work MA/DipSW Completed PQ Consolidation Module; Experience: Social worker children and family tea: assessment social worker and supervising social worker fostering service Joanne Robinson: Qualifications: MA (Social Work) 2010, BA (Hons) Health and Social Care 2007 Completed PQ Consolidation Experience: Residential worker with adults with a learning disability, child social worker in child protection team; supervising social worker within the fostering service Started employment with Newcastle Local Authority in Clare Bryden: Qualifications: BSC Social Work qualified I completed the Post Qualification consolidation module in Experience:- I have worked in Residential settings for children and young people, family assessment units and as a social work assistant for South Tyneside Council and a Social Care Assessment Officer for Newcastle City Council. Once qualified I gained employment with Newcastle City Council as a social worker in the Assessment and Monitoring Team in In 2009 I worked in the Adult and Child Health Team specialising in families who were infected/affected by HIV. In 2013 I moved to the Fostering service. 17

18 Foster a Future Nelly Hakizimana: Qualifications: BA(Hons) Social Work degree 2008 and completed PQ Consolidation module in Experience: I was an interpreter before I became a social worker. I speak Kirundi/Kinyarwanda, French, Swahili and English. I have worked as a leaving care social worker in 2009, became a children and family social worker in 2010 and Supervising Social Worker within Fostering Service since I started work with Newcastle City Council in Supported Lodgings and Fostering Gill Lewis: Senior Social Work Practitioner: Qualifications: Diploma in Social Work, Experience: Worked for two years for Newcastle Mental Health Team as resettlement social worker. Worked for three years in the voluntary sector as resettlement officer for Norcare Ltd. Manager of Supported Lodgings since 2000; current role supported lodgings specialist. Dianne Carroll: Qualifications: Master of Social Work (MSW) 2007 LL.B (Hons) 1998 (Law Degree); Dip LP (Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice) 2000, Practice Teacher. Experience: CAHMS, Drug and Alcohol Team (both as a student) also some work with homeless people. Volunteer work with the elderly carer. Started first post as a social worker with Newcastle City Council 01/10/2007 and began working in a Child Protection Team. Commenced Looked after Children s Team with Newcastle Council one year later. PQ Joined Fostering Service within Newcastle Council 30/11/2009. Resource Workers Fostering Activities and Events Coordinators: Heather Parkin: Qualifications: NVQ Level 3 (2000) children and young people. NVQ Level 3 prompting independence, Arts awards trainer. Experience: residential social worker, residential unit, fostering service. Joined Service in Joined Fostering Su Brown: Qualifications: Open University children and young people. Courses in Counselling, Sociology, Psychology and Forensic Science. Foster carer working with young people between the ages of 12 and 18 years. 2 years working for Barnados as an assistant organiser for education, 10 year as a Social Care Officer with Children with Disabilities Service. Joined Fostering Team in March James Anderson: Corporate Parenting Specialist, responsible for supporting the development of Newcastle Children in Care Council Voices for Choices James works across all services for looked after children and young people to support the development of LAC participation in Newcastle. Prior to joining Children s Social Care, I held a number of posts in Children s Services, previously as manager of the Youth Engagement Team and as a Policy Officer. Before coming to work for Newcastle, I coordinated a national children s rights project at the children s rights Alliance for England and worked in the Civil Service as Children s Rights Advisor at the then Department for Education and Skills, London. 18

19 Statement of Purpose Placements Team Phil Graham: Qualifications Pre-residential care course; CQSW; Commenced as a residential social worker in 1977, worked in a variety of settings as Deputy Manager and Manager; work with Leaving Care Team at its inception and Foster Care Support Team; moved to Fostering 1996, variety of roles, assessment, supporting carers moved into Placements Malcolm Storey: Qualifications Certificate in Social Service (1980); BTEC in Management Studies (1992) Experienced in a variety of residential settings ranging from CHE, OBS, Assessment Centre, Secure Unit, Group Home, Status from Housemaster to Unit Manager before joining Placements in April Placements Business Support Staff Senior Administration Assistant: Kim Wilson: Qualifications: PGCE in Post Compulsory Education and Training, BA Business Studies, HNC Business and Finance, ILM Level 2 Team Leading NVQ 2 and 3 Accounting. Duties: administration and submission of reports for Placement Panel. Mentoring of Placement administration, data and statistical reporting, financial control of agency foster payments and Special Guardianship allowances. Placements Team since January Panel Administrator Donna Farrell, Senior Administration Assistant: Qualifications: Certificate in Health and Social Care, Certificate in Social Science, ILM Level 2 in Team Leading Administration of the Fostering Panel and Review Panel, mentoring of Fostering and EAHST Admin Assistants. Worked for Newcastle City Council since February 2003, in Foster a Future since October

20 Foster a Future Number of children and young people in foster placements and number of carers Children and young people In August 2014 there were 550children and young people looked after by the Local Authority. 327 placed with the in-house fostering service. Foster Carers As at May : 461 foster carers and 281 households. Summary of the procedures for carer recruitment, training, approval, support, and review Recruitment Newcastle City Council Fostering Service has a commitment to equal opportunities and welcomes diversity by valuing applications to foster from all sections of the community. We seek to provide a range of services for children and young people by recruiting foster and short break carers from a wide range of backgrounds who can meet the needs of children and young people requiring foster placements in the local community. The Fostering Service is committed to meeting the placement needs. Recruitment involves a range of campaigns and approaches including: Regular advertising in the local, regional, national broadcast, digital and print media. Publicity materials Support of and participation in events. Focused recruitment campaigns for particular types of needs. Advertising in specific publications. Word of mouth. The Fostering Service web pages Public relations campaigns Information Evenings 20

21 Statement of Purpose Application The Fostering Service aims to respond to enquiries quickly and efficiently. An information pack with application form is sent out to enquirers within two working days. Once returned an experienced social worker will carry out an in depth telephone assessment. If they appear suitable this is followed up with a home assessment whereupon they will be identified as suitable to be invited to pre-approval. If it is decided that the applicant is not suitable to become a foster carer the applicant must be notified in writing with reasons. This notification may be given whether or not all of this information has been obtained. Such a notification may not be given more than 10 working days after all the information has been obtained. The applicant has no right to make representations or to have their case reviewed under the Independent Review Mechanism. Where all the specified information has been obtained and notification has not been give within 10 working days that the applicant is not suitable, then the application must proceed to Assessment - Stage 2. Stage 1 of the assessment process is intended to provide the decision maker with basic information about the applicant to enable clearly unsuitable applicants to be sifted out. If it is decided to undertake stage 2 of the assessment, regulation 26(2) requires the fostering service to obtain the information about the applicant set out in Part 2 of Schedule 3: Regulation 26(3) provides that if, before assessment is complete, information comes to light indicating that the applicant is unlikely to be suitable to foster, a brief report can be compiled setting out details of the assessment done and the reasons for considering the applicant unsuitable. The applicant must be notified that the brief report is to be sent to panel, provided with a copy of the brief report and given 10 working days from the date of the notification to send their observations to the fostering service provider. The brief report should then be presented to the fostering panel for consideration, along with any observations submitted by the applicant and any other relevant information. The decision maker s determination about whether to terminate the assessment following a brief report must take account of the recommendations of the fostering panel. In general, applicants should be at least 21 year old, in good health and live within a 50 mile radius of Newcastle upon Tyne. We welcome people from any ethnic, cultural or religious background; who already have children; who don t have any children; who are single; who are part of a couple; who are lesbian or gay and who are employed or unemployed. Children and young people must be guaranteed they highest standards of safe care and the Fostering Service will undertake police and other statutory checks of applicants as well as interview referees. 21

22 Foster a Future Approval of foster carers After satisfactory completion of the Training Programme, the prospective foster carer is assessed by an assessing social worker from the Fostering Service. This assessment is a legal requirement. The assessing social workers use the most up to date British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering assessment format. This is the opportunity for the applicant to evidence their potential ability to care for a looked after child. The completed assessment is brought before the Fostering Panel. Only the Fostering Panel can recommend the approval and registration of a foster carer for the service to the Agency Decision Maker, and it is this person who will make the final decision. Foster carers and short break carers are approved by the Fostering Panel, which normally consists of the following people: Chair (Independent Member) Panel adviser (Fostering Service Manager) Legal advisor (Newcastle Law) Medical advisor Panel administrator Foster carer (for another agency) Elected Member of the City council Child care social worker A representative from Education Achievement team Specialist nurse, looked after children Adoption and Fostering Panel Member Newcastle City Council has a commitment to equal opportunities and all panel members are required to sign a declaration on appointment, which includes observing the data protection and confidentiality statutory and policy requirements. As well as recommending to the Agency Decision Maker the approval and registration of a Foster Carer, the Fostering Panel can also recommend further training and assessment prior to approval or further training and assessment after approval. The Fostering Panel can also recommend that a foster carer be removed from the register and their approval terminated. The recommendations of the Fostering Panel can be appealed in writing, in which case the Fostering Panel must give consideration to the reasons for the appeal. Following appeal the decision of the Agency Decision Maker is deemed to be final In addition Foster Carers can also request there case be reviewed by the Independent Review Mechanism. 22

23 Statement of Purpose Foster carer training Newcastle City Council takes a competency based approach to valuing the experience and enhancing the skills of foster carers throughout their fostering careers. The training co-ordinator is skilled and experienced social worker in the Fostering Team who develops a training programme for prospective foster carers and also for foster carers who are already approved. Kevin Hugman an experienced social worker leads the facilitating of the Pre- approval training assisted by other social workers from the Fostering Service, r. The Pre approval training is developed to give the applicant an understanding of the fostering role whilst allowing the service to assess the applicants response/interactions during the individual sessions covered during the 4 sessions. Training is closely linked to the Fostering Core Competences and the requirements of the Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Carers. Applicant s progress and understanding is reflected in work books, which help to provide evidence towards their competency based assessment by a social worker at the preapproval stage and at post approval by the supervising social worker. Where carers have a partner, both partners must cover all training. The preapproval training programme is a four day training event. All approved foster carers are encouraged to attend identified training events as part of their progression, or to undertake specific training activities identified by their supervising social workers or identified during their reviews. The training programme is fully supported by a range of audio visual materials and a comprehensive selection of reading materials. 23

24 Foster a Future Stage one: Pre approval (6 Months) Completion of the Skills to Foster Programme include: What do foster carers do? Identity and Life chances Working together Understanding children in Foster Care Safer Caring TransitionsReflection on how fostering will impact own family During the assessment the social worker will check your skills in the foster preparation workbook for evidence of understanding.and look at feedback presented by the training facilitator re their presentation during the Pre-approval training. Assessing worker will cover: Information on the aims and policies of Newcastle Fostering Service Safeguarding children Attachment and loss Child development Caring for traumatised and abused children Health and safety Legal background to looked after children Allegations against foster carers Complaints and representation procedure Record keeping After approval the supervising social worker draws up a personal development plan and begins by mapping the Fostering Network induction training plus carer s past qualifications (relevant to fostering) and maps them into the training standards. The worker will then consider with the carer the skills gap and set up an individual training programme. Stage 2: Induction training within (12 months of approval) *First Aid Neonatal abstinence drug dependent babies (mandatory for all baby carers) Equality and Diversity training Safeguarding Children Educational needs of looked after children Family Learning Record Keeping Anti-Bullying *Building Children s Relationships- Managing Difficult Behaviour Attachment Life Work Moving On Transitions Supporting young people into Independent Living * this symbol denotes mandatory training requirements 24

25 Statement of Purpose Healthy care training mandatory Introduction to mental health and emotional wellbeing Health Assessment Sexual Health Awareness Training Drugs Awareness Information on Smoking and Second hand Smoke Food Health and Eating Well Promoting the benefits of Physical Activity for Children and Young people Core post approval *Safer caring (update five yearly) *Managing behaviours (update three yearly) *First Aid (update three yearly) Stage 3: Review of foster carer development within two years of approval andspecialist training that may be identified in meeting the needs of child you have in care. Autism Epilepsy Building resilience Life story work Management behaviour programme Post traumatic stress disorder Attachment Educational update Substance misuse Working with children who have been sexually abused Working with traumatised children Communicating with disabled children Moving and Handling PACE training (Police and Criminal Evidence Act Training For Interviewing) Advance training Level 3 Diploma for the Children s Workforce (Health & Social Care). Carers should have as a minimum requirement completed the 12 month induction period and provided their completed workbook to demonstrate evidence of the Developmental Standards for Foster care. * this symbol denotes mandatory training requirements 25

26 Foster a Future Foster carer support The Fostering Service values the work of foster carers and recognises that theirs is a complex, demanding and challenging task. Giving consistent, dedicated and appropriate support to foster carers is, therefore, a high priority for the Fostering Service and this is achieved by: Ensuring every foster carer has their own dedicated supervising social worker who will visit them frequently to provide support, supervision, practical assistance and advice. Ensuring that in the absence of the supervising social worker the foster carer has access during office hours to the duty social worker and if necessary to the team manager or registered fostering manager. Ensuring foster carers have access by telephone to support from qualified and experienced foster carers outside of office hours and can access advice and assistance from qualified social workers from the Emergency Duty Team. Offering frequent training to foster carers throughout the year thereby helping to build on skills and providing opportunity to meet with other carers. Enabling foster carers to meet with the registered manager of the Fostering Unit to discuss any concerns Ensuring foster carers from the Black Ethnic Minority Communities have additional support as identified within the placement plan Informing foster carers how to access additional support and advice from Fostering Under Newcastle and Fostering Talk. 26