South Central Foster Care Association Forum 27 September 2011 The Slater Centre Thatcham RG19 6HN 11-2pm

Transcription

1 South Central Foster Care Association Forum 27 September 2011 The Slater Centre Thatcham RG19 6HN 11-2pm Attendees Mike Partridge, Hampshire Fostering Network ( Chair) Sharon Partridge, Hampshire Fostering Network (regional co-ordinator) Patsy Stone, foster care association Pauline Etheridge, foster care association Linda Taylor, foster care association Sarah Tarrant, foster care association Jade Barton, the Fostering Network Apologies Lesley Hill, West Sussex foster care association Reading Carer s Link Agenda 1. Welcome, introductions and apologies Mike opened the meeting. A short discussion about other local associations joining the forum took place. Mainly Oxfordshire and Surrey. Currently both associations do not feel that they have a big enough committee to send a representative to the meeting but it is something they would like to do in the future. 2. Previous minutes 1

2 Previous minutes were accepted by all attendees. Amendment made to the date of the next meeting. The next meeting will take place on 13 December and not the 6 December Discussion: Feedback on the Foster Carers Charter Hampshire Hampshire has had two meetings so far with the head of service to look at the Charter and to look at wording. Another meeting soon to draft the Charter. Fostering service very enthusiastic about producing one for Hampshire. have had initial discussions with Head of Service regarding creating a Charter but this has not currently progressed any further then the initial discussion. have not started on a charter yet but a new chair and vice chair will soon be in place for the association and they will begin work on it once the new committee members have settled into their roles. signed up to the Charter at their association launch in June. The association has found that it is a good tool to use in meetings when they are having difficulties. feel that the Charter still needs to be amended to include what the association would like from it. Discussion also on Delegated Authority and whether associations have progressed with this. There has not been much progression but in Hampshire the fostering service is very keen to get this rolled out. Mike stated that they had downloaded materials from the Fostering Network website: to use to work with their fostering service. 4. Update from the national project Foster Carers Charter feedback forms Jade spoke about the Foster Carers Charter and that we would like feedback on progress of local authorities signing up to the Charter or associations working with local authorities to create their own. Gave feedback forms to attendees Fundraising- Superheroes 10K run in Brighton The Super heroes 10K run is a fundraising event taking place next May in Brighton. The run is open to all foster families and their young people including a run for under eights. But the Fostering Network would also like foster care association members to take part. This is a fantastic fundraising event with half of all funds raised going directly to the association. Further information on the run can be found at: Foster care association survey Informed attendees about the foster care association projects annual survey and handed out forms to complete. The annual survey is used to help evaluate the project and also look at how we can improve our services. 2

3 National forum of foster care associations The National forum will take place on Friday 28 October 2011 at the Diana Princess of Wales s memorial fund. Mike and Sharon Partridge as chair and regional co-ordinator confirmed their attendance at the meeting. 5. Feedback from local associations Hampshire Committee is growing with eight members currently and another four possible members joining. Association completing a work plan at present Launching their Charter at their next Annual General Meeting and advertising this to foster carers and local councillors separately to encourage attendance. Hampshire used to have different coloured correspondence for different information and this worked well but communication has now moved online and has had technical difficulties with passwords leading to 400+ foster carers not receiving information. Hampshire is working on coloured letterhead similar to the idea that West Berkshire association use and a logo designed by children. The association is working on creating a letter for existing foster carers as well as new foster carers. New website will be live soon. The association has been helped by Cheshire s Eric Mole and this has the capacity to ensure all can have own addresses. Website address is : s charity has five foster carers on the committee plus three non foster carer members due to foster carers not wanting to take up roles used Council for Voluntary Services and also the association s website to recruit volunteers to the roles. fostering service now has a new Head of Service, Mark Evans. The fostering service in is now working to rule with social workers finishing dead on 5pm. Association wrote to Head of Service initially supporting social workers Social workers are now using taxis instead of own cards. The association has had three committee members resign recently. The association recently held a play zone trip for children who foster which was well attended. Association also held a trip to Butlins which was well attended but they did make a loss on tickets. stated that when trips are organised they decide how much they are going to subsidise the trip by and then request two cheques from those attending. One for the cost of the trip and another for the deposit. If they do not attend then the deposit 3

4 cheque is cashed so the association are not out of pocket or if they do they receive the cheque or the cash amount back. This works really well and foster carers understand why the association is doing this. Hampshire stated that this would be a good idea to apply when looking at meeting/conference facilities. The association has had their launch in June this year. The association arranged a day trip to Thames Valley which was good and which they will hopefully use for their Christmas party. The association has held two bi-monthly meetings with Head of service has found that respite carers do not like the term foster care association as they do not consider themselves to be foster carers. The forum members agreed that this is difficult in most areas including those that are family and friend carers. The association also want to encourage those foster carers that have left to join independent fostering agencies to get involved. has had quite a large cost involved in public liability insurance with 35 foster families this has cost 350. The association is trying to organise different activities every month for different groups of foster carers i.e. men, women, sons and daughters of foster carers but are finding that the committee is still very small with three members. association are also in the process of setting up a Face book page. Annual General Meetings had a meal before their AGM and this did not work very well. Might have been better to have the meal afterwards. has a BBQ with their AGM and holds this on a Saturday. Social workers are present to help with childcare. This is very well attended. 6. Discussion: Status and Authority Hampshire wanted to gain feed back on other association s experiences of being allowed to take part in media interviews. Hampshire had found that when asked recently by the Fostering Network to take part and requesting authorisation from the local authority they were told that needed to follow processes of staff and employees of the local authority. In the past Hampshire foster carers have been told that they can not do media interviews and that this is down to the fostering service provider. Both Pauline and Patsy do media work and local radio interviews. There is a trust element and part of this is having a good relationship with the fostering service. They are aware of you as a foster carer and the types of things you would say in an interview. has not specifically done any media work in relation to the association but has mentioned this as a good support network when talking about fostering. Have done quite a bit of media work around the time of the fee cuts. do local paper interviews but are still informed by the local authority what they can and can not say. 4

5 7. Increasing membership and recruitment for foster care associations Discussion on how foster care associations can get members more involved. The association tends to follow up with phone calls regarding meeting attendance. The association also offers lifts to get members to meetings Minutes from the meetings are only sent to those who have attended or sent their apologies. There can be a problem maintaining attendance. find they have opposite problem and have too many committee members attend meeting as their constitution states there should be only AOB Corporate parenting boards; how to get involved to be added to next meetings agenda 9. Next Meeting Next meeting Tuesday 13 December, 11-2pm, Thatcham 5