Fostering Devon Newsletter 18/08/2017
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Fostering and Adoption Redesign - Supervising Worker Allocation Changes
As you will be aware, under
the service redesign we will need to reallocate supervising social workers for
some foster carers. This is to ensure workers’ caseloads reflect the
geographical area that their team covers. Please find below the
guidelines we will be using when we decide how to allocate workers to
carers. Reallocation of workers will be a gradual process, and wherever
possible we will try and ensure handover meetings take place with the current
and newly allocated worker.
Supervising Social Workers
will continue to support, assist, guide and have supervisory responsibility if
the Foster Carers are in the process of retirement/resignation. However careful consideration on case to case
basis will be given to in the event of the following:-
• In the process of adopting or
applying for a Special Guardianship Order for a child in their care or in the
process of adoption
• Embarking or taking part in the
adoption transition phase to a forever family of a child in their care
• Whilst in the LADO process
• If practice issues have been raised
and an Action Plan has been agreed
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We need your help again please!
Do you have any additional capacity to foster?
We met at Foster Carer
Strategy Group on Monday 14th August and discussed the current
situation with our in-house sufficiency.
In June we had the highest
number of referrals ever recorded with 139, which is significant when we
compare it to the first three months of this year which averaged 78 per month.
This comes at a time when our
in-house availability is very low. Out of 438 approved places as of last Friday
we had 14 vacancies across Devon, with most of these being for the younger age
groups. This gives us a vacancy figure of 3.2% which is the lowest it has ever
been.
When we discussed this on
Monday, several of the carers present said that they have additional capacity,
and as such we felt it important to ask all of you if you have too.
We would be interested to
hear from any of you who could offer additional placements, long-term,
short-term, or respite for a limited period of time, and we would consider extensions,
exemptions, and changes to terms of approval to enable this to happen where it
is considered safe and appropriate to do so.
We had a fantastic response
from you all at Christmas when we put out a similar plea, and I wanted to say
thank you from the placements team .
If you would like to offer
any additional capacity or discuss this further, please contact me directly, and your supervising
social worker, at which point we will be happy to discuss your views.
I can be contacted via email
at lance.feldman@devon.gov.uk,
or on the placements team number which is 01392 382005 .
We look forward to hearing
from you.
Lance Feldman
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Devon Foster Carers' Association
Please click here for the latest information.
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Support Groups
Please click here for the Support Groups Calendar.
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Fostering Permanence - Moving on to Adoption
We currently have availability on the Fostering Permanency course both in Exeter and
Cullompton – dates and full details are below. If you are interested in this course
can you contact us to book a place as soon as possible as there is a chance we may need to cancel this course.
Learning Outcomes
- To share good practice that supports the transition from foster home to adoption.
- To introduce resources and strategies based on child development and adoption psychology knowledge to minimise the stress on all the key people involved in the move to adoption
Trainer – The Consultancy Adoption Support Agency
This course consists of 6 x 3 hour sessions which must all be
attended and will use a combination of teaching input and practical activities.
If you wish to attend please discuss with your Supervising Social Worker who
will put your name forward, your social worker should attend with
you unless they have previously completed the course.
Start/finish: 10.00 to 1.00
Exeter (2017) - Wednesday, September 27th, October 4th, 11th
& 18th , November 1st 8th - Newcourt Community Centre, Blakeslee
Drive, The Rydons, Exeter, EX2 7FN
Cullompton (2018) - Wednesday,
January 31st, February 7th, 14th, 28th, March, 7th, 14th -
Cullompton Community Centre, Pye Corner, Cullompton EX15 1JX
Training Manual
For the 2017 / 2018
Training Manual - Please Click Here
Save the Date! – Picnic/BBQ for Exeter and East Carers
We are holding a picnic/BBQ on Sunday
September 3rd 2017. All carers, their families and the children
they foster within the Exeter and East area are welcome to attend.
This will take place at Deepway Park, Exminster. The park has a nice big
green area for sitting to eat, playing football and rounders or throwing a
frisbee! There is a tennis court and a Basketball court. There is also a play
park for both little ones and bigger children and a skateboard park! We
have permission to use disposable BBQ’s, and the park’s toilet facilities are
also available to us. Please arrive for around 3pm, with idea of having
the BBQs up and running for around 5pm. Food will be provided
(first-come, first-served!).
If you are planning to attend
please can you let Sarah Denton know (sarah_dentonuk@yahoo.co.uk or
07707998518) as soon as possible, so we have an idea of numbers.
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Cinema Tickets – Young People in Care Aged 16 to 18 in
the Exeter and East Devon Area
The fostering service has fifty cinema tickets to give away
to young people in care aged 16 to 18 in the Exeter and East Devon area. These will be issued as e-vouchers (by email), valid for 12 months at any
non-London Vue Cinema. They are for 2-D films only. Tickets will be
available on a first-come first-serve basis. To request a ticket please
follow the following instructions;
1. Send an email with the subject line CINEMA, this
must include (1) Name of young person in care (2) Their DOB (3) Name of foster
carer (4) Name of foster carers’ worker (4) Address of placement. Email
to fosteringassessmentsadministration-mailbox@devon.gov.uk.
2. Only the carer providing the main placement for
the young person can apply. If the young person is on respite it should
still be the main carer applying please (to avoid duplication).
3. The first fifty applications received that
follow these instructions will receive a reply with an e-ticket attached for
each of the eligible young person in their care. If you do not receive a
reply then unfortunately you have not been successful – our apologies but
replies to all emails cannot be guaranteed due to the volume of emails likely
to be received.
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Fostering
Devon Key Contacts
Strategy
Group Members
Peer
Guides
Devon Duty
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