 A very warm welcome to the October edition of Fostering News. It’s Sons and Daughters Appreciation month and we have included important information below, explaining how this year's certificates and gift vouchers will be distributed. There is also an update from the Fostering Family Support team regarding their new virtual support workshops that will be available for all of our carers. Happy reading!
This month, we want to say a massive thank you to all the birth children of our foster carers for sharing their parents, their homes and their lives with the looked after young people of Nottinghamshire.
We are so disappointed that we didn’t get to have our usual day trip with the sons and daughters back in August due to Coronavirus restrictions, but we are hoping that they will still feel our appreciation as we send out certificates to them later this month.
We usually send a Love2Shop voucher with a physical certificate through the post to children under the age of 18, however we are not currently able to access our offices, printers and postal services in the normal way. So to all our foster carers with birth children under the age of 18, please keep an eye out for an email during half term with an e-certificate attachment. This year, the £10 appreciation gift will be paid directly to carers alongside their usual weekly payment with the expectation that you will pass it on to your children on our behalf. Next year we are hopeful that we’ll be able to return to our usual way of issuing certificates and gift vouchers but this year it will understandably have to be a little different.
Please check out The Fostering Network’s website for more information on the Sons and Daughters campaign and ways that you can get involved at home.
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A message from Melissa Blockley, DDP Practitioner and Supervising Social Worker:
“We continue to find ourselves in strange and uncertain times and I hope everyone is ok. The therapeutic model we are developing within our fostering service recognises the importance of establishing safe and trusting relationships. This is essential in terms of our own, and that of our young peoples ‘felt’ experiences of safety. With that in mind, our team (The Fostering Family Support Team) are planning and booking virtual workshops for all of our foster carers to access during the next 12 months and beyond. They are currently set up as 1 hour long sessions, that cover a range of topics over 6 consecutive weeks.
"The aim is to provide an opportunity for us to connect and share experiences in a confidential and supportive environment, and to explore some of the key theories and strategies involved in developing a trauma informed approach. The key theories that we will explore will include; attachment, developmental trauma, and the impact of early adverse life experiences on all aspects of children and young people’s development. We will consider the most up to date and influential therapeutic theories and strategies, within the context of developing a trauma informed approach. These will include Dr Dan Hughes DDP/P.A.C.E., Dr Stephen Porges Polyvagal theory and consideration of Sensory Processing difficulties, for example. We have been open to feedback from those who have already attended the workshops, and will continue to adapt and change them to meet the needs of our fostering community.
"I would like to encourage you to speak to your Supervising Social Workers about booking on to these workshops as they should offer a great opportunity to connect with other carers, and find support from us as a team as we all continue to work collectively to support one another during these difficult times. Full details of the workshops will be provided to all of the Fostering Teams shortly.
- Melissa"
Please be aware that everyone on our vacancy list may be contacted in an emergency if we are needing an emergency placement. We will try to ensure that this does not happen all the time but there may be occasions where you will be contacted out of office hours when we are desperately trying to place children. Thank you for your understanding.
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“I’m AdvoCat and I’m here to help you get your voice heard.”
Coram have an excellent advocacy scheme available, specifically for young people with a social worker or in care, to support them to have their voices and views heard. Please share this website with your young people so that they are aware of it and can access it should they feel they need to. There is a fantastic animated video that clearly explains what an advocate is and further information about how the scheme works, which can be found on the link below.
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We are looking to grow our team of awesome foster carers who do advocacy work for the fostering service. Formerly known as “buddies”, our Champions are key to the work we do in the recruitment team.
Our Champions support us by joining us at recruitment or training events and also by speaking to potential foster carers (usually before they decide to progress to an assessment) about the realities of fostering for Nottinghamshire County Council. All of this contact has been completed virtually since lockdown began and our Champions have taken this in their stride. We think they are brilliant as they ‘keep it real’ without scaring people off and they can help make our jobs easier by answering some of the questions that only a foster carer would know the answer to! Sessional payments are made for this time given but it could also be good for your own personal growth too.
If you think you might want to be involved in the scheme, we would love to hear from you. Have a chat with your Supervising Social Worker first and then let us know by emailing us at fostering@nottscc.gov.uk.
Place to Call Home is a new regional project within the East Midlands aiming to recruit foster carers and supported lodgings providers for unaccompanied asylum seeking children.
The project is looking for carers to provide safety and security to these vulnerable young people, who’ve often experienced neither.
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There are still spaces available for the following training courses:
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Preparing Looked After Children for Independence
- Zoom Webinar - 13 January 2021
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Helping Children Who Self Harm
- Webinar - 9 February 2021
Please log onto “My Learning My Career” to book your space now!
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