Social Work News - October to December 2015

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October ~ December 2015 issue Council spotlight

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We find out what it is like to work for Hillingdon Council’s children in care team.

The spotlight on your profession

Mindfulness

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Joe Godden, Professional Officer at BASW, shares some ‘mindful’ thoughts to reduce stress.

A day in the life of...

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Hear about the daily rewards and challenges of an adult social worker in a complex assessment team.

In this issue

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News bites Have a glance at some of the key news stories and announcements directly related to the social work profession, including the new standards unveiled for senior social workers.

Council spotlight Maya Unnikrishnan, a team manager at Hillingdon Council’s children in care team, talks about working for the local authority and focusing resources where they are needed the most.

Stor y book assessment tool Social worker and author Mark Hatter explains why he has written Tales of Bushey Lane; a children’s book to help practitioners assess family circumstances.

Integrating services We explore how the Kingston Coordinated Care Programme aims to deliver a sustainable, transformed service that provides integrated care for everyone, without additional funding.

Mindfulness in practice Describing the importance of needing to pause and “empty our minds to think more clearly”, BASW’s Professional Officer, Joe Godden, shares some mindful thoughts with us.

Sanctuary

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ow far can the government go in cutting public spending?

And, ultimately, how big a caseload does a practitioner have to have with lack of admin support before society says “it’s not fair that professionals are being geared up to fail?”

I look at what is happening in the NHS and it worries me a great deal. I’m sure that a few months ago, before the election, this was a protected budget area. As it stands today, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a local trust to us and one of the UK’s biggest, has been placed in special measures after inspectors deemed it ‘inadequate’. One particular area highlighted was the shortage of staffing, but, at the same time, the trust is one of many in England that has been told to cap its agency spend on doctors and nurses and become a seven days a week service.

The report, however, did rate the quality of care from existing staff as ‘outstanding’. This is great to hear, but when there is more asked of these professionals and less support given, surely at some point it will impact the quality of care.

Zoë Betts

It concerns me that if the government is demanding more work and giving less money to a protected service, what are they going to do in social care? The Prime Minister has recently announced children in care as a “standout area” for reform to improve services – I can only hope the investment needed for this to happen is considered in the government’s impending spending review.

The ideas of frontline practitioners as well as service users should also have a big role to play in shaping reform. Earlier this month, I met with Luke Rodgers, a care leaver who has been busy supporting the development of children’s services through his organisation (featured on page 18). I would like to say a huge congratulations to him on winning the Entrepreneur of Excellence Award at the National Diversity Awards last week – we need to listen to more people like him, who bring an invaluable perspective to the way services can be improved for those in the care system.

James Rook Managing Director

Visit us sanctuarysocialcare.com Follow us @SanctuarySW Like us facebook.com/sanctuarypersonnelltd See us instagram.com/sanctuarysocialcare

Zoë Betts, Adult Social Worker and owner of iamsocialwork, dedicates her column to understanding what our boundaries are, and how knowing what we ‘want’ is crucial to how we function.

New FGM measures Bal Howard, specialist trainer to those working with victims of

Social care blog

Have you visited the Sanctuary Social Care blog yet?

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), welcomes the recent changes in legislation and the introduction of FGM Protection Orders.

A care leaver’s view on services Care leaver and founder of Foster Focus, Luke Rodgers, talks

It is a great way to keep updated on policy changes, best practice and cross-departmental announcements with an equal balance of adult and children’s social work news. Check out the latest blogs:

about the importance of listening to young people to help shape

Minister outlines plans to tackle abuse and exploitation

children’s services.

We report on the government’s renewed fight on child sexual exploitation.

A day in the life of...

Why the cap doesn’t fit...

...an adult social worker in a complex assessment team. With the

We examine why the UK is well-placed to find a dementia cure and the role social workers play in helping tackle the condition.

We dig deeper into the postponement of the cap on care costs.

Care Act 2014 now in place, find out more about the challenges

How psychology benefits the role of social worker

and rewards of safeguarding individuals’ welfare.

A review of clinical psychologists working with social workers in multi-disciplinary teams.

Sanctuary Social Work News ~ 02

Dementia cure set for 2025

Sanctuary Social Work News ~ 03

News bites

News bites

Local authorities confident in delivering Care Act

Call to reserve

20,000

apprenticeships for care leavers

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n July’s budget announcement, Chancellor George Osborne pledged three million new apprenticeships would be created by 2020.

Barnardo’s wants to see 20,000 of these set aside for 16 -18 year olds exiting care to redress some of the inequalities they face.

The call follows a report from youth coalition Access All Areas, which demonstrates more support for care leavers is needed. The report, drawing on the views of 50 young people, cites providing work experience in schools and more apprenticeship opportunities as key priorities for the government. It also emphasises overwhelming support for the Children’s Commissioner for England’s recommendations to extend the leaving care age to 25.

New standards unveiled for senior social workers

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Isabelle Trowler

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n the first local authority stocktake since the Care Act 2014 came into force, most councils report feeling confident in their ability to deliver the changes expected of them in 2015/16.

hief Social Worker for Children and Families, Isabelle Trowler, reveals plans for a set of new standards for senior social work supervisors and leaders.

In what the Department for Education (DfE) calls ‘a radical shift toward a practice-focussed system’, knowledge and skills statements will be set out in one place. These will detail what supervisors and practice leaders need to know to deliver top quality, frontline social work.

A rigorous assessment process is proposed, combining theory exams, extensive practice observation and direct feedback from children and families.

Consultation on the proposals ended on 1 September. Within the next few months, the DfE is expected to reveal whether the standards are compulsory, which social workers they apply to, and when the roll-out process will start.

...takes on raf t of The College of Social Work functions

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ollowing a successful bidding process, The College of Social Work’s (TCSW) Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) will transfer over to The British Association of Social Workers (BASW).

The package of resources will move over to BASW by the end of September. This not only includes the PCF, but many of the College’s publications, including a report on the role of social workers in adult mental health services, and the framework used to endorse post-qualifying training programmes.

BASW Chair, Guy Shennan, said:

“We applaud the College for the work it has done in developing the Professional Capabilities Framework... we believe it is essential that they remain safeguarded by the profession.”

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See more on P17.

Completed by 152 councils, with 99% of submissions signed off by a Director of Adult Social Services, the survey provides a strong insight into the position of the sector.

Law Commission consults on DoLS reforms

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ince a Supreme Court judgment broadened the definition of ‘deprivation of liberty’, local authorities have found it difficult to keep on top of the reported tenfold rise in deprivation of liberty cases.

In a consultation, which closes on 2 November 2015, the Law Commission is considering the existing Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), and what a replacement scheme might look like.

The aim is to achieve better, more appropriate outcomes for those being cared for whilst reducing the burden on local authorities and the NHS. Crucially, for social workers, the Law Commission will consider the safeguards required for those being cared for at home and in other family and domestic settings.

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89% of respondents revealed they are on track with their plans to deliver the necessary changes from the Care Act in 2015/16, with just 11% stating they are slightly behind.

97% felt their board has robust arrangements in place to ensure proportionate responses to safeguarding concerns, in line with ‘Making Safeguarding Personal’.

Council spotlight

Council spotlight

Cowley Lock

Council spotlight

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We explore what it is like to work for Hillingdon Council’s children in care team.

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Maya Unnikrishnan, Team Manager

illingdon is London’s second largest borough, based to the west of the city. It is diverse in area as well as population, with farms and countryside in the north and a more urban south, with Heathrow airport in its borders. Heathrow offers its own unique set of issues for social workers at the local authority, with unaccompanied children coming into the care of the council, some of which are at risk of trafficking and abuse.

We speak with Maya Unnikrishnan, Team Manager with 18 years’ social work experience, to find out more.

What attracted you to work for Hillingdon?

I wanted to work in a borough near to home and someone who had previously worked for the council recommended it to me. When I came for my interview and was offered the job, I was impressed by how accommodating and efficient they were. It immediately sold something positive to me about working for Hillingdon. It was also clear that the council prides itself in putting children first and focusing resources where they’re needed the most. And the staff car parks are a bonus!

What support is there within the team?

I like the child-focused approach. Senior management is excellent and gives you the

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support you need to put children’s needs first.

They give you a clear understanding through communication and transparency. What happens to the child and their future is important to everyone. People are welcoming and acknowledge a job well done.

There is an extremely positive work attitude here and everyone pulls together to deliver our service. Colleagues are always interested in hearing your views and how we can bring about new ways of working.

How do you manage caseloads at Hillingdon?

Our caseloads are very manageable and the council is committed to keeping them at London levels. Hillingdon has achieved and maintained an average of 16 caseloads per qualified social worker, which is below the average number suggested.

Our system of working in small teams with a range of workers of varying abilities gives us protected time each week to discuss issues, share best practice and support each other.

The administrative help is an extremely useful resource, meaning social workers can be as effective as possible.

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to form relationships that benefit them straight away as well as later on, once they are working in their teams.

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In addition, they meet with the director, assistant directors and principal social worker to become familiar with the structure, vision, practices and priorities of the directorate.

There are plenty of ongoing opportunities for professional development. I have recently been promoted and am looking forward to receiving management training.

Apply today Visit hillingdon.gov.uk/jobs for current vacancies.

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Competitive salary Retention allowance for hard-to-fill frontline roles. £1,000 in first salary payment and £1,000 on completion of probationary period Relocation scheme for hard-to-fill roles with financial support up to £8,000 28-36 days annual leave, plus bank holidays Flexible working including core hours and lieu time schemes, mobile and home working access Career support and training including reimbursement of professional fees Local Government Pension Scheme based on career-average contributions Free staff car parking, four out of five days at the Civic Centre Wellness programme including occupational sick pay scheme, access to qualified medical advice, cycle scheme and building resilience sessions Employee assistance programme and recognition scheme Childcare vouchers scheme

Benefits of living and working in Hillingdon: Ruislip Lido

Uxbridge Underground Station

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Is there opportunity for professional development?

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There are good training opportunities. The induction programme is brilliant and provides an overview of the borough to ensure that new starters feel connected with the wider organisation. They also get to meet others from across the directorate. This enables them

Sanctuary Social Work News ~ 06

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What can you expect if you join the team?

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14 miles west of Central London with excellent transport links Second largest borough in London with Heathrow Airport in its boundaries More than 200 top-quality parks and green spaces - the highest in the UK for the third year running First class sports and leisure facilities, with discounts for employees, and 17 recently refurbished and rebuilt libraries

New practice tools

Advertisement

The story behind Mark Hatter Social worker and author Mark Hatter explains why he has written a children’s book to help practitioners assess family circumstances.

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s a 16-year-old, I decided to follow my father into the police force and became a police cadet. Prior to leaving home for the first time, I was filled with anxiety as to what the next two years would bring and asked my father for advice. He told me “face your fears head on and always do the hard stuff first”. Seven years later I found myself as a newly qualified social worker sat in an alien environment waiting to go out on my first solo home visit to see a family; reliving those feelings I had as a 16-year-old. I felt ill-prepared, de-skilled and had no idea how I would talk to the children and find out about their experiences of living at home.

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Move on 20 years and I have had the privilege of working with, and managing, some of the most dedicated and caring social workers one could find, but it remained evident that far too frequently they were not spending enough time with children, who were also not the focus of the assessment process. Conversations with social workers suggested they continued to receive little training in how to communicate with children and, consequently, were frequently anxious when faced with having to talk to children they had not met before; in my mind a serious safeguarding concern that needed to be systematically addressed.

After all, we are human first and social workers second and, as with all humans, we will often avoid what makes us anxious and what takes us out of our comfort zone.

Two years ago I published a book called Tales of Bushey Lane and accompanying activity packs to address the above. As demand for the book and activity packs increased, I decided to further learning opportunities by developing a specialist course programme with Sanctuary Training.

‘Effective Communication with Children’ is now a CPD accredited course which I run as a one-day workshop. This helps participants to improve their communication and engagement skills with children and their families, meet the requirements of Working Together to Safeguard Children, make the best use of reflective supervision, and evidence a child’s journey. All those who take part in the course receive a free copy of Tales of Bushey Lane.

Author profile

UPCOMING COURSES Mark Hatter is an independent social worker, author and training consultant. His work includes the development and delivery of social work led CPD accredited training courses in children’s services to local authorities, charities, private companies and locum practitioners.

Sanctuary Training offers a wide range of specialist social work courses across the country. Our current course programme includes:

Adolescent Mental Health One day course 7 October, London

AMHP Refresher Training Three day course 14 -16 October, London

BIA Refresher One day course 23 October, Birmingham

Tales of Bushey Lane

Honour Based Violence with Female Genitalia Mutilation and Forced Marriage One day course 28 October, London

Frontline Child Protection Assessment Skills Two day course 5 - 6 November, Birmingham

Tales of Bushey Lane, published in 2012, is the first book of its kind to have been specifically written and illustrated to help frontline social workers effectively communicate with children when undertaking assessments of families.

Endor sed

by Pro fessor Eileen Munro as an effec t ive comm unicat ion tool.

CONTACT US To book your place on one of these courses, visit sanctuarytraining.com.

We can also provide bespoke training workshops tailored specifically for your team or organisation. Contact us for more information.

Tel: 0333 7000 028 | Email: info@sanctuarytraining.com | Web: sanctuarytraining.com

Integrating services

Integrating services After two years of selected areas leading the way in delivering better joined up care, more and more agencies across the country are following suit with their own unique initiatives.

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Naz Jivani

Cathy Roberts

n November 2013, Norman Lamb, Care and Support Minister for the former coalition government, announced details of fourteen ‘integrated care pioneers’ to bring health and care services closer together. With support from national partners, the aim was to provide better support at home and earlier treatment in the community to prevent people needing emergency care in hospital and care homes.

The success of these initiatives, which were implemented in areas selected from nearly 100 bidding authorities by an expert panel, led to the announcement of a further wave of eleven integrated care pioneers earlier this year.

So how are other authorities keeping up?

Along with reported challenges and learning from the first year of the programme published

Personal development

to help other areas develop innovative ways of joining services, some agencies have been busy developing their own programmes – without national support.

Kingston Council and Kingston Clinical Commissioning Group (KCCG) have recently launched the Kingston Coordinated Care Programme.

Mindfulness Some ‘mindful’ thoughts from Joe Godden, Professional Officer at BASW.

KCCG, which was also one of the first clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to combine the role of accountable officer for the CCG with the statutory director of adult social services for the council, has developed the programme with Kingston Council based on a large-scale consultation called ‘The Voice of the Customer’. Over 200 individual responses were collated and are being used to shape the new, merged care plan, designed to provide a clearer route to support, focus on prevention and proactive care and ensure people remain independent for longer.

Councillor Cathy Roberts, Cabinet Member with responsibility for adult social care and health at Kingston Council, said: “A £1.1 billion shortfall for health and social care services for councils in England has been identified in the recent Association of Directors Adult Social Services report. This makes concerning reading, but this is the reality of the situation we are currently in. Protecting our funding by using it wisely is key to the future success of our care services.

“The work of the Kingston Coordinated Care Programme will help us deliver a truly sustainable, transformed service that provides integrated care for everyone, without additional funding.

“As a council, we champion the growth and development of our borough - we know that this is the only way the borough will thrive.”

Working in partnership, Naz Jivani, GP Chair of the KCCG, echoed Ms Roberts’ outlook. He said: “We know that more people will be living in Kingston in the coming years, and we need to plan ahead and prepare our services to manage this growth.

“Keeping all those balls in the air and worrying about not dropping any”

“We want Kingston residents to have access to seamless health and social care, and working closely with the council, we are confident that this is achievable within the Kingston Coordinated Care Programme.”

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Personal development

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ocial workers, social work managers and others who work in the sector can experience a lot of stress.

This comes from several sources; the inherent nature of the work, working with people experiencing stress in their lives, and workload. Maintaining the systems that are meant to support us in our work, whilst keeping all those balls in the air and worrying about not dropping any, can sometimes feel like more of a problem than a solution.

So what can we do about ‘stress’?

“We need to pause and empty our minds”

Well some of the causes are external and collectively we need to challenge such factors as unsafe workloads, government policies and poor IT systems that may be hindering not helping. We can do that much better by speaking collectively and, where necessary, turning to personalised support to deal with specific problems in the workplace.

However, we will always be facing stressful situations and no amount of collective

Personal development

Angela Douglas, a social worker who works within adult mental health services, explains how she uses mindfulness techniques.

As a social worker, I find mindfulness techniques effective to help me manage everyday stressors and as a means of preventing myself from becoming judgemental towards others.

What is mindfulness?

In a few hundred words I cannot do it justice.

It is a practice that has developed over thousands of years, principally from the Buddhist tradition of meditation. However, there are roots of mindfulness in many of the great philosophical and religious traditions.

Reflective practice has elements of mindfulness in it. It teaches us to reflect slowly away from the heat of the moment about our practice. It is very hard to think clearly if our mind is overstimulated. We need to pause and ‘empty our minds’ in order to think more clearly. Evidence suggests that not only can we think more clearly when we practice mindfulness, but we will be less stressed, and making decisions when we are stressed isn’t a good idea.

Which techniques to apply?

There are many techniques to help us practice mindfulness so we need to discover what works for us. Some of us find it easy to practice breathing techniques throughout the day, focusing on the present moment to stop the constant chatter in our heads. Others find this better to do in a group. You can also practice mindful walking, washing up or cleaning your teeth. If we look at our behaviour, we usually discover an instinctive knowledge about these things. We know that going for a walk can clear our mind.

Mindfulness taps into that knowledge and makes it a bit more structured. As one becomes more mindful you discover that it can help not just with stress, but with social relationships, how we order our lives and what we think is important.

There are many sources of information about mindfulness, just be mindful that the quality varies. Beware of quick fixes. I can personally say that being more mindful has helped me in my work and personal life. I like the Thich Naht Hanh approach as it avoids the trap of seeing mindfulness as an as escape from the world

Sanctuary Social Work News ~ 12

Mindfulness in practice

action will be sufficient in helping us deal with stress. That is where we need to think about how we manage our own lives. As social workers we can be excellent at supporting others, but often forget about ourselves and our own lives. Some social workers even help service users apply mindfulness to manage their lives, but fail to apply it to their own.

On a daily basis, I come across people who have committed serious criminal acts against others or struggle to take responsibility for themselves. We also work with people who struggle with recovery as this will have a negative impact on their higher rates of welfare benefits.

“Stop the constant chatter in our heads” and is used by the Thich Naht Hanh community to work with conflict, poverty and injustice. If you pursue mindfulness you will need to find your own journey.

Author profile Joe Godden is a Professional Officer at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) and has co-ordinated taster day sessions on mindfulness for its members.

Exercises For some daily exercises to help you take a mindful approach, visit sanctuarysocialcare.com/blog.

Sanctuary Social Work News ~ 13

Each of these situations evoke natural human emotions from myself; being a qualified social worker does not stop me feeling angry, upset, agitated or frustrated, amongst other emotions, but I am constantly aware that I must remain open-minded and professional.

During contact with service users, I use mindfulness breath awareness techniques to focus on my professional role and control my personal emotions. It’s a subtle technique that isn’t questioned by others as they expect you to breathe!

If I am dealing with something that is highly emotive, I will use the technique of ‘conscious observation’. I focus on the feeling of my pen, which again controls my personal and/or negative emotions and maintains my professional standards as I can remind myself why I am there and which task requires completion.

Finally the body scan technique is my regular tool to clear my body and mind from a difficult day if I am struggling to sleep – it really works.

As social workers, we are often taught therapies to meet the needs of our service users, but we can sometimes forget we are human too. There are ways to help us get through each day and mindfulness is certainly something I have used frequently.

Featured columnist

Ef fecting change

By Zoë Betts, Adult Social Worker & owner of iamsocialwork.

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he last few months have been busy! I had two role changes, took the iamsocialwork events to four different cities in the UK across three months and met so many brilliant students and qualified social workers. It brought home the struggles they continue to face and made me wonder what changes are ‘we’ making to ensure the same issues are not faced by them as were faced by me four years ago. And are still faced by me today.

So why do we want to change anything?

And for whose greater good are we doing this; our own or our service users? Serenity tells me I am one of those people who lack the ‘wisdom to know the difference’. Each time the frustrations occur we can choose to change roles or consider a progression to a role where we can be more influential, but the risk is that frustrations could increase tenfold. So accept the daily struggle? Hmm, that’s tough. However, if ruin really is the road to transformation, maybe this element of acceptance is necessary to support an ultimately better outcome. We can hope.

I often struggle with my own limitations to effect change in this job. I keep little in my personal life, which I’m not 100% happy with.

It’s a choice I’ve invested in and it pays off.

If it doesn’t work, I can make changes easily enough and that’s the beauty of how we live. But it means when I’m placed in work situations, where effecting change is one of the most challenging things to achieve in the public sector, the daily frustrations I face mean my motivations to do this job effectively a) take a bashing b) impact on how well I’d like to do it and c) make me question if the delivery is compromised.

Oh and d) I moan. I know there is a crowd that gathers on social media who mirror this frustration. So what can we all do to stop this running us into the ground?

Here’s the problem; it is likely that those people who implement grandiose ideas and transformations across this profession (the effectiveness of which, or to whose benefit is often very little known) were social workers one day. Did they forget that frontline empathy, struggle and concern or did the vision simply change? Maybe one day that will be me, maybe my progression will take me in that frightening direction. But by that stage of my career, will it be too late? By then, will I have newfound detachment and be guided by arguably stronger factors; those of finance and policy and heads higher than mine? We’re missing a trick if that’s the case – the fresh eyes, the real change makers. They are entering this profession and recognising instantly what needs changing; they are the people to be listened to. I meet them and they are really good, but I see their ceiling too. Let’s catch these people now

Accept it It is often not my, or most frontline workers’ job role to instigate organisational change.

Change it

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Featured columnist

before they get influenced. These days I believe impacting change on bigger, global scales will be easier to achieve than at local levels. And I’ve never thought like that. So yes for me, it’s time to make some changes.

Leave it Leave the career that I’ve worked hard to achieve? No – leave the mentality behind.

Seek other ways to build a wider message.

Network; create a group, join Twitter, a conference or an iamsocialwork event. Being part of something bigger enables motivation and with that comes support, so struggles like these don’t surface.

Lastly: Self excavate The process of understanding what your boundaries are, what you can give and your expectations, but more importantly what you want is crucial to how you function. If you look and think, you can understand – and that’s where the clarity is. No matter our levels of spontaneity or impulsivity, we work better if we’re taught the reasons for change.

We are humans and effectively creatures of habit. Powers that be would do good to remember that; as would I.

Events The next iamsocialwork event will be taking place on 3 November in Birmingham. If you are a social worker, newly qualified or a student looking to book or would like updates on future events, visit iamsocialwork.co.uk, follow @iamsocialwork or email iamsocialwork@hotmail.co.uk.

Author profile Zoë runs iamsocialwork which supports students and qualified social workers to network with one another and learn from academics via a variety of national events and forums. She is a judge for the Social Worker of the Year Awards and works full-time as a social worker, addressing process improvements as part of an integrated hospital discharge team in London.

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New legislation

New

FGM measures

Care leavers special feature

"There have been no convictions for FGM in the UK since it was first criminalised in 1985 or when the FGM Act 2003 later came into place. The recent changes in legislation were much needed and have been highlighted in the Serious Crime Act 2015.

To name just a few important sections in this Act – firstly, was the introduction of Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPOs). I am advised by a lawyer that these will work in exactly the same way as Forced Marriage Protection Orders (FMPOs). There have been over 800 FMPOs taken out since its introduction in November 2008, therefore, I see it as an excellent tool to protect young girls being circumcised/ cut in the UK or overseas. Secondly, the Act brings in that it is an offence to fail to protect girls at risk of genital mutilation.

Basically, those who have parental responsibility will be liable to prosecution should the child undergo FGM. There is a need for professionals who are involved with the families to inform the parents that they will be prosecuted and go to prison if their child is cut. Thirdly, a person who works in a regulated profession (e.g. social worker, healthcare professional or teacher) has a duty to notify police if a child has had FGM recently, is at risk of having it carried out imminently or if it was done historically.

New measures have been introduced which could help social workers better tackle female genital mutilation (FGM).

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he creation of Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders (FGMPO) means practitioners have access to more powers to support young FGM victims, or even help prevent it.

FGM is a criminal offence in the UK under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. This has now been extended by the Serious Crime Act 2015, making provision for the new FGMPO civil law measure, which can be made by a court to protect a girl who has either been a victim of, or is at risk of, FGM.

Bal Howard, specialist trainer to professionals working with victims of FGM, has welcomed the new legislation:

With this in mind, police and social care will see more referrals from health and education providers. A further increase in referrals is highly likely when mandatory reporting for GPs comes into effect from October 2015."

FGM training If you would like to improve your awareness of FGM along with skills to recognise and assess victims, take a look at Sanctuary Training’s Honour Based Violence (HBV) course. Delivered by Bal Howard, the next course is on 28 October in London.

re For mo n or io t informa k, visit to boo .com training y r a u t c san

Extending support to care leavers Care leavers in England are leaning on the government to assist them with housing, training and employment beyond the current age of 21.

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indings from the youth coalition Access All Areas, shows care leavers are resoundingly in favour of extending the care leaving age to 25, whether or not they are in education or training. What’s more, the call has come just a matter of weeks after Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, recommended extending the age to 25.

In a National Audit Office review, a third of the 10,000 young people in England who leave care each year do so before the age of 18. 40% of 19-year-old care leavers are not in education, training or employment.

Furthermore, a survey by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner highlighted that one in three recipients felt they had left care before they were ready to live independently.

This prompted the Children’s Commissioner for England’s latest call to raise the care leaving age. In a poignant statement, Anne Longfield said: “When a child reaches 18, a parent would not wave goodbye to them for good and close the door to them, so we shouldn’t do so for children in care, who more than any of us, need a positive springboard for the future.”

However, with the swift and largely unexpected closure of Kids Company and

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the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), it’s somewhat of a precarious time. After all, BAAF has been speaking out on behalf of looked after children for over 30 years – and has been fervently pushing for more support for care leavers.

It’s since been announced that children’s charity Coram will continue BAAF’s research, policy, professional advice and development work housed under the CoramBAAF Adoption & Fostering Academy. It is not yet apparent whether the new organisation will continue with the same level of campaign activity on behalf of looked after and adopted children and young people.

However, what is clear is that more needs to be done to provide those exiting care with a level of support on par with their peers.

Luke Rodgers, a care leaver and founder of Foster Focus, talks candidly about his own experiences and the challenges young people face on pages 18 to 21 of this issue.

National Care Leavers’ Week ...runs from 22 – 30 October this year. The annual Care Leavers’ Foundation campaign aims to focus the minds of politicians on the support required for vulnerable individuals leaving care. Find out more by visiting thecareleaversfoundation.org or follow #NCLW

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Care leavers special feature

Care leavers special feature

An inside perspective to

I was nervous, speaking seemed to come naturally to me. I remember looking around the room at points and seeing tears in the carers’ eyes.

redesigning care

Left: Luke Rodgers with his foster parents.

Below: Luke with Children and Families Minister, Edward Timpson MP

I remember being applauded half way through my 45 minute speech; it almost overwhelmed me to tears. Once I had finished my presentation, the CEO came up to me in tears, gave me his card and said: “if you ever need anyone to call and tell them about your achievements, you call me”.

We speak to care leaver Luke Rodgers about the importance of listening to young people to help shape children’s services.

L

uke Rodgers is a multi-awardwinning social entrepreneur, founder of Foster Focus and a care leaver. He has created a career developing youth participation strategies to help children’s services engage with the young people they work with for improved outcomes.

Tell us about your background...

I was brought up in care from the age of 10, after coming from a home where I experienced and witnessed domestic violence. I was moved in-between parents after my mother and father divorced when I was four years old. At the time I entered care, I had attended 13 primary schools and for over five years I moved between foster homes and children’s centres trying to find a stable home. When this wasn't achievable, I was placed into B&B accommodation at the age of 15 to live independently. I was in the middle of my GCSEs at the time.

Although I had been unfortunate in my youth, I believed that independence was my chance to make a life for myself. I was only 15 but I had grown up quickly and made a conscious choice on that day to leave my old life behind.

From this, the National Fostering Agency (NFA) developed a role within their organisation for the purpose of my employment. I was named ‘Young People’s Ambassador’ and for the next two years of my career I worked for the NFA, supporting the organisation to be more child-focused.

I would often reflect on my experiences and what I would have done differently had I been given a second chance. I thought about the individuals who had worked with me and the impact that had. I thought about what services could have done differently to support me and the other young people I had met along the way. From this energy and thought process I began naturally moving towards a career in children’s services.

How did you first become involved in helping children’s organisations and how has this led to Foster Focus?

I was given the opportunity to be involved in a consultation day for children in care and foster carers when I was 19 years old. I was very cynical about consultation events as I found they had little or no effect and were mostly a tokenistic effort to tick a box.

I spoke to 50 people about my experiences as a child in care and how I felt growing up in the system, explaining to carers what they can do to understand children, whilst speaking to children about what they can do to take positive steps forward. Although

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I had really inspired people from this speech and from that I was invited to speak at the National Fostering Agency's Annual Conference in May 2012. I assumed it would be a small conference, but it was a room of 350 people and the Children’s Minister and Children’s Commissioner were also speaking!

“I made a conscious choice to leave my old life behind”

I worked closely with the Marketing Director at the NFA who taught me a lot about fostering as a business. I was involved in developing national and local consultation strategies to engage with young people better, as well as training foster carers and social workers about children’s rights, child development and understanding the experiences of children in care. After a successful two years at the NFA, I left in 2014 and set up Foster Focus.

Who have you been working with?

I have spoken alongside influential people, including both former and current Children’s Ministers, Tim Loughton and Edward Timpson; ex-Children’s Commissioner, Maggie Atkinson; Chief Social Worker, Isabelle Trowler and leading CEOs such as Camila Batmanghelidjh and Anthony Douglas.

I spoke at the launch of the DfE’s Innovation Programme earlier this year; Foster Focus is currently involved in a number of the projects, including The Fostering Network’s ‘Mockingbird Family Model’, North Yorkshire County Council’s ‘No Wrong Door’ project and Stoke-on-Trent Council’s ‘House Project’.

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Care leavers special feature

Care leavers special feature

“I believe in ‘profit for purpose’. I think we have to gain finances to become sustainable; not for paying huge dividends to stakeholders, but to reinvest profit back into our services.”

Left: Luke with Sir Steve Redgrave CBE, in support of the Steve Redgrave Fund, using sport to bring positive change to disadvantaged children.

A part of my work has been developing ‘service user involvement’ frameworks for universities that offer the social work programme. One of my first achievements was working with Birmingham University from 2012-2014, developing a strategy to involve young people throughout the programme.

The results of this led to care leavers being employed by the university to support them in teaching, recruitment and course development. In 2014, the university was awarded the ‘Social Work Course of the Year’ by the Russell Group, which referenced the work we had been doing to support service users.

Our most successful work is on youth participation. I don't want to give too much away, however, we have been working closely with key organisations to develop kitemarks to assess services’ youth participation frameworks, which will be piloted early next year.

What impact do you think the closure of BAAF and Kids Company will have?

It’s clear that further strains will be placed on local authorities and charities such as The Fostering Network and Adoption UK. I think there is always a danger with charities coming into financial difficulty as they are so dependent on external funding.

...on a care leaver involved in improving services.

As a formerly looked after child I knew very early on I had a message to share. In early adolescence, I was not clear myself as to what message that was so went with the easy option of disclosing and sharing my personal journey in care but focusing on all the wrong that I had suffered.

Below: Luke winning the Young Social Entrepeneur Awards at Young UnLtd’s Lived It Awards.

I work for the University of Oxford’s Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education. I am currently involved in an evaluation of the London Fostering Achievement’s Programme delivered by The Fostering Network. I’m also looking to start a six month secondment with the research centre early next year.

What results have you seen from the services involving young people?

The impact

Foster Focus is a limited company; there is more scope for growth and it’s less regulated as to how it is financed. People tend to have a problem with organisations making profit from children’s services, but I think it's misunderstood and not necessarily a bad thing.

I believe in 'profit for purpose'. I think we have to gain finances to become sustainable; not for paying huge dividends to stakeholders, but to reinvest profit back into our services so that we can provide more, grow and reach more young people.

I would like to see more social enterprises like Foster Focus that are registered as limited companies, with directors behind them who are focused on social impact, but have an understanding of business for sustainability.

Care leavers are calling for the government to extend the support it provides them up to the age of 25 – what are your thoughts on this?

Of course I'm going to advocate for more support; I actually think 25 is still very young.

If we look at places like The Netherlands, they support young people up to 30.

However, I am always mindful about the type of support that may be extended for care leavers. If it is just to inject money into local authority then I don't think it's the

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“We should look to the local authorities that have the best outcomes for young people, develop their services and create frameworks based on their success that we can share with other areas of the UK.”

I met Luke Rodgers in 2010 whilst we were both guest teaching at a leading university, providing direct experiences and activities for social work students. Following many inspirational conversations, we soon realised that the passion we shared for social work and the drive to become leading professionals in the area did not have to be achieved through sharing only our negative experiences. Yes, there was learning to be gained from them, but the positives that we had experienced were more valuable in ascertaining how to achieve positive success without focusing solely on avoiding negative experiences.

From that moment on, Luke has worked tirelessly to create the platform that is Foster Focus; a platform that recognises the negative experiences but promotes the positives. I have had the pleasure of being involved in creating training packages, exploring innovative projects and ideas, meeting and networking with some influential people, building a personal brand of my own and, more importantly, working alongside someone who shares the same passion as I do. I am being supported by an organisation that recognised I had the potential to achieve all of this way before I ever did.

Karylle Phillips

best strategy as all we’re doing is feeding struggling services. I think we should look to the organisations and local authorities that have the best outcomes for young people, develop their services and create frameworks based on their success that we can share with other areas of the UK. My fear is that we say we can do a lot, yet we offer very little. An example of this is the approach to Staying Put. Local authorities were offered £40m to support children so they could stay with their foster carers until they were 21 years old, but the cost of foster carers’ allowances alone would be £60m, along with other costs to councils. We need to think deeper about what we are offering, develop more services that offer personal and emotional support, not just finances, which in some cases are not even enough.

...on an organisation that listens to young people Foster Focus has quickly gained a level of visibility and authority beyond what might be expected for a relatively new venture. The key to this has been Luke’s ability to hone in on a manageable list of key issues that impact on the lives of young people in care, that he then clarifies in an easily understood manner, using a combination of research, learned knowledge and his own experience. His blend of multi-media and use of social media then provides an accessible platform for this knowledge-sharing.

Harvey Gallagher CEO of Nationwide Association of Fostering Providers

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A day in the life of...

A day in the life of... an adult social worker in complex assessment te a am

Friday 4th September 20 15

8.30a m My fir st job of the day is to get up -to -date with the emails voicemails and news tha , t are relevant to my wor king day; particularly information around the implementation of the Care Act 2014 and how impacts my work. If the it re is anyth ing that req uires action from my emails /v oicemails I sta rt working on th is str aig ht away. However, if phone rings and there the is an emerg ency, I must make a decision to pri the queries accordingly. oritise 10a m I receive a duty call about an eld erly lady with early on set dementia who had used her microwave to warm her bra. Fortunately, was present and was ab a friend le to keep her safe. Th e lady’s allocated social was on annual leave, so worker I was needed to undertak e an emerg ency home vis determine her safety. My it to self and a community ass essment officer went to the client and we discus visit sed the incident with her. She said she didn’t anyth ing about it and kn ow said “who on earth wou ld put their bra in the microwave?! ” We ensured the microwave was remove d and assessed her hom enviro nment and risk ma e nagement. After spending some time with th is lad was clear her support y, it package was in need of an increase after determ she had varying capaci ini ng ty under the Mental Cap acity Act 2005. It was imperative that the wa rd en of the complex she lived in was informed her increased needs. Wh about en my colleague and I ret urned to the office, we the information with the shared tea m manager and contac ted the care company to have the support packa ge increased . Th is ensur ed the additional needs met. A reques t was the were n sent to the social wor ker to reassess the lady up their ret urn to work two on days later. I was able to contact the ward en, provid er and client for care the two days to ensure she was safe and cared until her worker ret ur for ned from annual leave.

1pm I receive a call from the son of an eld erly lady who has bee for by her husband. How n cared ever, her husband had been admitted to hospit pneumonia and required al with alternative care for his wife. I left the office went straig ht out to un and dertake a needs assessmen t and capacity assessmen the client. She was dee t for med as having capacity and was able to make decision about her car her own e. It was agreed that the lady would go into res for a short break until pite her husband was discha rg ed from hospital. A assessment would be req fu rther uired at th is time to det ermine whether there wa need for support in the s a home to ensure the wel fare and safety of the At the point of discha m both. rg e, an assessment would also be completed for the

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A day in the life of...

“It’s important that I feel confident I have done all I can to safeguard an individual’s welfare and any decision s are made in their best interests.”

husband as a carer in his own rig ht, under the Care Act 2014, to determ what service provision ine he could be offered to red uce his need for suppor a carer. t as 3pm Wh ile back at the office , I am able to ens ure all my case record up-to-date from the tas ing is ks completed today and the relevant worker s/ professio nals are upda ted where appro priate.

I then receive a call fro adult safeguarding tea m the m to inform me of a saf eguarding alert that ha put onto the sys tem. Wh s been en I receive such calls it is my job to investiga alert to determine what, te the if any, action needs to be taken. I start by contacting the per son who raised the alert. In th is case it was a senior mem ber of staff from a residential home. A res ide nt had made a complaint that a mem ber of nig ht staff had asked to bor row £20 and would rep when they got paid at ay it the end of that week. Th e resident made the all the next day stating tha ega tion t the mo ney was not rep aid. Th is is similar to pre vious allegatio ns ma de by the individual an d they were unfound ed investigated. The indivi when dual has severe dement ia and was deemed as lac capacity to manage his kin g finances ; a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguard place around th is. His wa s in finances are managed by financial protectio n an although th is resident d has no access to his mo ney and therefore could give any to a mem ber not of staff, every allega tio n must be investiga written report produced ted an d a . After gathering th is information, it was cle there was no ur gent act ar tha t ion required from me an d the details were passe the allocated social wor d to ker for their informati on.

5pm My day comes to an end and I have to ensure my recordings are up-to-date, any action that needed to be taken has been done, and information has been sha red where needed. It is essential that all paper containing client inform work ation is securely stored away and my sys tem is off and shut down. I use logged the 40 minute drive hom e to reflect on my day plan in my head what and needs to be done when I ret urn to the office ask myself if there is .

I als o anyth ing I would do dif ferently or what positives I can take fro m my day. It’s importan t that I feel confid ent done all I can to safegu I have ard an individual’s wel fare and any decision s made in their bes t int are erests.

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