Latest news, events and policy updates from Staf |
|
|
Dear Friend, October has been another busy month here at Staf and I don’t know about you, but time seems to be flying by! A highlight of the month has to be Care Experienced Week, and this year has been all about celebrating success and connection. We’ve heard from the young people we work with and others about what success means to them with our #SuccessStory campaign. It really has highlighted how subjective the word is and how for some, survival in a life of adversity is their biggest success. Connection is key and the last 19 months has been a challenge for us all to stay in touch but we are proud of what we have achieved in that time, as demonstrated by our Keeping Connected video, which we are also showcasing this week. As part of our celebrations we’ve also launched our Young Funder’s Grant which, thanks to funding from Life Changes Trust, offers grants of up to £750 for 16 – 26 year olds with care experience. The fund is devised and will be assessed by care experienced young people and can be used to fund a whole range of items from electronics, pets, social activities and even holidays. Please do help us spread the word, this money can make a huge difference. We are acutely aware of the impact that uncertainty about income can cause and as you may know we have been working with our partners at Aberlour and Care leavers involved with Staf, Aberlour and WhoCares? Scotland to develop a pilot project to test a minimum income guarantee for Care leavers. Last month we facilitated a roundtable event to test out this concept with our partners and political and sectoral leaders. You can read how it went in our Roundtable Round Up. This month we have also announced the great line up for our Staf National Conference where our speakers will be focusing on Rights, Relationships and Keeping the Promise. We hope to see as many of you there, and with it being online, you can do so from the comfort of your own home! As we flagged in our last newsletter, the Scottish Government is currently holding a consultation on the proposed National Care Service. Our consultation with the young people from Youth Justice Voices has provided a fascinating insight, as you can read here, and we have spoken with some of our members as the opportunity has arisen. The Consultation closes on the 2nd November and if you haven’t already shared your views I wanted to invite you to contribute to the overarching Staf response which is placing a particular focus on the impact on transitions between Children’s Services and Adult Services. There are just 4 questions in the survey and it should take no more than 5 minutes to complete. If you wish to share your views please submit your responses by 2pm on the 1st November and we will anonymously include in our submission; conversely we will be having an MS Teams session at 3pm on the 1st November if you would like to register and share your views with us verbally please email info@staf.scot. Finally, it is with mixed emotions that I announce that after almost 15 years of amazing work at Staf, our brilliant Head of Learning and Development, Pamela Graham, will be moving on to pastures new. She will be an immense loss to Staf and I’d like to take this moment to thank her for all her years of commitment and support to our team, our members and the young people we have worked alongside. She really has made an incredible impact on the lives of young care leavers directly via the project work and supporting learning and best practice across our membership and with our Partners. For Pamela, the time has come to take her passion of amplifying voice and co-design of services into a Community context helping vulnerable families in Scotland and for this she has our wholehearted support. We will be holding a virtual 'all the best' with a date to follow which anyone can join and Pamela will continue to facilitate the scheduled focus groups/forums for the rest of this year. She will be very difficult to replace here at Staf but plans for some exciting opportunities are afoot which we will be announcing soon so please watch this space and support us in our forthcoming recruitment activity. Best wishes,
Jo Derrick
Staf CEO
|
|
|
Staf Projects
Youth Justice Voices
It's been another busy month for Youth Justice Voices...
- Youth Just Us met with the Children and Young People’s Minister, Clare Haughey MSP
- Youth Just Us held their second session with Police Scotland Children and Young People’s Team – check out Kev's blog here
- Ruth and Youth Just Us member Bella delivered a lecture to Strathclyde Uni Social Wok students on creatively involving children and young people in decision making
- Members of Youth Just Us and Inside Out shared their views on the National Care Service – see their response here
- Care Leavers week – Youth Just Us are celebrating and sharing stories of success, they have been shaping how we celebrate care –experienced week with a twitter take over, daily photo challenge, podcasts and other creative challenges
- Inside Out, YJV's youth-led steering group for care experienced young people in HMPYOI Polmont, is gathering pace. They’ve welcomed new members to the group and have been focusing on rights they have also been designing their own logo
Youth Just Us is always open to new members. If you’re aged 16-25 with experience of the care and justice systems in Scotland and want to help influence change then why not get in touch with ruth@staf.scot? Location shouldn’t be a barrier as you can join us on Zoom.
Project Return Tommy, Project Return's Project Development worker, gave this update:
"I'm pleased to announce that our Young Funders project is now live! In partnership with Life Change trust, this project was created by care experienced young people, for care experienced young people and aims to deliver grants of up to £750 to people across the country to help with things such as work/education opportunities, improving mental and physical health, and life experiences.
We are also coming to the end of Project Return in January 2022, so the group will be looking into how to celebrate our achievements with this project and give it the send off it deserves."
The Real Toolkit The REAL Toolkit has now launched! You can check it out here.
It's packed full of fantastic blogs, guides, advice and resources for care-experienced young people and the people who support them, so make sure to take a look and share it with anyone you think may find it useful.
You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram to keep up with our progress.
Scottish Care Leavers Forum Steering Group The care leavers forum steering group has been meeting online since June of this year and have been discussing and identifying policy changes the young care leavers would like to see. The young people will be engaging with decision-makers and policy-makers over the next 2 months to plan and deliver the Scottish care leavers forum in December. You can find out more about the Forum at the National Conference. If you know of any young people with care experience who would like to be involved please email katrina@staf.scot |
|
|
Staf Policy and Practice
Your views on National Care Service Consultation The Scottish Government's consultation on a National Care Service comes to a close next week. If you've not yet shared your views, we'd love to collate our member's responses. All you need to do is complete a very short survey before 2pm on 1st Nov. If you would rather share your views verbally, please join us for a Teams session on Monday 1st November at 3pm. To register please email info@staf.scot |
|
Minimum Income for Care Leavers: Roundtable Round Up Last month we gathered many important voices around a virtual table to discuss the possibility of a minimum income guarantee pilot for care leavers. A passionate and practical discussion covered many of the pros and cons of such a scheme and importantly we heard the views of those with care experience, who will continue to be at the heart of any future plans. You can read our full round up to find out more. |
|
Staf's response to UNCRC rejection by Supreme Court As you are no doubt aware the UNCRC incorporation into Scottish law was dealt a blow this month as the Supreme Court deemed certain elements outwith the powers of the Scottish Parliament. Along with many others we signed up to Together's letter to the Government urging further action. Staf CEO Jo Derrick also shared her own thoughts.
|
|
Consultations of Interest The following government consultations are open and are likely to be of interest:
|
|
Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority:Deadline 26 Nov 2021
The consultation seeks views on replacing the Scottish Qualifications Authority and reforming Education Scotland following the publication of OECD reports. Together have also create a consultation specficially for children and young people which you can access here.
|
|
|
Staf Events Staf runs a range of events including focus groups, webinars and conferences for you to learn from and give you an opportunity to connect with your peers and young care leavers.
|
|
The Real Toolkit Virtual Tours
The Real Toolkit is now live. If you'd like us to talk you through this exciting new resource for care leavers and the workforce then email therealtoolkit@staf.scot and we can arrange a time to come to you! |
|
Care Leavers Into Employment Focus Group Tuesday 2nd November, 10.30am - 12.30pm (Teams)
Our Care Leavers into Employment focus group tackles the issues faced by young people in both accessing and sustaining employment. This group brings together workers from across the public and third sector to discuss and dissect current practice issues.
Over the past year, the group has discussed the impact of COVID-19 on care leavers; the Scottish Government's new Job Start Payment; and the Young Person's Guarantee. At every meeting there is an opportunity for attendees to network with peers and discuss best practice.
The next meeting of the group will provide further opportunities to network with colleagues and share best practice.
|
|
Participation Practitioner's Forum Thursday 25th November, 10am - 11.30am (Teams)
The Participation Practitioners' Forum is a free bi-monthly event for participation workers supporting young people with care and justice experience to connect with, and learn from, each other: sharing successes, reflecting on challenges, and championing examples of best practice in an informal setting.
At our next meeting we will be joined by the National Leadership Network and we will also be discussing the concept of empowerment and what it really is and feels like.
|
|
Staf National Conference: Relationships, rights and keeping The Promise Wednesday 1st December, 9.30am - 3.30pm (Online)
This year's conference will focus on how delivering on the UNCRC and relationship based practice can support the leaving care community to keep The Promise. We will hear directly from young people about how their lived experiences should shape our approach to service delivery they are the experts by experience. We will also hear from colleagues across the sector about how rights and the UNCRC being incorporated into Scottish law and the implications that this will have for services and we also explore how relationship based practice can be transformational for young people and services alike.
Speakers confirmed to date:
Lorraine Simpson, Managing Director, The Lines Between
Claire O'Hara, Programme Director, Each and Every Child
Carole Patrick, Director of Evident and Influencing, Life Changes Trust
Harvey Gallagher, Chief Executive NAFP (National Association of Foster Providers)
Ruth Kerracher, Youth Justice Voices
Katrina Gallacher, Scottish Care Leavers' Forum
Plus more to be announced!
|
|
Supported Lodgings, Supported Carers Focus Group Tuesday 7th December, 10am - 11.30am (Teams)
The Supported Lodgings, Supported Carers focus group provides a supportive forum to share good practice, local and national developments, and discuss issues around Care Inspectorate inspections.
|
|
Implications of Continuing Care Focus Group Tuesday 14th December, 10am - 11.30am (Teams)
Meeting since 2014, the Implications of Continuing Care focus group offers a safe place to discuss issues and practice arising from Part 11 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014. The recent work of this group has discussed commissioning placements, fostering fees and payments and shared good practice from across Scotland.
|
|
|
Member of the Month: Rock Trust
This month we are shining a light on the work of Rock Trust, who this year are celebrating their 30th birthday. The Rock Trust are Scotland’s youth-specific homelessness charity whose aim is to end youth homelessness in Scotland by ensuring that every young person has access to expert youth specific services to assist them to avoid, survive and move on from homelessness. They advise, educate and support young people to enable them to build the personal skills and resources required to make a positive and healthy transition to adulthood. We also work to ensure that the public, policy makers, commissioners and practitioners understand the issues, make decisions and take action which will end youth homelessness. Their recent 'Sofa Stories' campaign highlighted the hidden number of homeless young people sleeping on sofas of others.
|
|
| If you would like to be featured in our Member of the Month section please email marion@staf.scot |
|
|
What #WeLove this month...
💜Youth Link Scotland have opened nominations for their National Youth Work Awards.
💜 STARR Secure is now online and on Twitter. Check out this great organisation run by and for those with experience of Secure Care.
💜The inspiring and hope filled voices of young people and the workforce as we all celebrate Care Experienced Week! #CEW21 |
|
|
| Want to find out more about Staf events, projects, membership and training opportunities? |
|
|
We would love to hear from you. Get in contact via email on info@staf.scot or through our social media channels linked below. |
|
|
|
|
