Latest news, events and policy updates from Staf |
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Dear Friend,
As the summer draws to a close, we look forward to an autumn full of great events, resources and opportunities for care leavers and the workforce who support them. Next month we will be officially launching The REAL Toolkit, a vital and practical online resource packed full of guides created by and for both young people with care experience and those that work with them. Sign up for our free Discovery Event on the 21st September to find out all there is to know about the Toolkit. We have a treat in store for all our readers who work for Local Authorities as we welcome David Hannigan, Team Leader, Leaver Support at the Scottish Government and Sue Hammersley from The National Housing Project to our LA Manager’s Forum. Make sure you join us to hear all about their latest work alongside connecting with your peers across the country. As ever Youth Justice Voices and Project Return have been very busy. YJV have established a series of workshops with Police Scotland to work on relationships and sharing their experiences of stigma in the justice system. We look forward to hearing more about this great collaboration. Project Return's Get Into Summer Staf Sessions have been taking place all over the country. It’s been wonderful to see so many young people making the most of the great outdoors and reconnecting, in person! We still have session spaces available in Ayrshire, Tayside and Glasgow in September. Find out more and sign up here. As you may have read, the Scottish Government are currently consulting on a Minimum Income Guarantee and are looking for views on whether this could be a powerful anti-poverty device. While we welcome this move we will continue to champion a Universal Basic Income pilot for care leavers which we believe can make a real and lasting impact on the life chances of young people leaving care. We hope to have more developments to share on this soon. Finally, we are now taking bookings for our roundtable event with SAAS. This will be your opportunity to find out more about the Care Experienced Students’ Bursary, hear about their new Corporate Parenting Plan and answer any questions you may have about SAAS and what they can offer young people with care experience. As the sun continues to shine, for now at least, we look forward to working with you all and supporting you all to #KeepThePromise and continue to advance the opportunities for young people in our care. Best wishes,
Pamela Graham
Interim Staf CEO
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Staf Projects
Youth Justice Voices
It's been another busy month for Youth Justice Voices!
We have recently partnered with the Children and Young People’s Team at Police Scotland. Members developed and facilitated their first workshop with Sergeants and the Chief Inspector of the Children and Young People’s team. They designed activities to get people out of their comfort zone and highlighted ways in which they think relationships could be improved with care and justice experienced young people. They also highlighted the unfair stigma and discrimination that care and justice experienced young people face. This is the first in a series of workshops, and we look forward to working collaboratively to influence change.
Dale, Marie and Jason are continuing to work hard in co-producing guidance with children and young people on the Whole Systems Approach (WSA). They have been reviewing the different components and developing and delivering workshops with children and young people to gather what they want and need to know. We intend to extend this work over September so that the WSA workers can work with a designer to present the guidance in an accessible and child friendly format.
Several members of Youth Just Us are undertaking mentor training with Move On. This is part of our ambition for members to take a lead role in welcoming new people to the project and also to support others to establish more youth-led steering groups in Scotland.
We are pleased to announce that our Youth Justice Participation Worker, Ruth Kerracher, is back in HMP&YOI Polmont working in partnership with the Barnardo’s Youth Work Team. Ruth will work to re-establish Inside Out, our Youth Justice Voices steering group for care-experienced children and young people in Polmont.
Finally, Congratulations to Youth Just Us Participation Consultant Kevin Lafferty, who recently completed an accredited training course with LAYC: Get Into Youth Work. Kevin and another Youth Just Us member also completed a creative writing course.
The next Participation Practitioners’ Forum next meets on September 23 (online). Anyone with an interest in participation is welcome to come along. Register here.
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
An exciting update from Project Return this month:
A few months ago we were awarded funding to be part of the Scottish Government's £20 million Get Into Summer scheme, created to support children and young people who have been most impacted by Covid, by providing opportunities to socialise, play and reconnect this summer.
We have been working in partnership with Scottish Forestry to deliver sessions for young people with care experience which take place in the woodlands across Scotland, with the content of the meet ups being determined by those taking part. Originally co-produced by our young people from Project Return to take place in summer 2020, we were thrilled to have delivered it across the country this summer.
This work aimed to:
- Support the improved mental health and wellbeing of care leavers and their workers.
- Provide targeted opportunities for care leavers and those who support them to reconnect with each other and us after 15 months of participating online.
- Provide opportunities to be active in the woodlands and forests participating in activities relevant to wild spaces.
- Enable care leavers to continue using their local wild spaces beyond the programme.
Project Return Development Worker Tommy Dey said: "Keeping active and the outdoors are vital in supporting positive mental health and I’m excited to be part of Staf’s Summer Sessions with the Forestry commission .The Summer Sessions are a great opportunity for young people with care experience and the staff they work with to come together and take part in fun activities now that we’re coming out of restrictions." The Staf Summer Sessions took place across the woodlands around Scotland with sessions occurring in the North, South, East and West of the country during the months of July and August. Places are still available for our September dates. We'd love to see you there!
The REAL Toolkit
The team behind The REAL Toolkit have been working hard in anticipation of the much-awaited launch in September.
We have been working with professional designers Scott and Shona at SW&co. to ensure the resources available are accessible, youth friendly and engaging.
We're really excited to share the Toolkit with you, so make sure to keep up with our progress!
You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Scottish Care Leavers Forum Steering Group
We have been busy recruiting care leavers for our steering group which has the aim of using lived experience of young people to engage with decision makers and influence policy and ultimately change.
Our sessions so far have been focused on getting to know each other and building relationships with participants. As this project adheres to open space principles, the young people decide the agenda of the sessions and shape the project. There will also be one on ones to support young people so that they can get the most out of this process and to make sure they have all the support and information needed to participate. We are planning some face to face meet-ups in the new few weeks to get to know each other better. As this project focuses on Policy and its impact – it is important the participants get to know each other well so that we can get the most out of our discussions and sessions. We have also started to look at policy, power and influence and how the Government decides policy. Although we are at the early stages of this project – we have a great group of people signed up so far and they are all people with a lot to say and a passion to have their voice heard.
If you know of any young people with care experience who would like to be involved please email katrina@staf.scot |
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Staf Policy and Practice
Taskforce Announced for Reform of Children's Hearing Scotland We were delighted to read about the formation of a taskforce, with retired sheriff David Mackie as the independent chair of The Hearings System Working Group, charged with reforming the Children's Hearing Scotland n line with the commitments of The Promise. Beth Ann Logan, a long term contributor and friend of Staf spoke passionately about the changes, especially those which ensure that the voices of young people and families with lived experienced of the system are at the heart of any reforms. We watch with interest. |
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Free Dental Care for all Under 26
The Scottish Government has announced that free dental care will be available to all under 26 year olds. Initially a manifesto pledge targeting care leavers this widening of provision can only be good news for all of Scotland's young people so long as appointments are readily available.
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Consultations of Interest The following government consultations are open and are likely to be of interest:
As we continue our work with our partners at Aberlour to establish Universal Basic Income pilots for care leavers, we were encouraged to see the Scottish Government begin work on a Minimum Income Guarantee, the first element being a public consultation...
Minimum Income Guarantee in Scotland closes 16 Sep 2021 The Scottish Government are consulting the public on their views of a Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG), a means of ensuring no one falls below a Minimum Income Standard. They are interested to hear what the benefits, risks and challenges a MIG may present, as well as which specific groups should be targeted and what the first steps should be in taking MIG forward.
Scottish Social Housing Charter Review closes 9 Sep 2021
The Scottish Government are seeking views on the Scottish Social Housing Charter which sets the outcomes and standards that all social landlords should be achieving for their tenants and other customers through their housing activities.
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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.
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Local Authority Manager's Forum
Tuesday 31st August, 10am - 11.30am (Microsoft Teams)
This event has been created exclusively for local authority members to give you space to discuss the issues that matter to you, given your unique statutory responsibility in delivering service for care leavers. Our Local Authority Forums this year will all have a focus on Aftercare.
We are delighted to be welcoming Sue Hammersley of the National House Project and David Hannigan, Team Leader, Care Leaver Support at The Scottish Government who will both provide updates on their work.
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Get Into Summer: Staf Summer Sessions Ayrshire (4, 7 & 9 Sep), Pollok Park Glasgow (21 Sep) Tayside (23 Sep). Places are still available at our Summer Sessions at the above locations. Working with the Scottish Forestry Commission we can bring young people with care experience and the workforce who support them together to enjoy the great outdoors! .
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Brew and a Blether: Carers
Tuesday 14th September, 11.30am - 12.30pm (Microsoft Teams)
This free informal event has been created exclusively for Supported Carers/Supported Lodgings, foster carers, particularly those supporting young people in Continuing Care placements, and supported carers for care leavers.
Join us as we get together for a virtual cuppa to share experiences of being a carer for young people in transition. This meeting will give you an opportunity to meet up with other carers and hear how things are going for them, talk about the issues that you are facing as well as being a supportive force for carers like you.
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The REAL Toolkit Discovery Event Tuesday 21st September, 3pm - 5pm (Zoom)
Join us as we launch The Real Toolkit!
Over the past two years we have been working with our REAL Toolkit Advisory Group to create an online resource for and by young people leaving care and the workforce who support them. Our first guides are ready to share, covering practical guidance on many key elements of leaving care such as work and employment, rights and justice, education and moving home to name but a few.
We are inviting young people with care experience and anyone who supports them to join our Discovery Event where we will be revealing all there is to know about how to get the most of this exciting new resource.
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Can't make the Discovery Event?
Don't worry, we can also come to you. If you have a team meeting that you would like us to present at please email realtoolkit@staf.scot and we can make that happen. |
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SAAS Roundtable: Care Leavers Bursary Wednesday 22nd September, 10.30am - 12.30pm (Microsoft Teams)
Join us as the Scottish Awards Agency Scotland discuss the Care Experienced Students' Bursary and their new Corporate Parenting Plan. There will also be a chance to ask any questions you have about the bursary alongside hearing from your peers and learning about best practice when it comes to young people and further or higher education.
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Participation Practitioner's Forum Thursday 23rd September, 10am - 11.30am (Zoom)
The participation practitioners' forum is a free 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.
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Member of the Month: Forth Valley College
Forth Valley College is Scotland's first regional college, delivering from four campuses in Alloa, Falkirk, Raploch and Stirling to students on a range of full-time, part-time, flexible and work-based learning programmes. Their mission is Making Learning Work and their vision, shaping the future, developing a world class service and driving our momentum. The college has over 600 staff and 14,500 students per academic session with around 95% of students regularly progressing to further studies or employment upon completion of their course.
They are committed to supporting our Care Experienced students and we will be launching their new Corporate Parenting Plan shortly. The new plan has been created in collaboration with care experienced students, our partners in local authority Through Care and Aftercare teams and staff involved in supporting care experienced students. The aim of this next phase of our corporate parenting work is to develop robust support systems for care experienced students that are consistent, flexible and meet their individual needs. The plan also seeks to mainstream support for care experienced people across the organisation in order to ensure that all staff are aware of their corporate parenting responsibilities.
You can find out more about the support available at Forth Valley College here.
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| If you would like to be featured in our Member of the Month section please email marion@staf.scot |
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What #WeLove this month...
💜 Falkirk Champs' video featuring young people with care experience highlighting what The Promise means to them and how we can all #KeepThePromise.
💜 CYCJ have shared 'Dan's Story' a brilliant animation on the impact of bail and remand on young people.
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| Want to find out more about Staf events, projects, membership and training opportunities? |
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We would love to hear from you. Get in contact via email on info@staf.scot or through our social media channels linked below. |
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