#KeepThePromise, Shannon's Box delivered to Scotland's First Minister, Project Return Choir and more. |
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Dear Friend,
What an exciting 2020 it has been to date - this month has certainly flown by! But while the weather outside may be stormy, we’ve been busy representing our members and working with young people and practitioners to have their voices heard. This month saw The Independent Care Review reports launch. We must now collectively focus on delivering the changes called for by the care-experienced community. At Staf we stand ready to play our part, and encourage reflections from you, our members, in how best we can all #KeepThePromise. The Staf Summit takes place in just over a few weeks' time, featuring speakers exploring relationship-based practice from a variety of perspectives, including lived experience, academia, service design, politics, and front-line delivery. Very limited tickets are available, so do book now! I am also proud that we’ve supported Shannon Brown, our former Youth Facilitator, to deliver a 'Shannon's Box' to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon – discussing the positive impact it has had for young people entering care in East Ayrshire. You can hear from some of the young people who have received the Box in the latest episode of our podcast 'The Forum' here. As always, our projects continue to gather pace: the Building Relationships project has held its second steering group meeting with rich discussions on what the individual can do to build positive relationships; Youth Justice Voices has continued working with young people at HMOYI Polmont on rights as well as further Artivism sessions; and Project Return's Choir will be launching on the 7th March in Glasgow, so do head along and raise your voice! Last month I chaired the first Supported Lodgings Focus Group of the year and was impressed with the engaging discussion, with representation from across Scotland. Our Focus Groups are an excellent way for Staf members to connect with peers across the sector. Don’t miss out - be sure to book your place at our upcoming events today. Jo Derrick CEO, Staf
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| | | The Independent Care Review: An historic moment for Scotland's care system
On February 5th, The Independent Care Review released seven reports, including the headline report 'The Promise' reflecting what over 5,500 care experienced children and adults, families and the paid and unpaid workforce told the Care Review in the hope that Scotland is listening.
Staf CEO Jo Derrick hailed the release of the reports as 'an historic moment for Scotland’s care system, a milestone reached only because young people, including the many we are proud to have supported over the past 20 years, have made their voice heard and been listened to'.
As a membership organisation we are keen to hear your thoughts, as Staf members, on The Care Review reports and the next steps. Please email enquiries@staf.scot with your perspectives. |
| | | Shannon's Box delivered to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon: 'It made me feel like I wasn't alone.'
On Monday 17th February, Shannon Brown presented Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon with a 'Shannon's Box', alongside young people in East Ayrshire that had benefited from receiving the box upon entering care.
Nicola Sturgeon noted: 'This is a great initiative. Going into care is a vulnerable time for any young person - Shannon’s Box provides some home comforts and hopefully reduces the feeling of being alone.'
'Shannon's Box' is a hamper of items thoughtfully curated by Shannon Brown, influenced by her own experience of care. Shannon herself has led the project, supported by Staf and East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership - with thanks to funding from The National Lottery Community Fund.
As part of Staf's podcast series, 'The Forum' we spoke to young people who have received Shannon’s Box in East Ayrshire, and the workers who have supported them, on the difference the box has made to entering care. You can listen to the podcast here.
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| | | | Member Spotlight: The National Confidential Forum
Staf is delighted to welcome a new member to the Staf family: The National Confidential Forum.
The National Confidential is an organisation that has been set up to listen to and acknowledge individuals who have experienced institutional care in Scotland and offer a private space in which individuals can tell their story in complete confidentiality.
In the latest blog on Staf's website, you can read a Q&A with National Confidential Forum Manager, Gillian Middleton, who provides information on the background to The Forum and how care experienced people can have their voices heard. |
| | | Raise your voice: Project Return Choir launching on 7th March
Project Return is launching a Choir, which will utilise music and relationships as a supportive resource to overcome trauma. The choir will bring together those with experience of the care and/or the justice system and the care workforce, giving them a voice and way of connecting through music.
The Choir will launch on Saturday the 7th of March from 1.30-3.30 pm and will meet bi-weekly at St Stephen's Community Centre, 260 Bath Street, G2 4JP for the first three months of the choir: regularity of meetings from there will be determined by the group. Find out more about the Choir here.
Project Return is a Staf project, led by members of its care and/or justice experienced steering group, and funded by The Life Changes Trust, focused on changing how the care system understands and supports trauma.
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| | What you can do, feel, and know to build good relationshipsThe second Building Relationships Advisory Group meeting took place in Edinburgh on February 20th. The group explored what the individual can do to build good relationships, with the next meeting set to investigate how best organisations can enable these positive relationships to flourish.
The next meeting will take place in Aberdeen on the 19th March, with subsequent meetings scheduled in Dundee and Glasgow in April and May respectively. Find out more about the progress of the Advisory Group in this blog.
Contact Staf Learning and Development Project Worker, Papoula Petri Romão, to get involved: papoula@staf.scot
Building Relationships is a Staf project focused on improving relationship-based practice across Scotland, funded by The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. |
| | Youth Justice Voices
The new Youth Justice voices project in HMYOI Polmot is gathering pace: the steering group of care-experienced young people on long-term sentences have been creatively exploring care and justice issues over the last month. The Artivism project heads into the final two sessions where group members will finalise their issue based art, with a showcase exhibition due to take place in early April.
As Artivism’s work comes to an end, the project will regroup as Youth Just Us. The group is open to young people aged 16-25 with care and justice experience in Scotland who want to join a group of likeminded young people passionate about influencing change. If you are, or know of any young people who might be interested, contact ruth@staf.scot
Youth Justice Voices is a project run jointly by Staf and Centre for Youth and Criminal Justice (CYCJ), funded by The Life Changes Trust, working to amplify the voices of care and justice experienced young people and influence change. |
| | | | Staf Summit - Limited Tickets Remaining!
Staf is hosting a Summit for Senior Leaders within local government and the wider children's sector, including Chief Executive Officers, Chief Social Workers, Directors, Service Managers, and other senior officers, focusing on relationship-based practice and whole-system change on the 11th March in Glasgow.
The Summit will feature contributions from: - Prof Gillian Ruch, Professor of Social Work at University of Sussex, an expert in the field of child care social work and relationship-based practice
- Tom Stibbs, Principal Social Worker at Brighton and Hove City Council, on how they delivered and sustained relationship-based whole-systems change
- Reflections from Aileen Campbell, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government
- Experts on systems leadership, including Kate Tobin, Dartington Society
- Contributions from the Designed by Society project in Falkirk, and Kate Rocks, Chief Social Work Officer and Head of Public Protection and Children Services at East Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership, on putting relationships at the heart of service delivery
- The Life Changes Trust on how they’re taking a transformational approach to relationships, including through their network of Champions Boards
- Young people with care-experience on why relationships matter, including Jade Kilkenny (Community Justice Scotland Apprentice, Staf Board Member and TEDx Speaker) and Kevin Lafferty (Participation Consultant with our Youth Justice Voices project)
Thank you to our summit sponsors CrossReach, National Confidential Forum and Seamab for their support. |
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| | 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.
Our most recent focus groups meetings have discussed the DWP's commitments to care leavers and the development of protocols with local authorities, and the development of national policy to support care leavers into employment.
At our upcoming focus group, Scottish Government representatives will provide an update on the Job Start Payment, and Joe Rankin will present on the work of the Nevis Group. Book your place here. |
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| | This event has been created exclusively for local authority managers to give you space to discuss the issues that matter to you, given your unique statutory responsibility in delivering service for care leavers.
At this Forum meeting we will feed back on the issues raised at the last Forum, including Continuing Care, the Care Experienced Bursary and out-of-local authority placements, as well as any other issues that are current for you. We will be joined by colleagues from Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) and The Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
We also want to hear from you, our members, in shaping the day’s content. Get in touch with pamela@staf.scot if you have something you wish to add to the agenda. Book your place here.
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| | | | 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.
This group is aimed at members and corporate parents who provide supported lodgings or supported carer services for care-experienced young people. Our second meeting will take place in Glasgow on Tuesday 21st April. Book your place here.
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| | | 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.
The next meeting of the Implications of Continuing Care focus group, and the second meeting of the group in 2020, will take place on Tuesday 12th May from 11.30am - 2.30pm in Glasgow. At this meeting there will be the usual opportunities to meet colleagues and share practice that supports service delivery. We will be focusing on the transition from continuing care to aftercare. Book your place here. |
| | | | | In partnership with other organisations, we are hosting an International Child Trauma Conference - More than My Trauma - in 2020, featuring world-renowned trauma expert Dr Bruce Perry. Our partners for the event are Kibble, Children in Scotland, Clackmannanshire Educational Psychology Service, Aberlour and Seamab.
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| | | If you only have time to read, listen or watch one thing this week, make sure it's one of the below. |
| Read: The Promise
'The Promise' is the primary report released by The Independent Care Review, which reflects what over 5,500 care experienced children and adults, families and the paid and unpaid workforce told the Care Review in the hope that Scotland is listening. Read 'The Promise' here.
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| Listen: Care Review Roadshow Podcast
This podcast was recorded at the Care Review Roadshow in Dundee by Leigh Addis on 28th September 2019. 'Foolish Optimism' was a frequent contributor to the care review during the process. Listen here. |
| Watch: Care Review Composite Stories
The Care Review created 12 composite stories. That means the stories are not real people but have been written to reflect the experiences the Care Review heard. These animations show what the Care Review learned from talking with children, young people, their families and carers. Watch the animations here.
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