Latest news, events and policy updates from Staf |
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Dear Friend, My return to Staf after a few months off has been one of joy and pride as I learn from the team about the brilliant work that’s been happening in my absence. The launch of The Real Toolkit was a particularly special moment for the Staf team and the Advisory Group of young people with care experience and workforce who are behind this innovative resource. After almost 3 years to finally see over 50 practical, accessible and informative guides on the site, written by those with lived experience, was really a thrill to behold. We are so proud of the way the Toolkit has been co-produced from the beginning and we truly hope this will become the go-to place for care leavers and the many people involved in supporting them transition from care to independence. Please do check it out. It’s also been great to hear that Project Return and Youth Justice Voices have been able to get back together, in person, to strengthen those all-important relationships. I am forever wowed by the great work our projects manage to achieve. I am also excited to see how our new Care Leavers Forum will progress in conjunction with our Policy Engagement Group. If you know of any young people with care experience who would benefit from joining any of these groups please do get in touch. With the return of Parliament and the publication of this year’s Programme for Government we are more committed than ever to ensure the voices of the workforce and the young people they support are heard. All too often care leavers are impacted by unintended consequences of national policies which is why we are striving to promote Throughcare and Aftercare further up the political agenda. You can read my response to the Programme for Government here. Please do also take some time to respond to the Government’s National Care Service consultation. This will have huge ramifications for many of you involved in social care. Our events and focus groups have been going really well, with some great discussions on issues such as welfare assessments, meaningful participation alongside input from guest speakers from the Scottish Government and National Housing Project. It’s been great to get some really wonderful feedback from those who have attended. Our forthcoming events will be equally as informative and enjoyable, including our National Conference on the 24th November which will be available to book soon! We are also looking forward to celebrating Care Experienced Week (25 – 31 Oct). We will soon be sharing information about all we, and our member organisations, are doing to mark this important week in the care leavers’ calendar. If you have any events you would like us to share drop us a line at info@staf.scot and we’ll be sure to spread the word. Finally I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank Pamela Graham for ably stepping in whilst I was on leave. We have achieved so much in the last few months and I look forward to continuing the great work we all do to improve the outcomes for care leavers and promote the voices of them and the workforce who support them.
Best wishes,
Jo Derrick
Staf CEO
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Staf Projects
Youth Justice Voices
It's been another busy month for Youth Justice Voices.
We want to start by saying a huge thanks to Marie, Jason and Dale, our Youth Justice Support Workers who have been working with Staf since March 2021 on a project through which they have been co-producing guidance with children and young people on the Whole Systems Approach. Also thanks to all the young people including Youth Just Us and young people from different organisations who helped shaped the guidance. We will continue to work with young people and a designer to publish the guidance. Watch this space!
Our Participation Consultant Kev shared his and the Youth Justice Voices views on the recommendations of the Scottish Sentencing Council for sentencing under 25s. The group are encouraged by what's been proposed, particularly the emphasis being placed on the individual circumstances of the young person when considering sentencing options.
Youth Just Us are continuing to work collaboratively with Police Scotland’s children and young people’s team. The next workshop will take place in October which will be developed and led by Youth Just Us members highlighting the current issues and solutions that care and justice experienced young people want to change in their interactions with the Police.
We had a productive Participation Practitioner's forum where we explored how together young people and practitioners can evaluate meaningful participation projects and processes. Next time we will have an input from the National Leadership Network and will explore the concept of empowerment what does it really look and feel like. Sign up here.
Inside Out, our youth-led steering group for care-experienced young people in HMP & YOI Polmont is back in business. Working alongside the Barnardo’s Youth Work Team and Inside Out members we have already had 4 sessions. We have been focusing on team building, rights and offering a safe and fun space where boys and young men can set the agenda and talk about the issues which are important to them.
Have a listen to CLD Talks latest podcast which features our very own Ruth Kerracher who discusses her role, the achievements of Youth Just Us and the importance of meaningful participation.
Finally, members of Youth Just Us are currently working with colleagues at CYCJ to co-design a more accessible/ child friendly CYCJ website. We can't wait to see what they come up with!
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
With summer coming to an end, so too do Staf's 'Get Into Summer' Sessions. These sessions were able to take place through funding from the Scottish Government and a collaborative approach between Staf and the Scottish Forestry Commission. We are pleased to announced that we held four successful outdoor sessions across Scotland – Callander Park in Falkirk, Tentsmuir Forest in Fife, and two in Linn Park in Glasgow. Care experienced people were encouraged to attend with their workers to take part in a range of activities from shelter building, outdoor arts, whittling and mindfulness amongst other activities.
We're currently looking to recruit new members to Project Return. If you know of any young people with care experience who would be interested in joining please email tommy@staf.scot.
The Real Toolkit
It's been a very busy but incredibly exciting month as we finally were able to share The Real Toolkit in all its glory. The Advisory Group of young people and workers have created over 50 guides for you all to access covering a whole host of themes from mental and physical health, relationships, rights and justice to housing and finance. We'd love to hear any feedback on the guides or if you are interested in contributing to any new topics then please do get in touch.
We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in getting us to this stage. It's been a long time coming but boy was it worth it!
You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Scottish Care Leavers Forum Steering Group
Our steering group has been going from strength to strength and we've bee able to meet up which has been great. We'd love to welcome some additional young people with care experience to the group to help formulate policy ideas and to work with our Policy Engagement Group to ensure these are presented to those who can make a difference.
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
Staf's Response to The Programme for Government The Scottish Government have released this year's Programme for Government which we were buoyed to hear had many explicit policy intentions for care leavers including Care Leaver grants. The £500m Whole Family Wellbeing Grant will make a huge impact on delivering The Promise Plan 21 -24 but we must ensure that those currently living in and leaving care are not forgotten. |
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IVY: Interventions for Vulnerable Youth Project
Staf member Kibble runs the Scottish Government funded IVY project which provides a specialist psychological and social work service which supports young people (aged 12 – 18) with complex social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and who pose a risk to others. The service also extends this support to families. It's free to access and are currently taking referrals. You can contact them on 0300 303 2012 or emailed at ivy@kibble.org |
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Sentencing Guidelines for Under 25s
Youth Justice Voices Particiaption Consultant Kevin Lafferty has shared his and the group's views on the sentencing recommendations for under 25s which have just been released by the Scottish Sentencing Council. In his blog you can hear what they make of the new guidance and their hopes for the future.
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Consultations of Interest The following government consultations are open and are likely to be of interest:
A National Care Service for Scotland Consultation: Deadline 2 Nov
This consultation sets out our proposals to improve the way social care is delivered in Scotland, following the recommendations of the Independent Review of Adult Social Care. The Scottish Government are looking for people to engage, challenge and suggest innovative solutions to improve outcomes for all those in social care.
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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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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! |
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Supported Lodging, Supported Carers Focus Group Tuesday 5 October, 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.
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Life Changes Trust: Young People With Care Experience Programme: Staf and The Real Toolkit Wednesday 6 October, 10am - 11.30am
Join us as we present The Real Toolkit as part of the Life Changes Trust Young People with Care Experience Programme. We will be sharing the new online resource for and by young people leaving care and the adults who support them and demonstrating why we passionately believe in the power and importance of relationship based practice.
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Implications of Continuing Care Focus Group Tuesday 19th October 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.
At the next meeting we will be focusing on transitioning out of Continuing Care placements alongside practice sharing and peer support.
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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.
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Local Authority Manager's Forum Wednesday 17th November, 10.30am - 12.30pm (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.
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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.
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Member of the Month: Aberlour
This month we are shining a light on the great work of Aberlour. Aberlour is Scotland’s largest, solely Scottish children’s charity. They work with children, young people and families throughout Scotland experiencing disadvantage and discrimination, providing services and support in communities around the country. They help to overcome significant challenges, the impact of drugs and alcohol on family life, growing up in and leaving care, poor mental health, living with a disability, or the impact of poverty and inequality. They aim to provide help and support at the earliest opportunity to prevent problems becoming intractable or spiralling out of control. In terms of care experience they offer residential care and foster care support and we are currently working with them to pilot a Guaranteed Income for Care Leavers. You can read all about their impact in the last year here. They also recently won Fundraising Campaign of the Year at the prestigious Third Sector Awards. Excellent recognition for the incredible £1.3million raised for the much needed Urgent Assistance Fund. Well done all!
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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...
💜The Promise have created an audio version of their Pinky Promise to further ensure it is accessible to all. Have a listen!
💜 Who Cares? Scotland have revealed their care experienced candidates for the Scottish Youth Parliament elections.
💜We're delighted to see so many members nominated for a Social Services Award. Congratulations and good luck to all! |
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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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