The Skills to Foster
The next Skills to Foster Preparation course for Support Carers will be held on the weekend of 19-21 September 2008, at the Corporate Suite, Vale of Glamorgan Council Civic Offices, Holton Road, Barry, CF63 4RU
Read a review of the first of these courses by Support Care project worker, Philippa Willliams, below
Q. What do an actor and a boat-builder from Swansea do in their spare time?
A. Attend The Skills to Foster for Support Carers training, of course!
The Skills to Foster for Support Carers is specifically for new and potential Support Carers. It was designed by Fostering Network Wales training manager Sarah Mobedji and Joy Howard, who was instrumental in establishing the highly successful Support Care scheme in Bradford more than ten years ago. Joy is known as a support care guru throughout the UK and is a consultant to the Fostering Network.
The course was piloted in Swansea in July 2006 and was attended by new support carers from Support Breaks Swansea as well an independent fostering provider from the South Coast and a representative from Positive Parenting in London, an organisation which supports families affected by HIV and Aids. Course attendees came from a wide variety of backgrounds and included a doctor's receptionist, an administrator from Child Protection and a full-time Mum (as well as the actor and the boat builder, of course!)
Support Breaks Swansea is a dedicated support care scheme. The scheme co-ordinator, Sarah Richards, was pleased to be involved in piloting this unique course. In Swansea, carers are encouraged to commit to providing at least four overnight stays per month. An important feature of the scheme is the access that carers have to an out-of-hours carers' support line. This is particularly important in this field of work given that a lot of support care takes place outside normal office hours. All Swansea carers and their families also receive a Passport to Leisure that entitles them to discounted entry to local leisure facilities. The idea behind this passport is that the children can enjoy activities that involve the whole family and do not cost a fortune. Swansea will soon have over 20 support carers working with approximately 30 children at any one time. It is the largest and most successful support care scheme in Wales and one of the biggest in the U.K. as a whole.
Course attendees were delighted to hear from experienced Swansea carer Linda Wellington. Linda , who was interviewed in the Winter 2006 edition of fostering news wales (visit www.fostering.net/wales), talked about the various placements she has been involved with. These include siblings with challenging behaviour, a young child who was acting as a carer for his mum who had mental health problems, a boy with ADHD and a little girl who had problems understanding boundaries.
An important part of the course is about dealing with endings. Linda described the lovely end of placement meeting she had with one mum who talked about how much Linda "had allowed her to trust again". Both mum and son gave Linda a present and thank-you card at the end of placement meeting. They have exchanged contact details and plan to keep in touch. Another successful ending involved a child being cared for by a grandparent. The support care co-ordinator was able to work with the grand-parents during the support care period to identify other carers in the family's own network who could offer more long-term support to the family. This help is now in place and it has therefore been possible to withdraw support care itself.
Immediately after the course, Sarah Mobedji said The Skills to Foster preparation course required quite a lot of adaptation to meet the needs of support carers but it was such a worthwhile piece of work. I was greatly inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment of the support carers from Support Breaks Swansea and I look forward to delivering this course again in November.
Joy added, "It was great to see how well the new course worked in practice, and so encouraging to experience the enthusiasm and commitment of everyone who gave up their weekend to take part."
If you would like to send carers on the next The Skills to Foster for Support Carers, please contact Philippa Williams at philippa.williams@fostering.net or call 029 2044 0940 or see the latest open training programme for details of relevant courses.