In this video, Tanya Ward, alongside her colleague Clare Holdsworth (both from the Children’s involvement team), discuss this case study and its impact on children in care in Sheffield.
Why?
The Sheffield Care Leavers Union (SCLU) designed the Fridge Plan in response to feedback from children and young people in care in Sheffield. Within the 2018 Bright Spots survey and within audits, some young people reported that they didn’t understand what was happening in their lives, didn’t have a good understanding of their care journey and weren’t sure what was happening next.
What?
SCLU decided that they wanted to tackle this and designed a new plan format so that all Sheffield young people have a copy of their plan in a format they understood and written in plain language with no jargon. The plan is completed with the young person and left with them. The plan is used during visits to talk about next steps and progress
The Fridge Plan has been piloted within the Leaving Care Service, Early Help and one Fieldwork team. In this time over 50 Fridge Plans have been completed with young people. The feedback has been really positive and workers have said the Fridge Plan has:
- Helped young people see how things are moving forward
- Helped parents understand the plan, as the Fridge Plan is really simple and easy to understand.
- Helped them, as workers to focus and break down ‘complex cases’
- Helped to focus visits with young people and parents,
The Fridge Plan has now been rolled out across all service areas so that all young people can benefit from it.
Briefings have taken place within each service area to help workers understand the process and the benefits to young people, families and workers themselves.
Impact
This is a huge change in practice and SCLU are so excited that people have listened to their views and are now rolling out something they have designed to address a huge issue identified in Sheffield.
