13 Nov 24
This year at A National Voice’s Amplify event we recognised some of the excellent work being done by children in care councils and care leaver forums in England.
Our Collaboration Award is for groups that have worked with other groups, local authorities, regions. This year’s winners were Peterborough Children in Care Council, and Peterborough Young Inspectors, a group of children and young people with social care involvement who visit services for children and families across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to review how they are working. They worked together to measure the impact of their local Promise to Children in Care.
Children and young people interviewed a range of professionals across local children’s services to discuss the Promise. They used this feedback along with their own reflections to create posters and a training booklet for corporate parents, as well as a welcome booklet that children will receive in their coming into care pack about the Promise.
This work raised the profile of the Promise to Children in Care. Staff found themselves thinking more about how to meet the Promise, and started receiving regular feedback from children in care about how they feel the Promise is being met via the online survey.
The booklet developed by the young people will be used in staff inductions and in training sessions for corporate parents, including councillors who are on the Corporate Parenting Committee.
The posters featuring quotes from different staff who were interviewed by young people, and reflections from the Children in Care Council have been made into a booklet that will go into the Coming into Care Packs, to let children in care know how they will be looked after by their corporate parents.