Top Ten Tips For Workers

A green, round icon that shows a worker with a young person
A green, round icon that shows a worker with a young person
Why?

Hertfordshire’s Your Life, Your Care survey findings acted as a launch pad to develop relationship building with the young people in their care. Other aims included wanting to be better trauma informed, improving co-production and encouraging best practice amongst workers.

What?

With an emphasis on co-production, Hertfordshire asked their Children in Care Council (CHICC) how they should work on this topic. One of the findings was that the relationship between care leaver and worker has a great impact on the quality of the service and the overall experience of the young person.

With this in mind, CHICC were involved in creating a ‘Top Ten Tips For Workers’ document. This promotional good practice guide gives professionals a better idea of what young people need and why they say the things they do.

It encouraged workers to be less risk averse – understanding and meeting the young person where they currently find themselves – not judging them on past history or what their file says about them. This helps to bring the relationship back to a personal level, where young people feel treated and respected as individuals.

The exercise is a move towards a less prescriptive approach and helps to build bridges between the young person and their worker.

Impact

The document has fed into supervisions and now also acts as a key factor in the planning of work for new staff and in interventions. It is generally seen as an accessible tool which encourages Hertfordshire’s young people to be heard and to achieve success.

Introductory cards to get to know your social worker

Why?

Not all children and young people knew who their social worker was. There were comments from children in the Bright Spots report such as, “You know everything about us and we know nothing about you.” These introductory cards were one of the approaches that North Somerset took to improve this.

What?

The Local Authority produced small introductory cards that were easily edited. They ask social workers to: put a drawing, picture, or a photo and three things about themselves that they are happy to share on the card (e.g. my favourite colour is, my pet is…).

The social worker’s contact details are also added. This intervention was quick and simple to implement. Because of staff turnover for the impact to be maintained it needs to become embedded in policy and practice.

Impact

The following year the Bright Spots survey was repeated in North Somerset. There was an increase in the percentage of children who knew who their worker was.

It worked really well and the results the following year showed that we’d made fantastic impact.

Service Leader

Social workers becoming mentors

A green icon showing a worker in conversation with their young person
A green icon showing a worker in conversation with their young person
Why?

Stockport were keen to explore how professionals could maintain a relationships with young people when their role had changed. This was especially important for young people who don’t have anyone else in their lives.

What?

+ Pure Insight are a charity that supports care leavers across 3 Greater Manchester local authorities, Warrington and Cheshire. They provide a range of commissioned services in Stockport including the mentoring service.

+ Pure insight developed a service in collaboration with Stockport Council to enable professionals to remain part of a young person’s life on a long term basis.

+ Professionals who want to become mentors were asked to consider: whether they could commit to: 2-3 hours a week for a minimum of 2 years; the 10 training sessions and the idea of a long term friendship after the 2 year programme.

+ Young people need to commit to being mentored and supported by the Pure Insight team – often benefitting from the mentoring coordinator, the psychological support team, education, training and Employment and group activities Pure Insight offer.

The mentoring training looks at:

+ How the relationship will become more equal and on the young person’s terms.

+ Being open to share more about yourself in the relationship.

+ Learning new ways of working led by Pure Insight and the young person.

Impact

+ 8 young people are being supported by mentors who previously involved with them in a professional basis.

+ It offers support to young people around their 18th birthday when other key relationships are ending.

+ It contributes to 90% of Stockport’s care leavers feeling they have somebody they trust and 95% feeling they have somebody who listens to them.

I listen and learn from HIS experiences, and request permission to share my perceptions

H - Mentor

I worry if I don’t hear from him for a while, wondering if he is ok, thinking about him EVERY SINGLE DAY. I know I’m not his family or friend but somewhere in between.

 

 H - Mentor

Its mad – in a really good way – its been positive having H become my mentor. When she became my mentor she changed – she chilled out a bit and I started to tell her more stuff as I started to see I could trust her with more information.

 

Young person

Top tips from the mentors on the scheme

+ Have a gap of 3-6 months between your professional role and being a mentor.

+ Be prepared to be challenged about decisions you made in their lives.

+ Think about – what is your relationship like with their family – what will be the impact of that on your role as a mentor.

Dear Social Worker…

A green icon showing a worker in conversation with their young person
A green icon showing a worker in conversation with their young person
Why?

Dudley’s Children in Care Council, M.A.D., wanted to communicate what children
and young people enjoy doing with their social worker. They also wanted to share
how social workers can develop positive and meaningful relationships with
children and young people.

What did they do?

Members of M.A.D children in care council consulted with children aged 8-10 and young people aged 11-18 about what a ‘superhero social worker’ looks like.
Members of M.A.D asked children and young people, at events organized across the summer, ‘what do you enjoy doing with your social worker?’ and ‘how would you rate your social worker?

M.A.D grouped responses into common themes and worked with a graphic designer to create the ‘Dear Social Worker’ poster and leaflet to let
all social workers know what children and young people enjoy doing with their social workers. They have also created a video which is shared with new
social workers and ASYE during their induction.

Impact

M.A.D felt that they had been listened to and gave clear ideas of what their social workers could do with children and young people.

• M.A.D are planning a series of posters including ‘Dear foster
carer…’
• This work was also included in ANV’s national report:

‘What children and young people wanted to say to the Care Review’

Dear Social Worker poster from Dudley Council

‘Why social workers need to show children they care’

By Lauren Parker

Community Care

In this piece for National Care Leavers’ Week, Lauren Parker recalls the first time a social worker showed she cared about her – and why it is so important for practitioners to take an interest in the children they work with.

The first time I felt like a social worker cared about me was when I was fifteen years old. I’d already had six social workers at this point. With a high turnover of staff and even higher caseloads, I wasn’t surprised that most of these professionals didn’t know me that well.

In one of my review meetings, I was asked by my independent reviewing officer what my hobbies were. No one had ever asked me that question before and after a minute of thinking, my mind landed on tennis. I had never played before, but I’d seen plenty of matches on television.

‘Why social workers need to show children they care’

Read the full article