Welcome to the new CWDC foster care newsletter

Countdown to completion

We've asked foster care providers how they’re progressing with the TSD standards and found that more than half of their carers had either completed or were well on their way.

As we’re fast approaching the completion deadline of April 2011 this newsletter aims to help support you and your colleagues in helping those remaining foster carers to finish their workbooks and successfully complete the standards.

Many of those who have already completed the standards have reaped rewards. Lee Navarette, a foster carer and NVQ assessor for Swindon Council told us:
“The process has been extremely positive and we have a feeling of achievement about the work we’ve done so far.”

There are benefits to staff involved in implementing the standards too. Maria Galyer, a fostering development worker at a local authority in London has found that:
“…the standards have also benefitted staff members, giving them new knowledge and developing their skills in implementing change”.

Most importantly though, it’s children and young people who benefit the most as their carers are becoming better equipped with skills, knowledge and confidence that they’ve gained through doing the standards.
 

Making TSD as easy as 1,2,3...

A simple three step plan can help to harness the enthusiasm of foster carers and make implementing the Training, Support and Development Standards easier.

Supervising social worker Simon Dodman, who is based in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, has discovered that three simple steps are the key to starting the foster care workbook.

The 'three step plan' has helped to remove the anxiety that some carers feel about tackling the work. Before opening up the workbook, he advises carers to:

1. Gather up every piece of paper they have relating to foster care, including diaries, letters etc, and put them in a box.
2. Spend a couple of hours dividing it all into plastic wallets and store them in a folder.
3. Sit down with their supervising social worker and the standards to go through the evidence they’ve gathered.

It may sound obvious but this back-to-front approach has, in most cases, thrown up 30 to 50 pieces of evidence before carers have even started. Simon told us that:

“These three simple steps have brought peace of mind to carers and with your support, they begin to realise what each standard requires of them and how their experience is relevant”.

Simon and his colleagues across Essex have found it easier to tackle the book as a whole rather than one standard at a time. It also means that some evidence can then be cross-referenced against several standards at once.

Simon says…
Other top tips from Dagenham include

• Celebrate skills – take the opportunity to remind foster carers that they are professionals just like social workers.
• Embrace individuality - each workbook is a unique piece of work that gives a flavour of the individual. Each tells a story of that carer's fostering history that they can take pride in.
• Share experiences - reward those carers who have been enthusiastic with the opportunity to mentor others and support those who are struggling.

Simon said:

“I've loved being involved in implementing the standards. It's continuing to be a very positive process which is bringing extra confidence to those who've been through it”.

TSD funding update

Did you benefit from TSD Standards Implementation Funding last year?

If so, remember that you can qualify for further funds once your registered foster carers have completed the standards.

To claim your end payments, your registered foster carer must have completed their workbook and had it checked and signed by their supervisor.

For us to process your funds you must complete both of the following actions for each registered carer before 5pm Friday 18th March 2011.

• Submit an end claim on the TSD System (for further details see P14 of the user manual available on the site)
• Send a copy of the foster carer's completion certificate to us at fostercare@cwdcouncil.org.uk 

We will be unable to process any claims for end payments without both of these actions being completed in advance of the above deadline and any completed after this date can not be allocated funds.

See the foster care pages of our website for further information.

Please note that funding to support the implementation of the TSD Standards has been closed to new registrations since March 2010.

Updating the Supervising Social Worker guidance

We’re looking for supervising social workers to work with us and help us to write new, clearer guidance to support you to implement the TSD standards. 

We’re hosting four events across England which will give supervising social workers the chance to contribute. There will also be plenty of opportunity to learn and share advice, useful tools, resources and good practice to make implementing the foster care TSD standards easier.

How to get involved

You can apply or nominate a supervising social worker from your organisation by completing this simple online registration form. There are 180 places available in total, so priority will be given to those who respond first. We can only accept one nomination per organisation.

Dates and locations of the events:

27 September 2010 - Leeds
1 October 2010 - London
4 October 2010 - Birmingham
8 October 2010 - London

For more information visit our website.

Download agenda
Terms and conditions

Reaching all carers - language needn’t be a barrier

Sometimes a more personalised approach is needed to engage carers, particularly those whose first language isn’t English.

Sheila McKeand, is a fostering development officer at Bradford Council, and from the outset she recognised the need for extra support for carers who spoke little or no English.

One of the ways Bradford offers additional support to their Asian carers is by running workshops, which are led by staff who speak Urdu and Punjabi. Sheila explained that:

“They involve eight foster carers at a time and cover one standard per workshop. The staff discuss the workbook contents with them and take notes from their carers’ verbal responses”

Asphaleia Fostering, an independent fostering agency, offer carers the option of writing their evidence in their own language. Carol Lusher, Asphaleia’s manager, explained that this would then need to be backed up with a discussion about their evidence to ensure the evidence is sufficient and can be signed-off.

Carol simply asks her carers to:

“explain their answers verbally, then I write an English summary in their workbook.”

It is important to remember that the TSD standards are not a test of a carer’s ability to write or spell; an essay isn’t required! Evidence can be presented in many different formats – a witness testimony, a voice recording, attendance at a course, a professional discussion.

The most important thing is that the carer can evidence all of the standards – how it is presented will be unique to each carer.

Ask Ann...

Many of you will already know Ann Harrison, our National Manager for social care.

In each bulletin she’ll be on hand to help you to overcome any problems you may be experiencing while working towards completion of the foster care TSD standards. This month we’ve heard from several supervising social workers, asking:

“Some of my foster carers have completed an NVQ 3 in Health and Social Care - do they still need to do the TSD standards?”

Ann answers:

In short, yes. Even carers who have achieved the NVQ Health and Social Care (Children and Young People) Level 3 must show that they have achieved the Standards.

The good news is that if a foster carer has completed their NVQ Health and Social Care Level 3, they will already have much of the evidence they need to show that they have the skills and competencies to achieve the TSD standards.

This can be confirmed by your NVQ Assessor, but it isn't enough for the Assessor to write a blanket statement covering the whole workbook. You certainly shouldn’t assume that a foster carer has achieved the TSD standards by gaining their NVQ.

The foster carer will need to cross-reference evidence from the NVQ against the TSD Standards and provide new evidence where there are any gaps.

Carers who have completed the NVQ have a really good head-start to complete the standards, and to further streamline the process Cheshire County Council have put together a document which maps the standards to the appropriate NVQ units. You can download this mapping document from our website.

If you’d like Ann to answer any questions about the standards or you’ve overcome any issues that you think others could benefit from hearing about, please email Ann at fostercare@cwdcouncil.org.uk

New induction guide for short break carers

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the 

Induction Guide for the Short Break Workforce.

A good induction empowers carers to have the knowledge, skills and understanding to improve results for children, young people and their families.

The induction guide links to the TSD Standards for short break carers. It identifies six areas that constitute a good induction, which link directly to the six standards covered in the TSD standards.

The guide can be used to support the whole short break workforce; whether they are family-based, sitters, playworkers or befrienders, working in paid or voluntary roles.

We hope that the guide will help managers to deliver consistent and effective induction for those providing short break services for disabled children and young people.