August 20212021-08-24T16:21:54+01:00

dialogue bulletin August 2021

Welcome to the our August monthly summary. We will be working to provide regular updates on issues affecting the residential sector. If you’re not already subscribed you’ll find more information on our news page.

recent news

A summary of recent research reports and articles affecting the residential sector. This month we include a variety of links and articles on subjects such as: current research being undertaken by the University of Birmingham, planning for change from the perspective of an assistant manager, Supreme Court judgement on the use of unregistered children's homes, updates from Ofsted and an incredibly powerful and poignant article from a care-experienced adult, that will challenge our ideas on 'independence' for our young people leaving care. Welcome Thank you for your interest in our bulletin for anyone working [...]

planning for change – a practitioner’s perspective

transition planning from the perspective of a children's residential practitioner Transitioning, or to employ a less institutionalised phrase, ‘next step planning’, can be a tremendously unsettling time. From experience it is a period that requires extensive planning and copious amounts of emotional support. There are some key elements in the transition planning that, I believe, can help young people through this process. A smooth moving on period requires an extensive amount of planning and clear time scales. The time frames should be considered and decided upon early on in the process, a view supported by Nice (National [...]

nice draft guidance, article two

supporting positive relationships As stakeholders who care for ‘Looked after young people‘ supporting them to develop positive relationships is of paramount importance; creating and nurturing positive relationships will help to ensure that when young people transition between or out of children’s services they have a network of people around them in whom they trust, who are invested in their future and who can support them to move forward How can you ensure you are adhering to the NICE Guidance? Research for NICE guidance suggests that positive relationships are supported by: • genuine caring – being treated by [...]

from independence to interdependence

The leaving care process is awkward to write about; it’s difficult to talk about a young person leaving care, when some young people reflect that “we don’t leave care, care leaves us”. It’s difficult to write about moving into independence as this insinuates a reliance on self-sufficiency, on facing and going at the world alone. When really, who is truly independent? Instead, let our trajectory of focus change from being a move ‘out of care’ to a move to interdependence. Currently, transitions are predominantly guided by the Pathway Planning process, where the priorities lie in the practical [...]