Chairman’s Introduction
Having held senior management positions in local authority social services departments, I founded SWIIS in 1988 to provide recruitment solutions in social care. Due to the many successful and productive professional relationships with social services departments, SWIIS has since then been able to expand its range of services in both social and health care. As part of this development, in 1999 I established SWIIS Foster Care and SWIIS Foster Care Scotland Ltd in 2004.
My vision for setting up SWIIS Foster Care was, and remains, to meet the growing need for quality assured placements offering the highest standards of care for children and young people, and to provide real placement choice for local authorities. My expectation of SWIIS Foster Care is that in addition to meeting or exceeding all the National Standards, our foster homes should be places where I would be happy for my own children to stay.
Experience to date has been very positive with real differences being made to the life chances of children placed with us.
I believe our commitment to putting children at the centre and working in genuine partnership are reflected in the following document and I commend it as an accurate reflection of the organisation as at March 2005*.
Dev Dadral
Chairman, SWIIS International plc.
*This statement will be reviewed and updated annually. Some sections will be updated on a more frequent basis.
“All providers must provide a statement of function and purpose when they are applying to register their services”
National Care Standards for foster care and family placement services
Vision
To create the best opportunities young people in foster care that adhere to principles of dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising potential and equality and diversity.
Mission Statement
Our ambition is to provide the best service for children, carers and placing authorities. Our motivation is the belief that better lives, better opportunities and better outcomes can be secured for looked after children and young people by working in genuine partnership with a focus on the following themes:
• Child-centered philosophy
• Partnership approach
• Support for carers
• Commitment to training, the value of education and a learning culture
• Continuous improvement
Principles and Standards of Care:
All young people deserve the best services possible. We want to provide safe, caring and stable placements and ensure that children and young people, their carers and others responsible for them receive all the support they need to achieve success. We aim to meet or exceed all the requirements of the national Minimum Standards for Foster Care and we believe that our service represents both quality and value.
Aims
Our aim is to offer each child or young person a placement that meets their personal, social, health, development and education needs in the best possible way through:
• Recruiting and retaining a broad range of skilled and committed carers
• Matching each child carefully with the best family
• An integrated approach incorporating health, education, social work and support specialists in each regional team
• A child centered service which involves young people, encourages their participation and treats all children with respect
• Respect for individual differences and strengths including recognising issues of gender, religion, ethnic origin, language, culture, disability and sexuality in all placements
• Providing 24 hour support for carers and access to information, resources and practical help
• A service which actively values diversity and recruits staff and carers from a wide range of ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds
• A commitment to training and personal development at all levels in the organisation
• A focus on continuous improvement, quality assurance and meeting or exceeding all of the National Minimum Standards for Foster Care
Service Provided
SWIIS offers a full range of short term, long term or respite foster placement choice for children and young people of all ages from 0 - 21 years. Carers receive comprehensive training both pre and post approval and our thorough, competence based assessment process assists in ensuring the best possible matching.
Each placement is managed and supported by qualified and experienced professionals from within our multi-disciplinary team including:
• Supervising link social workers
• Education workers
• Health advisors
• Resource workers
• Therapists
Supervising Link Social Workers
Supervising link social workers keep in close contact with carers throughout every placement. Link workers visit each placement at least twice a month and offer monthly formal supervision as well as participating in our on-call and duty systems which give carers 24 hour support.
Education Workers
Our education workers are qualified education staff with experience of inclusion and support for children and young people both within and outside the education system. Each child’s educational circumstances are assessed and monitored throughout their placement and specific support within school, with homework or through leisure activities is provided as appropriate. The education staff work closely with children, carers and colleagues throughout the year and their input is not limited to school terms.
Health Advisors
Our health advisors have school nursing or community health backgrounds and are able to provide advice and access appropriate health or therapy resources to meet children’s assessed needs. The Health Advisor works closely with carers and placing social workers to identify relevant health issues, monitor progress and also works directly with young people where needed. It is an additional part of the health advisor role to provide training and raise awareness of health promotion issues with all carers, children and staff.
Resource Workers
Resource workers undertake a range of activities with children and carers to support and maintain placement stability. These activities could include helping with transport, providing short activity sessions, running children’s groups, supervising contact or other practical support as appropriate. Resource workers may also have involvement in foster care training, support group activities and direct work with individual children.
Placements Provided
The following placements are available:
Planned short term, task-centred placements working towards specific goals.
These may include assessment placements, bridging, preparation for adoption, permanency or placements which meet other specific care plan objectives.
Planned longer term placements for individual children or young people and sibling groups. Carers are available who are able to make a longer term commitment and offer stability for young people until they move on to independence or their next step.
Sibling placements are also available as we recognise the importance of keeping families together and have carers who have been assessed as having sufficient space, skills and energy to take on this demanding task.
Parent and child placements are offered with carers who have experience and an interest in helping young parents to develop their parenting skills and who can offer assessment and monitoring as required.
Placements for children with disabilities will be offered on a full time or respite basis. SWIIS Foster Care teams identify carers with skills and experience to meet this particular need and offer additional training where necessary.
Short break and respite placements to support a child’s current placement, provide respite for birth families or provide a “home base” for children attending residential schools.
Unplanned, short notice or emergency placements may also be available including the possibility of placements for asylum seekers, remand placements or other specialist requirements.
Procedures for recruiting, training, approving, supporting and reviewing carers
In line with the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 SWIIS Foster Care has an established process and procedure for recruiting, training and supporting carers. During the initial stages of their application all prospective carers are provided with information about the agency, the fostering task, the assessment and checks process and the financial and support package. The agency has a specific policy in line with the Fostering Network Protocol in respect of applications from families who are already approved as carers by another agency.
We aim to complete the training, assessment and panel process within a 6-month timescale and all carers receive comprehensive initial training before moving on to a competence-based assessment and full statutory checks. Applicants are encouraged to contribute to their assessment reports and to attend the Fostering Panel in person to make the process as inclusive and representative as possible
Regional SWIIS Fostering Panels have independent chairpersons and includes members with a range of child care, social work, health and education experience. Full details of current Panel membership can be obtained from your regional SWIIS Foster Care office.
Following appointment, all SWIIS carers have a programme of on-going training and support groups. They also receive regular visits and monthly supervision from their named link worker.
Annual foster carer reviews are carried out in accordance with the Fostering Services Regulations 2002. These are chaired by an independent person and feedback is sought from placing agencies, carers, children and young people, education staff and any others involved with the placement. The review focuses on the carers’ development and evidence of the competencies for foster care as assessed in the original Form F. Training attended and future training needs are also explored. Carers’ annual reviews may be brought forward in certain circumstances where appropriate as detailed in SWIIS Foster Care procedures.
Children’s Guide
SWIIS Foster Care provides a leaflet for all children and young people and their families. This includes information about the agency, the services offered and a range of contact numbers. Details of the complaints/suggestions procedure and the Commission for Social Care Inspection are also included.
Status and Consultation
SWIIS Foster Care Ltd. is a national independent provider of foster care services to local authorities. The company currently has offices in Birmingham, Manchester and Newcastle and accepts referrals for the placement of children and young people from all areas of the UK. SWIIS Foster Care is a private limited company registered in England at Companies House. The Company is also registered, regulated and inspected under the Fostering Services Regulations 2002 by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. Copies of inspection reports and all other public documents can be obtained on request. SWIIS Foster Care Ltd is part of the SWIIS international plc group of companies.
Management Structure
National Management Group:
Dev Dadral: Chairman and Managing Director (Responsible Individual)
Kate Cameron: Scottish Director
Ailsa Bremner: Head Of Education, Training and Participation
Local multi-disciplinary teams
The national management group meets formally a minimum of 4 times a year and local teams have regular meetings, practice days and training events.
