Health
The designated health professional in SWIIS makes all the difference.’ This role provides children with excellent support for their health and leads to outstanding provision in this area.
‘I always get advice on health because I need good nutrition so my baby will be healthy, fit and well.’’
Young mum Leeds
The service has excellent health support to children and carers through a health adviser who is a qualified nurse.
Our Health Advisors have a key role in ensuring that any health issues are identified early in placement, and appropriate intervention sought. They attend planning meetings and LAC reviews when specialist advice on health issues may be helpful.
Support from the Health Advisor enables carers to effectively manage children with complex health problems, and to secure specialist assessments for youngsters with more complex presentations. Age appropriate health education including smoking cessation, healthy eating, substance misuse and sexual health is available for young people in placement.
Examples:
Early in placement a very young child was diagnosed with diabetes, which required carers to administer injections, and manage life threatening crises.
The Health Advisor’s role was pivotal in teaching the carers the necessary skills, and building their confidence in managing the child’s condition safely.
The Health Advisor’s knowledge and contacts have been critical in accessing specialist multi-disciplinary assessments of a number of young people exhibiting complex presentations, combining elements of Autistic Spectrum and Attachment Disorder, Learning Difficulties, and speech and language problems.
Education
‘There’s a teacher from SWIIS who comes and helps me with my subject.’’
Young Person Newcastle
‘Every effort is made to enable children and young people to maximise their potential in education by dedicated staff.
‘Excellent resources are in place to support children through their education.’
One young person spontaneously wrote a letter of thanks to an education case worker saying, 'your lessons were really helpful for my GCSEs which I think I did really well in thanks to you'.
‘Young people feel fully supported and encouraged by their carers to attend their education placement. Carers homes visited have excellent resources for children to complete homework.’
Each local SWIIS team also includes fully qualified teachers, health advisers and placement support workers. These staff work closely with carers and all other professionals involved with children in placement to ensure that their educational needs are being fully addressed and that any health issues or concerns are followed up thoroughly. Where necessary education staff will work with the child or young person in school or visit the carers’ home to help with particular areas of difficulty.
Education caseworkers and health advisers also contribute to foster carer training and can offer their expertise and support to carers to ensure they have all the necessary resources to meet children’s needs. SWIIS Placement support workers are available to offer practical help including accompanying children and carers to appointments, help with transport or supervision, taking young people out for activities or one to one work.
We know that what carers need and value is good support, training and a team who will respond to their needs quickly and professionally. We think that recent feedback from our carers shows they appreciate this too:
Supervising Social Workers
All of our Supervising Social Workers are experienced. Their input includes advising and assisting carers on the day to daymanagement of the fostering task, liaison with the Local Authority Social Workers responsible for the child and other professionals. They make unannounced visits to carers in accordance with the fostering regulations. Social Workers provide 24 hour support to carers.
Placement Support Workers
SWIIS placement support workers are qualified staff with specialist skills, able to offer flexible packages of practical and emotional support to children, young people, carers and families to increase placement stability.
Placement support workers can assist with contact, and undertake specific pieces of work according to the young person’s needs. This can include ‘Life Story’ work, particularly as they move to a permanent placement.
Examples:
Support workers can assist carers manage challenging behaviours, drawing on their extensive experience of a range of behaviour management approaches.
If you think that you may be able to join our team in meeting the needs of these particular groups, please do not hesitate to talk these and many other options through with your local office or complete our register your interest form.
