Midlands Foster Care
“This is a fantastic company to work for. Lots of support, superb training. Always someone on the end of the phone if needed.”
In the heart of the Midlands
Swiis Foster Care Midlands was set up in 2002 and is largely managed by qualified social workers with a wealth of experience in social care. The professional input is led by the Registered Manager who manages a team of Supervising Social Workers, a Health Advisor, an Education Advisor, Children’s Resource Workers and an experienced Foster Care Administration team.
Duke of Edinburgh Licenced Organisation
Swiis Foster Care is a part of the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme which plays a vital part in raising the aspirations and transforming the lives of our young people.
Who works in the Midlands?
Management Team
Laurie Long
Director of Swiis Midlands and South
Laurie qualified as a social worker in 1995. Prior to joining Swiis, Laurie spent 12 years working in the voluntary sector; within NSPCC as Quality and Performance Manager and as Operational Director for Action for Children, responsible for fostering services in the south of England. Laurie has also been a foster carer.
Donnarissa Douglas
Team Manager
Donna Douglas is a Team Manager with Swiis, having been a qualified social worker for over 8 years.
Stephanie Burrell
Team Manager
Rachel Wardell
Fostering Service Manager
Supervising Social Workers
These are the people that offer help and support to our foster carers, meeting periodically to discuss problems, successes and everything in between.
Bahya Rahisi
Zoe Chance
Megan Hayward
Chloe Clayton
Denise Brown
Victoria Deen
Melanie Hill
Stefani Gjevori
Placement Workers
These are the people that offer emotional and practical support to young people, ensuring the safeguarding and smooth running of placement.
Georgia Jones
Emma Spreckley
Administrators
Administrators at Swiis not only look after the day-to-day requirements of the office, organize foster carer reviews and panel administration, but also act as the first point of contact to our carers and are an integral part of the team in ensuring all our carers are fully supported and very much a part of the Swiis family from the word go.
Sophie Cooper
Zoe Jones
Commercial Team
The Swiis Foster Care Edgbaston team is supported by the Central Commercial team who are responsible for Marketing, Training and BM support, Recruitment of Foster Carers and matching and placement of our children and young people.
Commercial Management Team
Paul Jamieson
Jill Notchell
Ashley Holcombe
Behaviour Management
Swiis believe that supporting our foster carers well is essential to ensure the stability of the children and young people you care for and our social workers do an incredible job in providing that support to all carers.
Research and experience have however shown that children who experience trauma and separation in early childhood can have a turbulent and challenging adolescence and this may be a possible reason a placement can, at times, become unstable.
Swiis believe that our foster carers on occasion require additional support in understanding and learning techniques which would further assist in the management of difficult or challenging behaviours and have introduced an additional programme of support which our carers will be able to access
directly. The programme has been specifically designed to offer support and guidance to carers who experience behaviours from the child or young person in placement which they are finding difficult to manage.
The team consist of specialist training personnel who are responsible for delivering the Challenging Behaviour training as part of the mandatory foster carer training programme (or for new carers, this is undertaken as Day 4 of the preparation training), both cover MAPA based Challenging
Behaviour as part of the course content.
Foster carers can access The Behaviour Management Team directly to request support for individual carers who are experiencing problems with behavioural issues in placement. Calls from carers requesting support are managed via a dedicated admin team who will schedule a call back between the
carers and a member of the BM team as a matter of urgency.
Jordon Murdoch
Jackie White
Placement Team
The Placements Team will identify a suitable referral of a child or young person in need of a fostering placement that matches the Foster Carer's profile, the area they are based, approval range, family composition and fostering experience.
Nirali Patel
Florence Whelon
Stacey Slipper
Rhian Welch
Jackie Crisp
Joel Gould
Bryony Ferris
Rebecca Hewitt
Recruitment Team
Sarah Kitson
Emily Saunders
Rhiannon Payne
Beth Jones-Grimshaw
Kate Godwin
Support Group
We currently have five Local Carer Groups based in Birmingham, Stourbridge, Walsall, Staffordshire and Telford/Shrewsbury, giving our new foster carers plenty of opportunity for finding a group close to their home.
These groups are for foster carers to get together and support each other, whether this is just to talk about their experiences of fostering or share transport or childcare for meetings and training. The lead person in each of our Local Carer Groups is called a “buddy” and they are the main contact for the group.
Training locations
Birmingham
We offer foster carer training in our main office in Edgbaston in the West Midlands which is a short walk from Five Ways train station. The venue offers good access to Motorways and the City Centre and has adjacent parking and wifi.
Telford
We also provide a Telford training facility in the heart of Telford, approximately 1 mile from the train station, within easy access for anyone living in the Shropshire/Wolverhampton area. This location is adjacent to the shopping centre and offers lots of parking in the area.
Areas Covered Include:
Dudley | Coventry | Birmingham | Walsall | Wolverhampton | Sandwell | Warwickshire | Stoke on Trent | Shropshire | Solihull | Staffordshire | Worcester
The office also covers cases in Oxfordshire and Camden, and we have carers located in the Bromsgrove and Leicestershire areas.
Start Your Fostering Journey
With thousands of children coming into foster care in the UK everyday, we urgently need foster carers more than ever.
Refer a Friend
Do you know anyone who would be a fantastic foster carer who has the skills and compassion to support a child or young person in need of a loving home?
