Existing Foster Carers

Training Programme

Existing Foster Carers

Welcome to the April 2011 to March 2012 Training Programme

INTRODUCTION

Devon County Council considers its foster carers and employees as essential to the success of its Fostering Service.

We’re constantly trying to improve the training we offer to foster carers, and this year we’ve listened to your feedback. We’ve repeated popular courses so that carers who missed out have an opportunity to attend in 2011; developed some new courses linked to the training support and development standards for foster carers; continued the support group courses; and opportunities for carers to access e-learning.

All foster carers have to complete the Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC) Training, Support and Development Standards for Foster Care.

You will be provided with opportunities to complete the Standards as part of your continuing professional development, and all training courses in the programme qualify for this. Your supervising social worker and specially-trained CWDC Mentors are there to help. There is also a special CWDC resource on the Fostering web pages that provides much of the reference material and information needed, including an introductory movie.

All foster care providers will be expected to implement the Standards and ensure that foster carers have access to pre-approval training, induction and continuing professional development. The standards have been designed to support you as a foster carer. They give your foster care provider a framework for your training and professional development which will mean you get the training, information and knowledge to truly make a difference to the lives of the children you care for.

The seven Standards cover the main areas of the foster care role and set out what foster carers should know, understand and be able to do.

  • Standard 1: understand the principles and values essential for fostering children and young people.
  • Standard 2: understand your role as a foster carer
  • Standard 3: understand health and safety, and healthy caring.
  • Standard 4: know how to communicate effectively.
  • Standard 5: understand the development of children and young people.
  • Standard 6: safeguard children and young people (keep them safe from harm).
  • Standard 7: develop yourself.

The Standards have been adapted from the CWDC Induction Standards for workers in children’s social care, and recognise the unique position of foster carers providing a service in their own homes 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You’ll notice that the content and the structure of this year’s programme is built around the fiveoutcomes of ‘Every Child Matters’ – namely:

  • Being healthy: enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy lifestyle;
  • Staying safe: being protected from harm and neglect;
  • Enjoying and achieving: getting the most out of life and developing the skills for adulthood;
  • Making a positive contribution: being involved with the community and society and not engaging in anti-social or offending behaviour;
  • Achieving economic well-being: not being prevented by economic disadvantage from achieving their full potential in life.

It’s only by basing everything we do around these five outcomes, along with other agencies in the field, that we can effectively work towards the government’s objective of ‘joined-up’ services toimprove outcomes for children and young people.

Thanks for everything you do for fostering, and for your commitment to training – we’re sure you’ll find lots to interest you on this year’s menu, and we look forward to perhaps meeting you during the year.

Kathy Houlihan, Practice Manager

Nick Unstead, Workforce Development Adviser

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CORE TRAINING

The Core training programme will offer a series of courses to newly approved foster carers and an opportunity for more experienced carers to refresh their knowledge.

There is a requirement that all newly approved carers will attend the core training courses. This training will support your evidence to meet the Training, Support and Development Standards for foster carers. Your supervising social worker will discuss how this can be achieved with you.

To ensure that newly approved carers can access these courses, places on core training will be allocated throughout the year.

Core Courses:

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SPECIALIST TRAINING

These courses provide an opportunity to develop what has been learnt from the courses in the Core Training Programme.

Foster carers work with a vast range of areas around meeting the needs of young people and their families and this Specialist Training Programme offers the opportunity to understand in more detail the complexity of some of the issues which may arise. These courses are open and relevant to all carers unless specified in the course detail.

Specialist Courses

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PAPERWORK

For printing:

Please note: Training courses are available to approved foster carers only.

Many courses are available on a rolling basis and if the date for a particular course has passed it may be available again in the next training programme

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Devon County Council, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QD

Our contact numbers | Tel: 0845 155 1015 | Fax: 0845 155 1003 | SMS: 80011 (please start all messages with the word Devon).

E-mail: customer@devon.gov.uk