A new link : Serefo

Regular visitors to our home page may notice that we have a recent addition to our list of useful links. This is the website of Serefo. The full name of Serefo is the Separation and Reunion Forum and it was established in 1999 following a meeting between Dr. Elaine Arnold and a small group of women of African Caribbean origin. They had been interviewed about their separation from their parents during their early years and their subsequent reunion with them. The women recalled experiences of the pain of parental loss, as well as the loving care received from their grandmothers and other members of the extended families. They remembered the confusion they felt when on arriving in a strange new country, they were reunited with parents who were strangers to them and introduced to younger siblings who had been born in the UK.  They also discussed some of the difficulties they encountered at home, at school, and in the wider community; a familiar experience to many born and left with surrogate parents during their formative years.

The forum has evolved from these initial meetings and now organises, workshops, conferences and publishes papers online which have been presented at its annual conferences. Initially, the Separation and Reunion Forum worked mainly with people of African Caribbean origin who experienced broken attachment as a result of separation and loss but it soon became apparent the women's reactions to their experiences, the grieving and the mourning of loss are relevant to human beings regardless of ethnicity and so the Forum's aims are now inclusive of all who have suffered loss. Find out more about Serefo at www.serefo.org.uk/  

This item was first posted on 26th July, 2011, on  the home page of the goodenoughcaring website at http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1

Workshop Series for Professionals Working With Looked After and Adopted Children and Their Families

  
Date:               May - July 2011        
Fee:                 £95 per workshop (£245 for all 3)
Venue:            The Tavistock Centre, London
The Tavistock and Portman National Health Trust have written to us about their forthcoming series of workshops. These will provide an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the effect of life experiences on the behaviours of looked after and adopted children and those in kinship care and would be suitable for professionals working in social services, education, health or other settings, including those who support or assess carers as well as those who work directly with the children.
The Workshops are:
Supporting Kinship Placements: How can professionals meet the needs of children in kinship care and their carers? on Thursday 12 May 2011, 9.30pm - 1.00pm
Managing Behaviour for Looked After and Adopted Children  on Thursday 9 June 2011, 9.30 - 1.00pm
Who Cares? Applying Attachment Theory to Looked After Children  on Friday 8 July 2011, 1.30pm - 5.00pm
For further information about the full programme and application form contact :
 The Conference, Events and Marketing Unit, The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
120 Belsize Lane, London      NW3 5BA
Telephone : 0208 938 2285
events@tavi-port.ac.uk
www.tavistockandportman.ac.uk/cpd51

This announcement first appeared on the goodenoughcaring website home page in May, 2011

The Care Leavers' Assocation : upcoming network meetings

The Care Leavers' Assocation : upcoming network meetings

The Care Leavers' Assocation is a network of care leavers run by care leavers for care leavers. If you have experienced a childhood in care this is an opportunity to be part of a groundbreaking network which offers opportunities to socialise, to meet other care leavers, to share experiences and to get involved with care leavers' issue in meetings that are for care leavers only.
To find out more about CLA  contact Darren Coyne at darren.coyne@careleavers.com or 'phone him on 0161 236 1980/0790 4485921

The Care leavers' Assocation is a charity supported by the Lloyds TSB Foundation.

Upcoming network meetings

South East Network Meeting, London, Thursday 23rd June, 2011 at Somers Town Community Association,
150 Ossulston Street, London NW1 1 EE  http://www.somerstown.org.uk/about.shtml
The time of the meeting will be from 6.30 pm to 9.30pm and refreshments will be provided between 6.30pm and 7.00pm.

South East Network Meeting, Brighton, Sussex, Wednesday 22nd June,2011 at Brighthelm Church and Community Centre, North Road, Brighton BN1 1YD    See the website at http://www.brighthelm.org.uk/ for a map. The time of the meeting will be from 6.30pm to 9.30pm. Refreshments will be provided between 6.30pm and 7pm, with the meeting proper starting at 7pm finishing just before 9.30pm.

Yorkshire & Humber Network Meeting, Leeds ,Monday 27th June,2011, at Central Leeds Friends Meeting House,188 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9DX  See the website at http://www.leedsquakers.org.uk/meetings/central%20leeds The time of the meeting will be from 7pm to 9.30pm. Refreshments will be provided between 7pm and 7.30pm, with the meeting proper starting at 7.30pm finishing just before 9.30.

North West Network Meeting, Manchester, Thursday, 30th June, 2011, at the Mancheter Metropolitan University in Room E201, Second floor, John Dalton Building, which is on the Oxford Road opposite the BBC. The post code is M1 5GD For a map go to
http://www.mmu.ac.uk/ The time of the meeting will be from 6pm to 9pm.
Refreshments will be provided between 6pm and 6.30pm

All the meetings are for care leavers only.

Darren will also be getting his tent out and travelling the South West this summer in the week beginning 1st August 2011, working his way from Truro to Bristol. He will be in Truro on  1st August, in Plymouth on 2nd August, in Exeter on 3rd August, in Taunton on 4th August and Bristol  on 5th August. Further details will be up on the CLA website over the coming weeks at http://www.careleavers.com
If you require assistance to attend any of  these meetings please contact Darren.
Contact Darren Coyne at darren.coyne@careleavers.com or 'phone him on 0161 236 1980/0790 4485921

This item first appeared on the goodenoughcaring home page at  http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/                            on June 21st, 2011

Separation and Reunion Forum Seminar 25th June, 2011 : "The Challenge of Caring for Looked After Children"

On Saturday, 25th June the Separation and Reunion Forum are holding a seminar with the theme The Challenge of Caring for Looked After Children  at the Methodist International Centre, 81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ. The seminar is from 11am to 2pm. The AGM of the Separation and Reunion Forum will take place in the same venue between 10.00am and 11.00am prior to the seminar.

The seminar speakers are Phil Frampton, Robert Tapsfield, Andrew Carter and Jean Stogdon.

The Methodist International Centre is 5 minutes walk from Euston Station, 8 minutes from Euston Square, 12 mins from Kings Cross and is on the following bus routes from Victoria,74, and from Waterloo, 168, 68 and 59.

For more information about the seminar go to http://www.raffa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/agm___seminar_25_june_2011_2.pdf

This news item first appeared on the goodenoughcaring home page at www.goodenoughcaring.com   on June 21st, 2011.

The launch of Social Care Ireland

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The launching of Social Care Ireland takes place at 11.30 am on June 20th, 2011 at Buswells Hotel, Dublin.
The minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Ms Frances Fitzgerald will officially inaugurate the new organisation which is made up of three social care representative bodies, the Irish Association of Social Care Workers,the Irish Association of Social Care Educators and the Registered Managers' Association.
The aims of the new organisation are

• to provide a consistent and cohesive voice both privately and publicly to key issues relevant to social care work and education;

• to help bring elements of social care education, training and practice closer together to aid consultation for outside agencies on the development of the social care profession;

• to follow some of the successes of other professions in providing a common voice for different branches of the same discipline.

Further information about Social Care Ireland and this event can be found at http://socialcareireland.ie/ or by telephone at +353-1-894 2765
This news item first appeared on June &th, 2011 on the home page of  the goodenoughcaring website at  http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1

SIRCC National Conference, Glasgow, June 8th and 9th, 2011

The Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care will be holding its national conference at the Thistle Hotel in Glasgow on June 8th and 9th. The theme of the conference is "Changing Cultures : embracing and influencing the residential child care experience."  SIRCC's intention is that the conference will offer an opportunity to share good practice, to reflect on the joys and the challenges that face the sector and to hear the views of young people. The conference will challenge practice, motivate staff, help to break down barriers and encourage a culture based on fresh and innovative ideas.
It is a conference for everyone involved in residential child care, at any level and for those whose work impacts on the sector through associated professional interests.
The keynote speakers are Professor Jim Anglin University of Victoria, Canada, and Professor Lena Dominelli University of Durham, England.
Other invited speakers are, Stevie Brown, Sean Cameron,Tim Chapman,Hannah Dale,Lorraine Davidson,John Digney,Laila Dreyer,Jacqui Dunbar, Zachari Duncalf,Tine Egelund,Tony Ferrie, Julie Fisher,Elaine Georgeson,Noel Howard,Turf Jacobsen,Karen Japp,Jill Keegan,Professor Andrew Kendrick, Miriam Landor, Bill Lowell, Sheila MacDougall,Iain McLeod, Elena Masoero, Jacqui McAlpine, Nikki Milligan, Dev Muniah,Joe Nee, Kirsten Patience, Dora Pereria,Margaret Semple, Isabele Silva,Cheryl Smith,Laura Steckley,Mike Sutherland, Anne-Margaret Thompson, and Chris Walter.
More details about the conference can be found at :
http://www.sircc.org.uk/sites/default/files/National%20Conference%202011%20Flier.pdf

This news item first appeared on the goodenoughcaring website home page on June 5th, 2011
at  http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1

The Scottish government establishes the New Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children

This news article first appeared on April 20th, 2011 at   http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/Home.aspx?cpid=1 
on the home page of goodenoughcaring.


The Scottish Children's Minister Adam Ingram announced on April 19th, 2011 that Scotland is to get a new centre for excellence to improve the lives and futures of looked after children. The centre, which will incorporate the former Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care is to be based at the University of Strathclyde. Among the responsibilties of the new centre will be:

• the provision of specialist training for those working with looked after children
• support to colleges and universities so they can help looked after children make the transition into ongoing education
• consultation  with looked after children so they can shape services
• acting as a central point of contact for those seeking information/advice, including the provision of a web-based resource
• running seminars and conferences to promote good practice and raise awareness of current thinking and developments in the area of looked after children, as well as helping to develop good practice through a research programme covering domestic and international practice working with the sector.
• to reduce the stigma associated with being a looked after child

The announcement comes at a time when new statistics published on child care in Scotland show that more children are becoming engaged with the looked afterd children system in Scotland. new looked after children statistics were published today. In a statement about the new initiative Mr Ingram said that the new statistics
"show that while more children are becoming looked after, this is happening earlier in their lives This shows our policies to provide the earliest possible support to children and families are starting to have an impact. As looked after children are among the most vulnerable members of our society we must continue to do what we can to improve their lives and life opportunities. The creation of a new centre for excellence will help us drive forward improvements in care planning and corporate parenting with those who work with looked after children and the children themselves.
This centre builds on a range of other initiatives. Earlier this week, we announced new nutritional guidelines to improve the health of children in residential and, over the past year, we have put in place new measures to improve educational attainment through the Additional Support for Learning Act and taken action to improve training and employment opportunities through our 16+ Learning Choices initiative.
Finally, it's important to recognise that while the number of looked after children has risen, this appears to be due to more young people being looked after for longer. This can mean that they are continuing to be looked after without a clear path to a permanent placement. We have been exploring how best we tackle these issues and will be announcing action on this in the coming weeks."
Romy Langeland, the independent chair of the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care which will be transformed into the new centre of excellence, said:
"We recognise that there is already a great deal of important work being undertaken to improve a child's experiences throughout their journey within the care system. We welcome this opportunity to come alongside partners and work together to ensure that we maximise the opportunities and outcomes for looked after children."

The new centre  will be created by changing the role and remit of the Scottish Institute for Residential Child Care (SIRCC), set up by the Scottish Government in 2000 to improve outcomes for children and young people in residential care. SIRCC is a partnership between the University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University, Langside College and Who Cares? Scotland. The focus of its activities during the last 10 years has been the development of the residential child care workforce.
During a planned phased transition,the new centre will take on an extended role to cover support and training for everyone working with looked after children and care leavers, regardless of where that care is provided, including teachers, healthcare workers and kinship carers. The change in role reflects the fact that that looked after children often move between care settings and that these services need to be better integrated and that there is also a long history of the adoption, fostering and residential care sectors working together.
For more information go to http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2011/02/23094433