How we do it

The most important ‘builders’ in the child’s recovery are the foster carers. It is they who provide the secure home, the normal routine, and the warm caring that enables the child to feel safe and begin to trust adults again.

Carers are therefore carefully recruited and thoroughly assessed and we ensure our carer team reflects the diversity of colour, culture and family make-up that we see in the children who are referred to us. This is particularly important in London where we maintain strong links with the ethnic minorities in the communities in which we operate. As a direct outcome of this pro-active policy, we have developed a reputation for the sensitive care and integration of unaccompanied minors.

We put a lot of time and effort into training and supporting carers so that they feel equipped and confident in the work they do. Carers have access to the emergency duty team by telephone 24/7. All carers with placements have their own social worker allocated to them who meets with them as often as is needed (usually every 2-4 weeks) and supervises their work.

We try to ensure that carers know how important they are in this process so that they feel valued, in the same way that we want them to value the children we place with them. Carers are co-professionals in our Capstone Vision team and can expect to be treated and consulted as such. They receive a good allowance for the work they do and will be encouraged to follow a clearly set out career path. We also provide an extensive programme of training courses for our carers and these are delivered by specialists in the field. This includes NVQ3 in Health & Social Care.

Everyone else in the Capstone Vision team also benefits from our focus on training and support, so social workers and administration staff are also provided with training that will help them to do their jobs better.