Update from Roxanne, Service Lead – The Promise
I can’t believe that a full year has passed since I moved into my role as Service Lead for The Promise. FCA Scotland have made such amazing progress in our pledge to #KeepThePromise, with everyone working hard to ensure that The Promise is fully considered at all times and has become part of everything that we do.
Here is an update on our activities around The Promise over the last few months. As always, if you have any queries regarding The Promise, then please do not hesitate to get in touch with me on 0141 646 1400 or via email: [email protected].
Independent Care Review anniversary
5th February 2023 saw the three year anniversary since the publication of the Independent Care Review which lead to the creation of The Promise and The Pinky Promise.
FCA Scotland were proud to join The Promise Scotland and other agencies across Scotland celebrating this milestone on our social media sites, where we managed to get the special hashtag #stilllotstodo trending!
Carer Participation Group
FCA Scotland’s new space for foster carers to come together and contribute their views around service planning and development was created following responses received from carers within The Promise survey last year. The group meets on a six weekly basis, and has welcomed the positive and productive discussions from carers across Scotland. Some of the topics we have discussed so far have been as follows:
- Service developments including adult placement, assessment, panel and review.
- Feedback themes from carer and young person’s survey on The Promise.
- Carer support groups.
- Foster carer training.
- Birth children – participation and peer support.
- Event planning.
- Carer logs.
- Language that cares.
Please get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about our discussions, or to receive an invite for the next meeting.
Young People’s Participation Events
During the February school break, some of our young people in the East and West of Scotland came together to help plan and create the event calendars for 2023. The events chosen had been suggestions from young people over the last few months and the calendars were designed fully by our young people.
The young people also took this time to design and prepare a covering letter to other young people moving into FCA Scotland fostering households to explain a bit about our events and participation groups.
In the West, our young people enjoyed some pizza and gaming alongside creating their calendar, and unanimously agreed to remain known as the Raven Creators, the original name for the West Young Person Participation Group who initially came together before the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the East, where we have had a number of new young people join the group, a decision was taken to have a new name, The Flying Falcons, who also enjoyed time on the Xbox and some card and ball games, alongside the creation and design of their calendar.
Thank you to everyone for coming along, and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our next participation events, new faces are always welcome!
Our pledge
As part of our pledge to #KeepThePromise we have worked hard to ensure that The Promise has been considered in all aspects of what we do here at FCA Scotland.
We have created factsheets for all young people to explain about The Promise, and these are now included in the Welcome Packs that young people receive when they join FCA Scotland. Our participation groups and use of surveys also support young people to know that their voices are important to us and that we are listening to what they have to say.
The voices of young people are also considered in any meetings that we hold including Team Parenting Meetings, and our Fostering Panels, where we have a list of questions created by young people to ask foster carers who are attending to be approved as carers or for their foster carer reviews.
We also make sure that people who are considering becoming foster carers are informed about The Promise from their very first enquiry and this is explained more during their assessment, including in Journey to Foster training, and that they are asked to explain what The Promise means to them. This is then included in their Carer Profile and Welcome Booklet, which is shared with a young person before they come to live with a fostering family.
So, what’s next?
FCA Scotland are delighted to continue to progress our pledge to #KeepThePromise – and even more support from our amazing young people and carers will help us to do so. Here are some areas where you can get involved:
- Young people champions – fostering and continuing care.
- Participation events for young people – attendance and suggestions welcome.
- Young people or foster carer contribution to future newsletters.
- Provide feedback and suggestions about FCA Scotland’s processes and services.
- Foster carer participation groups.
- Birth children – participation and peer support.
