Training & events programme

Annual Reviews are an essential part of our statutory support and supervision of foster carers. In this open course, we explore how to complete an annual review well. We explore how to ensure the review meets the needs of the Fostering Service to be legally compliant, but also of carers to feel valued and supported, whilst keeping children at the centre of the process.

The PACE parenting approach was developed by Dr Dan Hughes for parents and carers of children who are adopted or live in foster or kinship care families. PACE stands for Playfullness, Acceptance. Curiosity, and Empathy and is an attitude has proved to be helpful for many professionals working in adoption, fostering or kinship care services.

This course is an opportunity to consolidate knowledge of kinship assessment practice. It will provide a focus on what constitutes a good assessment, including how to triangulate information, write robust analysis and plan effective support. There will be the opportunity to discuss examples of assessments and support plan alongside case studies. This one day course will reference CoramBAAF’s Kinship Care Assessment (Form K)

This course is an opportunity to explore the unique context of kinship care and assessment of prospective kinship carers. Participants will explore professional and personal values and gain knowledge of what constitutes a robust kinship assessment within the legal and regulatory framework. The course will consider different assessment tools that can be used in kinship assessment practice, triangulation of information and effective support planning.

This course will explore the support needs of special guardianship families, how to carry out assessment of support needs which are sensitive to the needs of kinship care families, and the how these needs may be most effectively met. This course will explore; best practice, regulation and practice guidance, assessments, eligibility criteria and access to therapeutic support services, the impact of early trauma, identity issues, and the benefits and challenges of contact.

This open course course will enable participants to increase their understanding of the role of permanence in children's lives. By reflecting on best practice, it will help those attending to form permanence plans that are geared to improving the outcomes for children and young people, including their emotional, cognitive and physical development.

This open course will offer a comprehensive approach to undertaking sibling assessments. It will explore who the key contributors to sibling assessments are and how assessors can plan assessments and engage these contributors in the process. Most importantly it will explore how to gain the views of the children, observe sibling interactions and draw conclusions on the quality of sibling relationships as well as focusing on the individual needs of each child and of the sibling group.

This open course aims to challenge your understanding of the meaning of diversity and intersectionality. This training will be a highly interactive exploration of equality, diversity and inclusion.

FREE FOR MEMBERS
The Weekenders Programme by Now Foster is a new approach to fostering that offers consistent weekend care, building lasting relationships between new foster carers and children in care. This session will introduce the programme’s approach, how it operates across Greater London to support children in care orders, kinship and SGO care, and what we've learned so far. Designed in partnership with care-experienced young people, Weekenders responds directly to their needs and hopes. This event offers a chance to explore what's possible in fostering and how we bring more loving adults and relationships to the lives of care-experienced young people.

The Secure Base Model is a strengths-based framework for therapeutic caregiving informed by developments and research into attachment theory and child placement. It focuses on the interactions between a child and their caregiver that can support a child to experience greater security and build resilience.