There are over 80,000 children and young people that are currently living in care across the UK.
Children are taken into care when they can no longer remain at home – they are either living in an unsafe environment, or their parents are not currently able to look after them.
Foster carers provide safety and stability for children in care
Being taken into care can be a traumatic experience for any young person.
The safe, stable and caring environment provided by 56,000 foster families across the UK is essential for helping children adapt and live a normal life during a period of turbulence.
Fostering is often a temporary arrangement, and authorities will typically try and reunite children with their families once it is appropriate and safe to do so, or support young people into independence.
Leicestershire County Council’s Dedicated Placement Support Team (DPST) helps young people in care that have multiple and complex needs
Some children that are placed into care have complex emotional and educational needs, and may find it more difficult than others to adapt to a foster environment.
The Dedicated Placement Support Team of Leicestershire County Council, are a highly skilled team with an aim to prevent placement breakdown. Where possible, they assist in rehabilitating children home to their families. The team recruit and support ‘Specialist One2One Foster Carers’, who have the skills, experience and knowledge to best meet the children’s needs and offer the stability and compassion that is required.
Other children that find themselves in care may be at a critical stage in their educational development, such as their final year at school.
The Dedicated Placement Support Team match these young people with ‘Pathway Carers’ that have experience in allowing the young people in their care to have a level of independence, whilst still ensuring they have the support and guidance they need.
Everything Community and DPST: An Easter Fun Day
We were contacted by the Dedicated Placement Support Team, who explained that they were arranging an Easter Fun Day for their children with multiple and complex needs.
The purpose of the day was to provide a fun event where where foster families could mix with people in a similar situation.
They had already planned a venue, and organised a whole range of activities that included arts, crafts and chocolate making – but they were looking for support in sourcing chocolate treats for their Easter egg hunt.
Everything Branded were happy to provide 25 Easter Eggs to the DPST – enough for every child involved to go home with an egg.
An egg-cellent time was had by all!
The Easter Fun Day was an absolute success, with families coming together from all around the County to enjoy a day of fun in a safe, stable space.
The Easter Egg hunt was a particular favourite for a lot of children – it really helped test their problem-solving skills and taught them about the importance of teamwork.
It is so nice when we can bring our children together like this. The team go out of their way to help make positive memories and make everyone feel equal and included no matter what their background is. Its a real support for our carers too.
Does your charity need support?
Everything Community manages the social responsibility and community support initiatives of Everything Global.
If you’re a registered charity and want to talk about how we can potentially work together, we’d love to hear from you at hello@everythingcommunity.org
We’re keen on helping all charities and community causes where we can, but we prioritise requests from smaller charities and those that are local to the Leicester area.
More about the Dedicated Placement Support Team
The DPST is part of Leicestershire County Council.
Their team of Support Workers bring a range of skills and experiences to help with placement stability, with a mission to enable children in care to return home, or empower young people in care to achieve independence.
To find out more about Dedicated Placement Support Team, visit https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/education-and-children/fostering/why-foster-with-us
