Resources for: Professionals and Care Experienced
Children and young people with care experience can benefit from any of the information across the site. But here you will find specific information and supports for young people who are care experienced.
Beyond Your Limits (EY Foundation)
The Beyond Your Limits programme, run by the EY Foundation, supports care-experienced young people to realise their potential. It offers a two-year programme in bite-sized chunks to fit around school or college, with paid work experience, a bursary, employability training, mentoring, and a progression coach.
Phone: 0207 951 3133
Web: eyfoundation.com/uk/en/apply/i-m-a-young-person/beyond-your-limits.html
Future Pathways
Future Pathways supports adults who were subject to abuse in a care setting as children by providing support with work and education, housing and benefits, counselling and trauma support, and access to records.
Phone: 0808 164 2005
Web: www.future-pathways.co.uk/
Intandem Mentoring
Scotland’s national mentoring programme for young people aged 8 -14 years who are looked after at home. Intandem helps Scotland’s children, young people and families stay together to build and maintain positive, loving relationships. The intandem service is run in West Dunbartonshire by Y Sort It .
Phone: 0131 442 8760
Web: www.intandem.scot/
Kinship Care Advice Service
The Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland (KCASS) provides FREE, confidential, impartial advice to Kinship Families and Professionals working with them.
Helpline number: 0808 800 0006
Web: www.kinship.scot/
Scotland’s Redress Scheme
Scotland’s Redress Scheme is for survivors of historical child abuse in care in Scotland. It has been set up to recognise and acknowledge what happened, and the harm this abuse caused. The scheme covers: physical abuse sexual abuse emotional abuse neglect You can apply for Scotland’s Redress Scheme if you were abused: as a child (when you were 17 years old or younger) before 1 December 2004 in Scotland in a relevant care setting.
Helpline number: 0800 211 8403
Web: www.mygov.scot/apply-for-scotlands-redress-scheme
Scottish Kinship Care Alliance
Kinship carers are individuals, often family members who look after relatives children to help prevent them entering, or to remove them from the care system. Scottish Kinship Care Alliance has been set up to address the inequality that besets children in Kinship Care.
Phone: 0141 237 5960
Web: www.scottishkinshipalliance.co.uk/
PATHways Programme (previously TESSA)
PATHways Programme (previously known as TESSA in Scotland) is an early intervention programme that helps adoptive parents achieve better outcomes for their children by giving them early access to a clinical psychologist and peer support. It is based on the understanding that a child’s relationship with his or her parents or carers is one of the main keys to their development, and is founded on the principle of helping families, not fixing children. Referrals to PATHways are made by your social worker – you can request that they refer your family.
Web: https://www.adoptionuk.org/path
WD Champions' Board
The Champions Board is a platform for care experienced young people to get to know, and build strong positive relationships with those who make decisions about the care system and other professionals. The ultimate aim of the Champions Board is for those care experienced young people to help to change and develop policies and procedures in relation to their care, and to the care of future young people.
Web: http://www.wdhscp.org.uk/children/west-dunbartonshires-champions-board/
WD Throughcare and Aftercare Team
The Throughcare and Aftercare Team prepares young people for leaving local authority care and provides support, advice and guidance throughout that transition and beyond. The team manages a resource known as supported lodgings which enables young people to gain necessary skills and experience to eventually live independently in the community.
Phone: 0141 562 8800 or (1.30pm-5pm Mon-Fri) 01389 776 303
Web: www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/health-social-care/children/support-for-young-people-leaving-care/
Who Cares? Scotland
Who Cares? Scotland supports care experienced people to have their voice heard and we make that happen in a number of ways. Website includes a page for children under 11 years.
Web: www.whocaresscotland.org/
Young People in Mind Service
Young People in Mind (YPIM) is for young people aged 0-21 years who are looked after and accommodated in West Dunbartonshire, including young people who are homeless or living in supported/homeless accommodation.
This service is also available to young people aged 16 – 25 who are vulnerable to homelessness whether care-experienced or non-care-experienced.
Young People in Mind offers a variety of therapeutic interventions to this group of young people who might have experienced adverse early life experiences or are struggling with their emotional or mental health.
The service aims to promote good mental health and emotional well-being.
YPIM offer individual interventions and consultation with young people and other professionals involved in their support plan.
Phone: 01389 754121
Web: http://www.wdhscp.org.uk/how-do-i-access-wdhscp-services/?#coll-3676
Celsis: Your right to Continuing Care
If you are a looked after young person living with foster carers, kinship carers or you live in residential care this is important information for you. This site helps explain your rights and what you are entitled to.
Web: www.celcis.org/ccrights
Children's Health Scotland
The only charity in Scotland dedicated to informing, promoting and campaigning on the healthcare needs and rights of all children and young people.
Phone: 0131 553 6553
Web: www.childrenshealthscotland.org/
Kinship Care West Dunbartonshire
Our aim is to support families in Kinship Care, whether you are an "informal" or formal kinship carer.
Web: www.facebook.com/kinshipcarewestdunbartonshire
Scottish Throughcare and Aftercare Team
STAF is Scotland's national membership organisation for all of those involved in the lives of young people leaving care. The site includes a page with information on financial support for both care leavers and care experienced young people.
Phone: 0141 465 7511
Web: www.staf.scot/
The Promise
The Promise Scotland supports Scotland to keep its promise to care experienced children and families. The promise is that Scotland's children and young people will grow up loved, safe and respected. To keep it, Scotland must bring about the change demanded by the Independent Care Review, built on what children and young people had to say.
Web: www.thepromise.scot/
WD Fostering and Adoption
Foster families are urgently needed for children of all ages, sometimes children on their own or with their brothers and sisters, with a wide range of needs. It doesn't matter if you are married, divorced, living with a partner or single: own or rent your home: have a job or not. Applicants are welcome from all sections of the community. The one thing that everyone must have is a commitment to children and young people and preferably a spare room.
Phone: 01389 776414
Web: www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/health-social-care/children/fostering-adoption/fostering/
Young Scot - Care Experience Support
Benefits, support and places to go for help if you've been in care or are a care leaver in Scotland.
Web: www.young.scot/get-informed/support-for-care-experienced/
FASD Hub Scotland
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Hub Scotland provide a support service for parents/ carers (adoptive and biological parents, foster carers, kinship carers and step parents) across Scotland who live with children, young people and young adults who have a history of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), with or without an FASD diagnosis.
Web: https://www.adoptionuk.org/fasd-hub
Sowing Seeds: Trauma Informed Practice for Anyone Working with Children and Young People
This animation was developed by NHS Education for Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Government. It is designed to be relevant to all workers within the Scottish workforce who work with children and young people. It aims to support staff to understand the impact of trauma and to know how to adapt the way they work to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people affected by trauma.
Web: https://vimeo.com/334642616
Right Decisions - Sexual Health Good Practice Guidance Hub
This good practice guidance hub on relationships and sexual health is for carers and staff supporting care experienced children and young people. This is intended to be utilised across the six local authorities/HSCPs in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
Web: https://rightdecisions.scot.nhs.uk/ggc-sexual-health/
WD Family Group Decision Making Guide for Referrers
Family Group Decision Making is a structured process that leads to a family group meeting for care-experienced families. The family meeting can influence the direction and content of planning and decision-making for children, with the planning being led by families as much as possible. Professionals or teams in a case-holding role can make referrals, and family members and other professionals can also prompt referrals.
Download the leaflet for more information.