Corporate Parenting Strategy 2025 to 2030

We want our care experienced children and young people to feel cared for. Care experienced children and young people experience significant disruption in their friendships and family relationships through changes in schools and carers. We acknowledge that having healthy relationships with others foster a sense of security and belonging in children and help to provide stability and safety, as well as enabling recovery from trauma and building resilience. We are committed to reduce the need for children and young people to move once they enter care. Wherever possible we will support children to maintain links with friends and family – particularly their siblings, and any others who are important to them whilst supporting them to build positive relationships with the professionals caring for them.

• Develop the workforce strategy to incentivise recruitment and retention.
• Promote staff retention to reduce the number of changes of social workers and personal advisors for care experienced children and young people.
• Where changes in staff are unavoidable, we will help prepare and support children through this and seek to avoid further traumatisation.
• Strive to ensure our children have strong relationships with trusted adults.
• Improve administrative and data collection processes via the use of technology for social care staff to allow for more time spent with children and young people. This will support staff and carers to have the time to cultivate strong relationships with the children and young people they support and care for.
• Strengthen and increase the range and availability of trauma informed training and support for the workforce and carers to ensure a better understanding of children and young people’s individual needs.
• Ensure our workforce and carers are trained and equipped to meet the diverse needs of children and young people.
• Continue to strengthen our contextual safeguarding approach for children at risk of exploitation and those who go missing particularly focusing on early identification.
• Provide a digital platform for children who are looked after to support children and young people to share their views, participate in surveys and access and receive updates on the Local Offer, their rights and services.
• Ensure all children and young people know how to access advocacy support in relation to any aspect of the service they receive from our commissioned Advocacy Service – NYAS.

• The percentage of permanent staff vs. agency staff will increase.
• Improved staff retention and lower levels sickness rates.
• Higher percentage of children with consistent workers.
• Higher rates of children reporting trust in their workers.
• The number of children going missing and at risk of exploitation will decrease.
• Carers report feeling more equipped to support children and young people in areas such as mental health and emotional wellbeing, healthy lifestyles, and identity and inclusion.