DCSF have published Parenting and Family Support: Guidance for local authorities in England (March 2010). This non-statutory guidance replaces Parenting Support which was published in October 2006, and incorporates subsequent developments in parent and family support provision since this time, including the roll-out of 'Think Family', increased support services and the recent publication of the families and relationships Green Paper Support for All.
The guidance brings together existing policy and guidance in the area of parent and family support and we hope that it will be welcomed by local authority parenting commissioners and their children’s trust commissioning partners.
The guidance is available on the Every Child Matters website.
http://publications.everychildmatters.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=p...
PDF version An Ofsted report asks children and young people in care and care leavers what advice and information they need.
As part of their report ‘Getting advice: A report of children’s experience’ published on Jan 2010, Ofsted conducted a survey and discussion groups to find out the views and experiences of 351 children and young people who were in care or care leavers. It suggests that during times such as moving into care and leaving care, one in 10 of 282 of the participants did not feel they received all of the information and advice they required.
In particular, participants wanted more information on emotional and physical well-being, how to look after themselves and how to plan for the future. Some wanted more help on the dangers of drugs, sex and social well-being and how to keep in touch with their families.
The report describes what the children and young people saw as the best ways of seeking information. Some examples of these were through books, booklets and the internet, as long as they were “young person friendly”. The participants also preferred face-to-face discussion with social workers, carers, teachers, doctors and siblings. According to the survey, adults giving advice to children need to be prepared to explain the information that they provide and to research areas where they are lacking knowledge. Participants also pointed out that adults should not leave out information just because they think it might be upsetting for the child or young person. One respondent explained that "even if it's something I don't want to hear, I still need to know”, another said "there is more worrying when there is no knowing".
Some of the participants thought that television needed to be used more to provide information about the circumstances in which a child or young person might go into care.
A few participants felt that a particular area in which information and advice was inadequate was when they first came into care. The discussion group gave a practical list of questions for care providers to answer when a child or young person came in to care. These included, his/her bedroom was going to be, whether they would be sharing with anyone else, what would be seen as misbehaviour and what punishments they would get for misbehaving. The discussions also highlighted that a child or young person that was in care needed to know who had put them in care, roughly how long they were likely to stay there, and what would happen to them whilst in care.
Read the full Ofsted report here:
http://www.commissioningsupport.org.uk/news-on-commissioning/national-ne...
Launch Date: Wednesday 24 March 2010
Closing Date: Wednesday 16 June 2010
Local authorities have had responsibility for securing information, advice and guidance (IAG) services since April 2008. The directions and statutory guidance provide a framework for a coordinated approach to planning, managing and reviewing IAG services.
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/index.cfm?action=consultationDetail...