Introduction

Fostering at modus is an independent fostering service. It is owned by modus, an organisation which also has a small children’s home. modus is there to make a place for you to live where you can settle and be happy. We will help to find foster families who can look after you and help you to get over the difficulties which have been problems for you in the past.

Aim

• To find foster families where children and young people can live and achieve their potential.
• To support those foster families and carers for as long as is needed.
• To work closely with the local authorities who ask for placements from modus

These are the things we will do:

• We will look after you properly and keep you safe. We will help you learn to get on with the adults who are looking after you
• We will find a foster family for you where you can be comfortable and happy enough to settle down
• We will listen to what you say and take your opinions seriously
• We will make sure that you have things to do which will help you learn new skills
• We will meet regularly with your social worker and hold review meetings where we listen to you, to your social worker and to your parents, if they are still in touch
• We will make sure that you have a chance to do your best at school or college, so that when you are older, you can achieve your ambitions
• We will respect you, whether you are a boy or a girl, black or white, whatever your religion and language, whether you are straight, gay, and whether you are disabled or not.

We believe that every young person who comes to live with a foster family through modus can learn to believe in themselves. We believe that everyone has the right to live in a family and, with the right support, everyone can. We will help the adults who look after you and teach them the things they might need to know.

We will see your foster family at least once a month to make sure that everything is working well. We will also make sure that we listen to what you say about how things are and let you know how to tell us if anything is wrong. We are always available to support you and your foster family, at night, if there is an emergency, as well as in the day time.

If you feel that you are being treated badly or unfairly, you can get in touch with us to make what is known as a COMPLAINT. There is a leaflet attached to this guide to tell you how you can do this. If you do not want to tell us, you can also talk to your social worker, who should explain how to make a complaint to them.

OR you can contact the people who check on how we do our job – Ofsted. Their telephone number is 08456 404040

As well as seeing you regularly, we have a full time teacher who can help you and your foster family if you are having any problems at school.

We keep records about how you are doing whilst you live with your foster family. Your carers will write records of your progress and you can see these and sign them at home. You can also ask to see the file we keep at our office – just ask your carer, Rachael, Sylvia, Gareth, Fardous or Dawn and we will arrange it.

Who works here:

modus is owned by Sue Hamilton and she will spend some time making sure she knows about the foster families and the children and young people. Sue and Coral Bury, who is the director, have both worked as social workers and have both also looked after children and young people before.

Gareth Walton has worked as a social worker and in children’s homes before he came to work with modus.

Sylvia Lawal has worked in social services and as a nurse before she came to modus. She has also done lots of voluntary work with young people who have come here from other countries.

Rachael Findley has worked in social services with families and young people. Rachael’s family are foster carers so she has experience of learning to live with others who might struggle to live within a family.

We are very keen on lots of activities and sports and will encourage carers to get involved in activities with you. Rachael, Sylvia and Gareth will visit your foster family often and will make sure that they get to know you as well. They will go to the meetings that your social worker arranges and will help you say what you want to at those meetings.

Fardous Umal has previous experience working with children and young people in schools and youth clubs. Dawn Hartley has worked with modus since we started in 2002. She has worked for five years in our small children’s home, and she is very interested in outdoor activities. Fardous and Dawn are our support workers and they will get to know you well. If you have any worries about your placement, you can always talk to your support worker.

Jeanne McMahon helps you and your foster family if there are any problems with school or college. She may visit you regularly and could help with school work if you need it. She will talk to your teachers to make sure you are getting on OK.

We advertise in lots of places for families who want to look after a child or a young person. Before we let anyone go to live with them, we spend a long time doing what is called an assessment. We get to know them really well and ask lots of people about them. When this is finished, we take the assessment to a meeting where people who haven't met the foster family also give their opinion on whether they are the right sort of people to share their home with you. It is very important that we get this right because children and young people need to be kept safe.

After a foster family is chosen, we give them lots of training and support to help them get ready to look after a child.

SUE HAMILTON
Registered Provider

Date: 22.5.08