MPS CALL TO END USE OF HANDCUFFS ON CHILDREN IN CARE

Dozens of MPs have joined forces to call on the government to ban the use of handcuffs on children in care. MPs have called for an end to handcuffing children in care. Picture: Adobe Stock Ministers are backing the Hope Instead of Handcuffs campaign, launched by Emily Aklan, chief executive of children’s social care provider Serenity Welfare, which is calling for legislation allowing a child in care to be handcuffed during secure transportation to be scrapped....   View Full Article...

Job Alert: Childrens Crisis Intervention Key Worker

Childrens Crisis Intervention Key Worker At Serenity Welfare we look after children in Crisis when no one else can. This is more that a support worker role, you will need to have a nurturing approach and be passionate, resilient, and committed to promoting the physical, emotional, and intellectual wellbeing of the children we work with. They can have complex needs and trauma related behaviours from being exploited in areas such as Drugs, Gangs, Violence, Sexual and Criminal Exploitation. They may also have Mental Health and Learning disabilities. If you have the skills to mentor and support a child or young person to bring about change in their lives, assisti...

MP writes to Secretary of State in support of Hope Instead of Handcuffs Campaign

This week Marsha de Cordova, MP for Battersea, asked in a written question to the Secretary of State for Education,  "what steps he is taking to end the handcuffing and restraint of children in the care system by private secure transportation providers". This follows a successful drop-in session hosted last week in the House of Commons by Serenity Welfare in the name of the Hope Instead of Handcuffs campaign which was attended by 22 MPs....

supporting children in care over the summer holidays

Many children associate the summer holidays with family getaways, fun activities, and time with their friends. However, for children in care, of which 80 per cent suffer a diagnosable mental health disorder, this is frequently not the reality. The lack of routine and school-run activities can curate a stressful and unpredictable environment which can exacerbate these mental health concerns and require extra support. But unfortunately, the very nature of summer school holidays means that the required support is not usually available to vulnerable children in care during the height of summer. Regular routine helps to create a sense of stability which is esse...

VULNERABLE YOUNG PEOPLE NEED SUPPORT, NOT MISINFORMATION

For most of us, our home is where we feel comfortable and where we rest our heads after a long day. But for vulnerable children in care it is so much more than that: it can be a refuge and a safe space where they can feel protected. Recent investigations have shown that thousands of homeless teenagers have been advised against turning to care homes for accommodation and told to seek cheaper hostels instead. Reports suggest that social workers have advised vulnerable children in this way, despite hostels lacking the necessary care and support stipulated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989. These hostels, populated primarily by adults, may offer some fina...

Hope not handcuffs

In my many years of working with vulnerable young people, one thing which never fails to shock me is the negative attitudes targeted towards children in care. The archaic view of looked after children as “little thugs”, responsible for their problems, is more widespread than we might like to admit. The reality couldn’t be more different. Young people in or on the edge of the care system have often faced multiple disadvantages and trauma which most of us could never imagine. In addition, they often do not have the security of a family support network in the same way as other children. But, however untrue they might be, negative attitudes such as these s...