Agenda item

This is an opportunity for members of Care In Action (CIA) and Care Leavers in Action (CLIA) to feedback on recent activity.

A member of Care in Action (CIA) highlighted what the group had done at the most recent CIA sessions. They had ice breaker games to welcome new members following a recruitment day, focusing on team building. One of the games was a cookie decorating competition, where each member of CIA decorated a cookie to best reflect their personality. Each member then had to explain how the cookie reflected their personality and answer questions from the rest of the group.

Another member of Care in Action (CIA) updated the Committee on the work CIA had been focused on since the last Corporate Parenting Committee. This was work following the most recent Bright Spots Survey on helping children in care understand why they are in care and relationships with carers, which had been selected as priorities by the group. The member of CIA had also contributed to a poster to be given to children in care when they first entered their home, to ensure it included information on how to communicate dietary requirements.

Care in Action had also been planning a residential trip for October half term.

Care Leavers in Action (CLIA) had took part in the interview panel for the Corporate Director Children and Young People. They felt it went really well and had enjoyed being part of that process. CLIA had also had a joint session with all age groups where young people had performed poems and dances. CLIA members had enjoyed this as they did not often get to interact with the other aged groups. CLIA were also planning a residential for that weekend at the Gordon Brown Centre doing events such as night walks, laser tag and high ropes. Members had been planning work to advance recruitment campaigns for the group and were hoping to create a video during the residential weekend to be shared across children and young people. This member of CLIA had been attending the Voice and Influence Subgroup meetings which took place every month, planning participation events throughout the year. They had also discussed opportunities to give young people the skills to co-facilitate sessions which had been raised at the last Corporate Parenting Committee meeting.

Another member of CLIA had chaired the interview panel for the Corporate Director Children and Young People role. He had helped with the planning session including the ordering of questions and who would ask each question. He had also taken part in co-facilitating interview panel training, and those skills were then used for the interview panel. CLIA had recently had a graduation dinner which had been arranged to thank all care leavers who had turned 25 years old for their work and contributions which the Operational Director had attended.

The Chair thanked those present for their contributions and invited members of the Committee to ask questions to the CIA/CLIA representatives. The following questions were raised:

Members highlighted how busy CIA and CLIA had been and felt they had been doing an incredible job. Members asked how CIA / CLIA approached portraying the benefits of joining the groups to other potential group members. The CIA / CLIA representatives felt that benefits included the opportunity to be around others with similar life experiences. Being able to voice opinions to very senior officers was a big benefit, as was being able to see change being made as a result of the input given. CIA and CLIA members agreed that being able to make things better for future generations was another big benefit of being part of CIA / CLIA.

In terms of the barriers faced by the CIA and CLIA groups, representatives felt that things could take a long time to get done due to the processes that needed to be followed. The Committee queried how members stayed motivated when things took time. They responded that they reminded themselves that there was always a way to solve a problem and progress something and reminded themselves to recognise when things were moving in a positive direction.

The Committee asked about the experience of participating in the Corporate Parenting Committee and the more formal aspect of the Council. CLIA agreed that participating could be scary, particularly having to speak in front of senior officers and councillors. However, they understood that the meeting was a formal Committee and should remain so, and it gave an opportunity for young people to blossom into themselves and come out of their shells. They highlighted that the Committee was a good place for young people attending to find their feet professionally. CIA members added that they could feed back to other young people about their experience of coming to Corporate Parenting Committee so they knew what to expect when they came to the meeting, mentoring other young people who may want to come forward for the meeting. One action arising from the discussion was for members to be identified by first names as well as surnames on nameplates to make the Committee feel less formal.

CLIA and CIA concluded their update by thanking Gail Tolley, who would be retiring as Strategic Director Children and Young People at the end of August. They advised that they felt privileged to have worked alongside her and wished her the best for the future.

The Committee thanked the representatives for the updates and RESOLVED:

That the updates by the representatives of Care in Action/Care Leavers in Action be noted.