While social pedagogy is common across continental Europe, social care in the UK is relatively unfamiliar with the approach. Interest in social pedagogy has, however, increased in recent years with more organisations exploring... [ view full abstract ]
While social pedagogy is common across continental Europe, social care in the UK is relatively unfamiliar with the approach. Interest in social pedagogy has, however, increased in recent years with more organisations exploring the potential for the approach to make a difference to children, families and the professionals and systems that support them. “Head, Heart, Hands” is a programme of work being led by the Fostering Network to introduce social pedagogy into seven fostering services in England and Scotland. The four year programme, includes the employment of social pedagogues within the fostering services, and training provided to up to 40 foster carers, and staff in key social pedagogic principles and practices. The programme is being evaluated by a team of researchers led by The Centre for Children and Family Research, Loughborough University (UK), in partnership with the Colebrooke Centre for Evidence and Implementation.
The overall aim of the Head, Heart, Hands programme is to improve the care experiences and outcomes achieved by children placed in foster care in the UK. One of the key outcome measures for the programme is placement stability. This presentation will explore the emerging findings from the evaluation of Head Heart Hands on the impact that the programme has had on placement stability, and whether the social pedagogic principles introduced by the programme has influenced how foster carers, and those social care staff who support them address potential disruptions and conflicts which may lead to unplanned placement changes.
Emerging findings suggest that the adoption of social pedagogic principles have enabled foster carers who have participated in Head, Heart, hands to change the way that they deal with large and small conflicts in the fostering household, develop new strategies for strengthening their relationship with the young person, and feel more confident to maintain placements through challenging periods. Moreover, those foster carers who attended the Head, Heart, Hands training with their supervising social worker have reported improved relationships which have been invaluable during such challenging periods.
Drawing on data gathered from surveys, interviews with foster carers who have participated in Head, Heart, Hands and the children and young people placed with them, along with focus groups and interviews with social care front line staff and managers, the session will explore how the changes in practice experienced by the foster carers and their supervising social workers may influence placement stability. A comparative analysis of the placement patterns of those children placed with foster carers who have participated in Head, Heart, Hands, compared with those in the same fostering service who have not will be presented. The impact of the programme on placement stability, including planned and unplanned moves will be explored. The implications of the Head, Heart, Hands evaluation on how services support foster carers to support stable placements will also be examined.
