Working for the Corporate Parenting Team

When I saw this job advertised I had just completed my A-levels and was unsure as to what I wanted to do. I wanted to go to University but did not want to go straight from sixth form and had thought about a career working for Social Care Services (now the Children & Young People's Service). I had been looking for team support worker posts working with looked after children but could not find a suitable job. Then I received the advertisement from the Corporate Parenting team and thought this looks like a good opportunity so I applied and was successful.  

As my post was the first of its kind the job specification was not very specific and required some alterations. When I first started it took a while for us to allocate work to me so I was busy and had the right amount of work.  

After 2 months of being in post I was sitting on the Fostering Panel as a full member and being asked to give my views and opinions on a wide variety of subjects. I gave a presentation at the Fostering Panel training day alongside a Social Worker giving our views on ‘what makes a good foster carer’.

I have also sat on the interview panel with the assistant director of Social Care Services when recruiting a new Service Manager. I have given presentations about our team and what we do to a variety of people, such as the managing director at Twycross Zoo. I have played an active part in the monthly regulation 33 visits to our residential homes assessing the standards of the homes.

As part of this job I was required to undertake training for the duration I was in post. I could not believe it when I found out that I would be paid a full time wage and be given the opportunity to gain further qualifications. After much deliberation I decided to do an extra A-level in psychology as this would help me to get into University.  

I found the subject very interesting and really enjoyed the mix of working and studying at the same time.

I was also provided with a lot of valuable in house training, such as emergency first aid, presentation Skills and equal opportunities.  

One of the development workers from the team was studying for their degree part time and had left to do their final 200-day placement. I took over some of her roles in creating the newsletters, helping with the PC scheme we run and arranging schemes, such as summer work placements. This meant that I was doing more than was set out in the original job description and the work I was doing required more skills than were included in the original person specification. We decided that the post should be re-graded and we submitted a new job and person specification. We were successful in this and the post’s grade went up as well as acquiring the new title of ‘Support Worker’ rather than ‘Trainee’.

I was very pleased with my new title and enjoyed having more responsibility whilst being kept busy.

I was unsure after finishing my A-levels where I was going to go and what I was going to do, although I knew that I would like to work for Social Care Services with Looked-after children. This was very well but it was not easy to find a job like this with just A-levels. Getting the job with the Corporate Parenting team was a real life changing experience. It provided me with the opportunity to gain the extra qualifications I needed in order to progress to University and also gave me valuable experience of working for Social Care Services.

The main reasons that I was not 100 % sure about going to University was because I was unsure if I had the grades to get in and also I was not in a suitable financial position. Getting this job addressed both these problems, I was able to gain more qualifications and thanks to the help and support I received I was able to get the Leaving Care team to support me through University.  

I have had an amazing year and met a lot of amazing people who I will not forget. This was my first job and has given me so much in the 12 months I have been in post.  

I came out with a C grade in Psychology and have had offers from 3 universities to study for the BA (Hons) Social Work. I have accepted Nottingham Trent as my first choice and will be starting in October. I believe that if I had not got this job then I would not be where I am today and would not be about to embark on a degree at university.

I feel that this pilot has been very successful and we have had very limited problems or issues considering it is the first post of its kind. I think that having a young person who has experience of the care system working for the Department is a very useful resource.  

It provides people with a different point of view that they may have never even thought about and helps to raise awareness of issues that young people face when in care. I also believe that having a care leaver working for the department may help to dispel stereotypical views that some people still hold about young people in care.

Having a post like this is very positive as it enables the Department to build good relationships with the young people whilst also acting as a powerful promotional tool for the Department.  

Nick Randall
25th August 2005