Policy and Procedures s1

LIFE STORY WORK POLICY AND PROCEDURES August 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction Page 2

2. Purpose Page 3

3. Role and Responsibilities Page 4

3.1. Allocated Social Worker Page 4

3.2. Designated Worker – Life Story Work Page 4

3.3. Foster Carer/Residential Workers Page 5

3.4. Supervising Social Worker Page 6

3.5. Independent Reviewing Officer Page 6

3.6. Birth Relatives Page 6

3.7. Twickenham Family Contact Centre Page 6

3.8. Other Relevant Participants Page 7

4. Planning/Reviewing/recording Page 8

5. Timings Page 9

Appendix A – Life Story Work Checklist (Sample) Page 10

2 1. INTRODUCTION

Life Story Work is the process of helping a child or young person to understand their history and a way of helping them to develop a more integrated sense of themselves, their identity and help them to make sense of why they became looked after. A variety of approaches can be used to help children to remember their life journey and unravel their confusions and misunderstandings about their past: Listening, talking, drawing, painting, playing, storytelling, compiling eco-maps, family trees or other diagrams, using sand trays, puppets and interactive packages; it is about processing and internalising the information. When completed, appropriate life story work should be placed in a folder or book and retained by the child.

Life story work can be informal, continuing throughout a child/young person's life and into adulthood, or more formal, structured and time limited. The timing of undertaking life story work needs to take into account the child’s age, stage of development and ability to understand this complex and sensitive piece of work. The book should be part of the outcome of life story work, to enable the child to refresh his or her memory of past events and people.

A child’s Life Story book is an essential piece of work which is led by the child’s allocated Social Worker. Within Achieving for Children, Social Workers have access to trained staff at Twickenham Family Centre who are able to offer advice and consultations with regards to completing the child’s Life Story Book.

The Life Story Book is often regarded as the end product of the work, although the process of life story work will continue, as it provides the child or young person with a coherent narrative of their journey. It is their story.

For children moving to an alternative permanent family it should be a record of their life before coming into care, their life in care and their move to a new family. The life story book should contain photographs of significant people and places, drawings by the child, birthday cards and cards celebrating religious festivals sent by significant people and an age appropriate written story of the child’s life.

3 2. PURPOSE

Every looked after child, whatever their circumstances should have an accurate chronological account of his or her life, which is relevant and has enduring value, and can be shared with them in an age appropriate way.

Life story work should assist a child/young person to:

 Understand the background and history of their birth family and enable the child/young person to share their past with others

 Know where they came from and develop a sense of identify, including religious, cultural and ethnic identity

 Understand why they are separated from their birth family, know who has cared for them and put their past into perspective and to acknowledge issues of separation and loss

 Build self-esteem

 Aid them to express their wishes and help children understand and articulate feelings

 Express feelings about past and wishes for future

 Help the social worker understand who is important to the child

 Give a realistic account of early events and to dispel fantasies or fears about the birth family

 Link the past to the present and to help both the child/young person and the carer or parent to understand how earlier life events continue to impact on behaviour

 Help them develop a sense of security and permanence and to promote attachment

Life story work should also be used to help children, young people and care leavers to prepare positively for the future and any planned move. This could be:

 Moving to another foster placement;

 Moving to a permanent placement;

 Moving towards adulthood and independent living;

 Moving towards supported or residential care arrangements;

4 3. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITES

3.1. Allocated Social Workers

The allocated social worker is responsible for ensuring that ongoing life story work is completed for all children that become looked after.

Informal life story work should be continuous, live and meaningful and carried out as part of the social worker’s regular statutory visits. This can be delivered within a variety of interactive packages including: talking, direct work, identity posters, drawings and compiling eco-maps and family trees.

3.2. Referrals to Twickenham Family Contact Centre

Social workers can make referrals to Twickenham Family Contact Centre (TFCC) for formal life story work books to be completed by a designated family support worker based at the centre. TFCC do not take the lead in ensuring that children’s Life Story Books are completed for children who are placed for adoption or in long-term foster care and this remains the responsibility of the social work team.

Referrals made to TFCC are subject to waiting lists as the priority service at the Centre is to undertake supervised contact. A waiting list system will be used, with priority given to young children whose routes to permanence is clear and established. Children will be kept on a waiting list for 1 month before Twickenham Family Contact Centre makes contact with allocated Social Worker and/or Team Manager in order to inform them of the delay to this service, and for a decision to be taken as to whether TFCC have the capacity to undertake the completion of the referred Life Story Book. Where books have been started by TFCC and the child has numerous placement moves which impacts on the Life Story Book being able to come to an end, TFCC will complete the full draft and send it back to the Social Worker for the book to be finalised with the child.

5 Where TFCC are unable to assist in acting as the designated lead for the completion of the Life Story Book, TFCC can act as an additional service provision to assist Social Workers in completing this piece of work.

A designated family support worker will be able to assist the allocated Social Worker by providing guidance/consultations and advice on relevant resources throughout the course of the Life Story Book being undertaken.

The allocated social worker is responsible for completing life story work / books where relevant for children who are subject to Section 20 care arrangements, or for children placed under a Special Guardianship Order within the extended family. TFCC will not complete life story books for children where the care plan indicates that a child might return home, or be placed with an alternative family member.

3.3. Designated Worker – Life Story Work – Twickenham Family Contact Ctr

Where a referral has been made and there is agreement that TFCC have the capacity to act as the lead professional, there will be a designated family support worker who will undertake life story work for the referred child. TFCC professionals have received Life Story Work training in addition to training provided by Family Futures. Consultations should take place with the allocated social worker in order to ensure that information included in the life story book is accurate and consistent with the child’s history, and current care plan. The designated lead professional undertaking life story work should also meet with birth parents and foster carers where possible in order to gather information that can be used to contribute towards life story work. Meetings and direct work carried out with children in relation to life story work must be a shared task between the allocated social worker and designated family support worker. The allocated social worker is responsible for approving life story books completed by TFCC.

All direct work with children and young people should be undertaken with a sound knowledge of child development, and with some understanding of attachment theory. The timing and nature of any life story work will therefore vary, and depends

6 not only on the chronological age, but also on the emotional and cognitive stage of development.

3.4. Foster Carers/Residential Workers

The child or young person's foster carer or residential worker is in the best position to do much of the informal life story work, as they have responsibility for their day- to-day care. They are also best placed to record all the everyday important incidents, milestones and events.

Foster carers play a vital role in safeguarding the memories of the children and young people in their care. They will compile memory boxes which should contain extremely important 'treasures' and are vital if we are to ensure that memories are not too fragmented or even completely lost. These items can include information about developmental milestones, photographs, cards, certificates and other mementos gathered while the child or young person lives with the foster family.

This is an extremely helpful way of preserving the child/young person's precious memories. Foster carers/residential workers should also gather, or help the child/young person to gather, other memorabilia - a favourite toy, item of clothing or other possessions, a lock of hair, their first milk teeth, copies of school reports, certificates, prizes and any other special trinkets or little souvenirs the child has gathered, and store them in a customised box.

3.5. Supervising Social Workers

The Supervising Social Worker from the Fostering Team, in consultation with the child/young person's allocated social worker, has the primary responsibility of supporting and monitoring the work that is being carried out by the foster carers in relation to life story work. They can offer guidance and advice. The Supervising Social Worker should ensure that foster carers have the appropriate tools and equipment to enable them to fulfil the part that they must play in preserving children/young people's memories and helping them to understand their history e.g. cameras, videos, photograph albums and memory boxes.

7 The supervising social worker must ensure that foster carers are provided with a memory box for each child or young person in their care. This practice needs to be extended to children placed out of Borough with foster carers and in residential placements. The child or young person’s allocated social worker will take responsibility of this if a child is placed with an IFA (Independent Fostering Agency) carer.

3.6. Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO)

Progress in relation to the life story work books will be discussed at each Looked after Children’s review and recorded by the IRO. This will be documented on the child’s electronic file.

3.7. Birth Relatives

Birth parents will hold significant information about the early childhood experiences and about the family’s history and where possible, information will be gathered from the birth parents’ to contribute towards Life Story Books.

3.8. Twickenham Contact Centre

The allocated social worker may decide to carry out the direct work themselves or if required make a referral to the designated family support worker carrying out life story work for Looked after Children. The allocation of a referral to a family support worker is based on the Centre Manager’s discretion, as this will be dependent on the Centre’s capacity to complete the work alongside the day to day running of the Centre’s primary role, which is to undertake supervised and facilitated contact.

Twickenham Contact Centre staff will ensure that where possible, photographs are regularly taken of children and families whilst attending the contact centre. It is important to take photographs from the initial contact and sporadically as the child grows.

TFCC will provide relevant reference books/links, resources and offer guidance/advice to all professionals involved in undertaking life story work.

8 3.9. Other Relevant Participants

 Child, as best author of their own story

 All carers who have been part of a child’s life and whoever has been involved including other children/foster children

 Child’s guardian - explaining court process. They should also be visiting children before and after each court hearing and they should inform the child of decisions being made

 Teachers - certificates of achievements, photographs, information on educational achievement, cards from classes. Photos of nursery / schools

 Use of social care documentation/ permanency reports etc. Information drawn from social care documents rather than document itself

 IRO should ensure that their written reviews demonstrate decision making about care plans that can be used within life story work.

9 4. PLANNING/REVIEWING/RECORDING

The timing of the decision to start direct life story work with a child will vary according to the child's individual needs and circumstances. Formal life story work sessions will have to be time limited, regular and carefully planned and reviewed. If it is thought that formal life story work is not appropriate at the time, the reasons should be discussed at the Looked after Children’s review and recorded on the review form.

One hardcopy of the child’s life story record is not enough because it can be lost, damaged or destroyed. There must be three records of all the life story work:

 One for the child to own.  One for the carer (this should move to the next carer if the child moves placement).  One to be held by the social worker as part of the child’s file and a copy will be held on the child’s electronic record.

Where life story books are completed by TFCC, a hard copy will be held at the centre and an electronic copy will be scanned onto the child’s individual electronic case file.

10 5. TIMINGS

When a child is placed for adoption, a life story book should have been completed and provided to the prospective adopters at the time that the Adoption Order is granted.

When a decision is made for a child to be long-term fostered, and they are placed with their foster family, their life story book should have been completed and given to the child when they move into their placement.

11 APPENDIX A – LIFE STORY WORK CHECKLIST (SAMPLE)

When child first becomes looked after

Action Date task completed Outstanding action - who has information

Ensure child has photographs of parents and siblings

Contact supervisors are requested to take photographs of children and parents during sessions that reflect activities.

Essential information to be gathered

Birth certificate with explanation on mother and father or if name not on certificate.

Birth where born, weight, height etc Wrist straps etc. Photograph of hospital.

Information from birth parents and family members on what child was like as baby and photographs.

Ask parents to share why they chose their name.

Information from birth parents and family members on what child was like as a young child and photographs of significant events e.g. christenings, first days at school. What nursery and school did they attend?

Special family events that were part of i.e. birthday parties and weddings.

Reasons why the child became

12 looked after and why could not return to birth family and members of extended family. Use of kind words.

Who made these decisions and why - emphasising adult responsibility and not child’s.

Look at issues that impacted on parents and if relevant on specific issues such as alcohol/drug abuse, mental health etc

What babies need

What children need

What parents need to be able to do

What do you get from birth parents- any special stories they have about child.

Special information e.g. on family identity, race, religion and culture

Birth mum

Birth dad

How parents met, any info on marriage if relevant

Birth siblings

Birth grandparents

Other birth relatives

Birth family tree and explanation

Life path

What is foster care, name and pictures of those who looked after child

Special times and festivals with

13 foster carers

Contact with parents and siblings - what it was and will be in the future.

Where relevant what is adoption

Adoptive family

Any written information from birth parents and extended family members that will help child in the future to understand their experiences and the family’s wishes for them.

Later in Life letter from social worker

Information to be gathered by Foster carer

Memory box to include outfit child came with and any toys. Child may want to decorate the box themselves.

Description of what child was like when arrived- any anecdotes.

Photographs/discs/videos in date order of the time spent in foster care

Any pictures or things that the child made that are special to them.

Leaflets/tickets of places visited and holidays taken

Birthday cards especially from birth parents.

Special occasions at foster family

First hair cuts if young child keep lock of hair for child and give to parents

14 Significant events for child, first day at nursery and school- how occasion was marked.

Members of foster family and people that the child would have met regularly. Include household pets

Activities/sporting/musical events that child took part in.

Likes and dislikes about food and whether this changed over time.

Anything unusual about how child reacted and liked if poorly.

Think if child moving on to adopters, write a letter to celebrate time had together and their wishes for the future.

Information to be gathered by Residential Worker

Information on day arrived about what child could expect. Ensure that child understands why looked after.

How residential unit planned to help young person and what was aim of placement

Information and photographs on activities undertook, emphasising any achievements

Key worker input on care plan and what was achieved, how the child was helped to move on

Contact arrangements put in place with family- details of visits family members made

Child needs written account of why in residential care and what was the outcome for them.

15 Information to be gathered about education/schooling

Schools and nurseries attended

Ensure nursery and school provide cards/photographs of time child spent there

Ensure that school reports and parents evening feedback is available to child

Key stage exam results to be available for young person so can evidence achievements

Recording information

Need to ensure that a copy of all of the Life story work is stored in a safe place- this place to be identified on ICS.