Placements

Every child and young person placed by Capstone is different and each has a background of trauma or unmet needs that means they require caring adults to focus on them and their hurt – and realise they are special. This, above all, is the specialism of the Capstone team.

Through our programmes of training and therapeutic support, attuned carers learn the child or young person in their care, so that they can make the journey towards recovery with them. They work hard to keep the child safe while at the same time promoting exploration of their individual identity.

We offer short-term and permanent placements, respite and assessment placements, and while we would prefer to manage a child’s transition to one of our carers in a planned and relaxed way, we also recognise that the reality is that we sometimes need to respond to a crisis. We will do our best to work with a child’s social worker to tailor what we can offer to fit the particular needs of the child.

Therapeutic placements

Recommended where a child or young person has suffered chronic abuse or neglect, and/or has been diagnosed with a significant attachment disorder. The additional  features of these placements, as opposed to our standard placement are as follows:

• Carers are given additional training in therapeutic caring and will usually be working towards an Akamas BTEC in therapeutic foster care, if they have not already gained it
   
• Formal therapy will be identified for the child or young person after it is felt that they have begun to settle into their new family, and only when there is the prospect of a year of stability in placement ahead of them
   
• Life story work may also be instigated with a view to the child rewriting a life narrative that has been distorted by trauma
   
• Additional educational resources will be made available if needed
   
• A regular respite component may be built into the placement, depending on the child’s level of need and vulnerability
   

Permanent placements

Children and young people who might otherwise find themselves in residential care are sometimes placed with our carers who have the skills and resilience to rewrite the child’s life narrative so there is a shift to a happier ending. The Capstone ethos is one that encourages carers to integrate children and young people into their families and it often happens that children remain part of carers’ extended families long after they have ‘left care’. To date, members of the Capstone team have ‘foster children’ who are now in their twenties and thirties.

Sibling placements

Research has shown that children usually do better in placement and are more resilient, with fewer disruptions, if they are placed with their siblings. All of our offices have delivered training in sibling caring, in strengthening the identity both of the individual child and of the sibling group, and the impact siblings have on each other.

When referrals are being taken by our referrals officers, they will usually ask if there are siblings who are likely to join the client child, so that we can bear in mind the need for an extended capacity placement if it is likely that a brother or sister will come into care at a later date.

Parent and child placements

In recent years we have received an increasing number of parent-and-child referrals and have accumulated a level of expertise in the observation techniques and recording that are required to meet the needs of both the local authority and the courts.  More importantly, carers have become skilled in offering unobtrusive and tactful support to vulnerable parents and even more vulnerable babies and young children, combining diplomatic interventions with robust child protection procedures.

Unaccompanied minors

We have a number of carers with experience and/or capacity to foster unaccompanied minores.  This specialism is also the particular achievement of our London offices. Carers in that area represent over twenty countries and the referral officers pride themselves on their capacity to place almost any child from an ethnic minority in a culturally appropriate family.

Singleton placements

Capstone has a cohort of carers who are able to provide a singleton placement for any child or young person who, for whatever reason, may not be placed in a family where there are other children living.  These carers are skilled at providing unobtrusive supervision for a child who might otherwise be at risk of offending or of placing themselves in high-risk situations.  These placements are likely also to require therapeutic input, which we are able to provide in-house or through CAMHS.

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