Westfield
Westfield is a six
bedroom detached house in a residential area on the outskirts of Preston.
Preston is well served by schools and colleges with whom we have excellent relationships and has extensive
community resources that serve to address all the needs likely to be presented
by any child or young person who is looked after.
Westfield provides residential accommodation for up to four children aged approximately ten to fourteen years at the time of their admission. It is preferred that all admissions are planned and that residential care is regarded as a positive option from which to achieve permanency as defined in the child's Care Plan. Children and Young People admitted to Westfield have generally experienced a number of previous placements either in foster placements or residential care. Westfield has proven to be particularly successful in assisting children and young people either to return to their birth families or make the transition to a Family Placement.
Where young people come to live in Westfield at a stage in their lives where neither of these options is considered to be realistic, we are able to assist them in planning for their independence either locally in the Preston area or perhaps close to their perceived home area.
The staff team comprises of a Registered Manager, two Senior Residential Childcare Workers and seven Residential Childcare Workers will facilitate two members covering sleeping in duties. As with all our establishments there is regular access to the organisations therapists who offer a range of therapeutic interventions. The team works hard to achieve and maintain good childcare on two levels, both as qualified professionals and child-focused carers.
As professionals we embrace the principles underlying the Every Child Matters Agenda, providing the necessary environment in which children and young people are able to maximise their life chances. We offer individualised preparation programmes designed to achieve permanency for the child, work in partnership with families, Local Authorities and other appropriate agencies as necessary. We meet the cultural, religious, dietary and ethnic needs of the children or promote positive atitudes in relation to race, religion, gender, sexuality, class, disability, nationality etc.
We strive to support and manage children, who may present difficult behaviour, in a positive way with each child being allocated a key worker with whom they are encouraged to form a good relationship to use within their development process. We implement placement plans, which support each child's Care Plan and are reviewed and managed via 'Core Groups', which are made up of all key personnel i.e. key worker, creative therapists, social worker, parent, child therapist, care staff and teachers. We put into place comprehensive risk assessments for the activities and daily living programmes undertaken for all children. Finally, we provide clear assessments, evaluations and observations that contribute to the Framework of Assessment and Common Assessment Framework. We have established good multi-agency working and our systems are designed to facilitate the ongoing introduction of the Integrated Children's Services System. Our staff have received training not only in the application of this system, but also the principles underlying it's development.
As carers we work together with children, providing them with a supportive and stable environment where they are helped to build trusting relationships and where they can thrive and express their emotions constructively. We empower individuals so that they can mature and develop their personal identities and learn to accept responsibility for their actions. Children are treated with respect and dignity at all times. We encourage open communication both within weekly children's meetings and on a day-to-day basis; we strive to be fair and open in our responses. The children's rights to privacy and confidentially are taken seriously. We lead by example and provide an environment, which promotes appreciation of socially acceptable behaviour. We promote a sense of humour in staff and encourage children to have fun in a relaxed and safe environment. We always see to the children's physical and psychological well-being by ensuring that they are registered with all appropriate health services and encouraging regular check ups. Education Plans and/or Personal Education Plans are implemented to enable the child to reach their full educational potential.
In meeting the above aims we are striving towards the following objectives:
- To prepare children to achieve a successful outcome, in line with their placement plan, that will enable them to become established in a permanent placement, in which they will experience the 'specialness', love and affection of a long-term attachment, or in accordance with their Care Plan to prepare for independence. In doing so we will appreciate and take into consideration the wishes and feelings of their birth families.
- To help children
settle in residential care so that they are able to access the support
and treatment they need in order to live as valued members of society.
This may involve preparation towards permanency in a family, but where
this is not to be viable, children will be encouraged to utilise the
options available to them in residential care by preparing for a move
to a residential setting, in or near to, their local community and/or
a move to a long-term placement in a children's home.
- To assess children and advise their referring in respect of their Care Plans/Treatment Option.
