Corporate Parenting
The Corporate Parenting service oversees children in care and the 16+ service. It aims to meet the individual needs of children and young people in care and leaving care, to provide them with the best outcomes and support to lead successful adult lives.
We have a Corporate Parenting Board and a head of service that leads on corporate parenting.
The head of service works strategically with other teams across the council, and with key partners including:
- health
- education
- housing
- police.
Our aim is to ensure we do what’s best for our children in care and young people leaving care.
Children in Care
Our Children in Care service based at Broadside in Chatham is a dedicated service for children in care, also known as 'looked after by the local authority'.
This service consists of 4 social work teams and a service manager. A social worker is allocated to each child in care to:
- undertake statutory social work duties
- develop and implement a care plan
- provide services to achieve good outcomes for children
- work with legal and judiciary colleagues during care proceedings.
The social workers will work with children, families, guardians, health, education and carers to ensure that permanent plans for children and young people are timely and meet their needs.
Care leavers
The 16+ Service for care leavers is based at The Hub, in Strood. The Hub provides young people with information and support and offers practical based skills like preparing meals.
The service is divided into 4 teams. These teams contain:
- a team manager
- personal advisers
- social workers
- business support.
Social workers are allocated to the children in care aged 16 to 17.
Personal advisers are allocated to care leavers aged 18 to 25. They start to work with children in care at age 17 in preparation for transition to adulthood.
Medway Virtual School
The Medway Virtual School (MVS) is led by a virtual school head (VSH). The VSH is responsible for making sure the educational needs of our children and young people are met.
The MVS team works with schools, carers and social workers to help pupils achieve educational outcomes comparable to their peers. When our children in care and young care leavers receive a high-quality education there is a strong foundation for widening and improving their opportunities in life.