Corporate Parenting

About

What is Corporate Parenting?

Sometimes a child or young person will need to come into the care of the local authority. This means that the local authority will take on the parental responsibility for this child or young person.

If the child does come into our care, then every individual who works for us (or with us) becomes their corporate parent and has a shared responsibility for that child. As corporate parents we support our children in care. We are well placed to help them develop the necessary life-skills and experience to build their confidence.

It is our duty to ensure that these young people thrive and prosper during their time in care and into adulthood.

Who are corporate parents, and what are their responsibilities?

Everybody working with or representing the interests of children and young people in care is a corporate parent, and should be aware of their responsibilities.

Corporate parenting responsibilities are not limited to the Children’s Social Work Service; all local authority staff, elected members and relevant partner agencies share this duty.

How can I help?

Learn more:
Learn about your responsibility as a corporate parent and work to publicly support and educate other colleagues on what they can do to help our looked after children. Also, when in meetings, don’t be afraid to champion improvements for our kids in care and care leavers.

Offer work experience:
This is all about your team proactively offering a work experience placement so that any looked after young person can come and gain vital experience to help them learn about a job they are interested in. This way you can share your skills and inspire a young person. 

There are helpful templates and examples available below. We have now added a work experience short form template on request from several teams who would offer tailored experience to individuals. If you don't want to fill out a timetable of what someone on work experience would do over the week, then please feel free to fill in the short form version instead.

Submit your work experience placement to: corporate.parenting@westsussex.gov.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this voluntary?
Corporate parenting is a duty undertaken by all staff and partners but you have a choice as to how you can show your support.

What if I don’t work with children?
Corporate parenting is a shared responsibility and we all have a part to play. Every one of us has this responsibility, not just staff who work directly with children.

How many children in care do we support?
This number is constantly changing but as of October 2016 we have 683 Children Looked After and 346 care leavers.

What is the Corporate Parenting Panel's function?
Visit the Corporate Parenting Panel page for more information.

What do you mean by care leaver?
Care leavers are 18-21 years of age and up to 25 years old if in education.

Why is the work experience template only for a week?
We’re collecting a range of one week placements but if you are able to offer an extended placement please make a note of this when submitting your details to corporate.parenting@westsussex.gov.uk

Once I’ve submitted a work placement what happens next?
By submitting your placement you agree to offer a placement as detailed above (or similar) to any child in care or care leaver on request.

Your placement will now be promoted to our young people aged between 17-21 years who are currently not in education, employment or training. Once a potential match has been identified you will be contacted by the Corporate Parenting Team to discuss arrangements.

What can I do if I want to ask a question or submit my work experience placement form? 

To find out more, ask a question or submit your work experience template, then please contact: corporate.parenting@westsussex.gov.uk

Corporate Parenting Updates

This section tells you a little bit more about what both West Sussex County Council and our partners are doing for our children in care and care leavers.

Free Leisure Opportunities for Children in Care and Care Leavers

Leisure opportunities are being opened up to West Sussex County Council’s children in care and care leavers with free access to some of the region’s sports centres.

So far, we have made links with:

• Impulse Leisure in Adur - Lancing Manor, Southwick Leisure Centre, Chanctonbury Leisure Centre and Wadurs Swimming Pool
• Freedom Leisure in Crawley – K2 Crawley and Bewbush
• Freedom Leisure in Arun – Arun Leisure Centre and Littlehampton Swimming and Sports Centre
• Everyone Active Chichester – Westergate Leisure Centre and The Grange and Bourne Leisure Centre

All of these venues are committed to supporting our looked after children and care leaves and providing a more affordable and incentivised route to those wanting to lead more healthy and active lives.

Can you see me? - stories from care leavers

A collection of photos and stories from ten care leavers make up the project entitled 'Can you see me?'. The aim was to shine a spotlight on the real experiences and journeys of being in care and being a care leaver. 

Photos were taken by Freya Scowen, a care leaver with a passion for photography and were put into an exhibition which was later produced as a booklet. 

You can view the booklet and read their inspiring stories here.