Dacorum foster carers shine the light on pioneering fostering programme

A couple from Dacorum, who were the first hub carers in Hertfordshire, are helping to raise awareness of a pioneering fostering programme.

Jools Newman and her husband Ed are Mockingbird hub foster carers in Hemel and Tring and have been supporting the Mockingbird Programme for the past three and a half years.

Children and young people in foster care in Hertfordshire are benefitting hugely from the Mockingbird Programme, an award-winning and sustainable foster care model which sees a Hub foster carer supporting a group of fostering households (referred to as constellations) set up in a similar structure to that of an extended family, to provide support.

Thanks to the community support Mockingbird provides, 48 children have been provided with secure and stable families, and the breakdown of relationships has been avoided, meaning more of Hertfordshire’s children can grow up with the stability they deserve.

The 4 groups in Hertfordshire are each led by a hub home foster carer who offers vital peer support and guidance alongside social activities and sleepovers to strengthen relationships and permanence.

Hertfordshire County Council introduced the Mockingbird programme, which in the UK is delivered by leading fostering charity The Fostering Network, in 2015. Since then, the model has gone from strength to strength.

Jools said: “Mockingbird is as much about the carers as the children because the carers need support as well, and that leads to happy children.”

There are currently seven families – 12 parents and 12 children - in Jools and Ed’s hub, and they are offered practical support such as sleepovers and organised activities as well as emotional support.

Jools said: “The families in our hub become like extended families. I sometimes help picking up children from school, we offer sleepovers, we organise coffee support chats, we organise events like barge trips, Ninja Warrior and Easter egg hunts.

“I also go to all the care plan meetings for the children, and I am still connected to some of the children who used to be on the hub. It’s an amazing programme, as it creates a community.”

Gloria, who currently is looking after a teenage boy, greatly benefits from the support of Jools’ foster hub.

She said: “I really value the Mockingbird scheme, it’s great for both the foster carer and the child. I’ve been a foster carer for over 20 years so I know the difference it has made to fostering.

“There’s such excellent support. If I feel I need to chat about anything, I can chat to Jools and also to the other foster carers in the hub, it really is like an extended family.

“We have a hub meeting once a month, I meet with the other foster carers regularly, and the children have the chance to take part in lots of activities. It means that the children can mix with other like-minded children and feel totally at home.”

The Mockingbird programme is both beneficial to children and young people as well as foster carers who are supported to be able to provide the best possible care to their young people; but it is also a cost-effective, sustainable model of foster care, with more capacity to care for children than other existing fostering models.

Councillor Teresa Heritage, cabinet member for children, young people and families said: “Here in Hertfordshire the Mockingbird programme is a game changer, both for our children and our foster carers and we’re so proud of the achievements of all of those involved.

"This extended family model provides a high level of stability to children and young people and strengthens relationships between all members, including birth families and social workers.

“Our Mockingbird foster carers feel supported and we are seeing an increase in the retention of foster carers because of it.”

If you are interested in becoming a foster carer with Hertfordshire County Council, call 0800 917 0925 or visit the fostering section the council's website.

The council welcomes people from all backgrounds, of all different ages, genders, ethnicities, no matter your relationship status or sexual orientation.