Attendance

Voting members present – Olivia, Yusuf, Teigan and Eva.  

Non-Voting Members present – Mary, John and Anna

Summary of discussions

The group introduced themselves and all shared what was their favourite animal as an icebreaker.

Any recent activities or initiatives

Teagan reached the Trampolining regional finals 7th out of 29. 

Olivia busy with GCSE preparation, 

Yusuf has been involved in some work on education and preventing disadvantage.

Future meetings

Voting members agreed on 6 to 8 weekly as this fits with half term holidays.

Linking with other youth councils that young people might attend in their regions or through LA’s discussed – and to be kept as an agenda item. 

Collating ideas to share with Capstone Board and Senior Managers discussed. 

Youth Council Name & Logo 

Teagan volunteered to look at this. Eva also volunteered.  

Yusuf suggested a competition which was a popular idea also. 

Naming the group was also discussed – members wanted to have a think about this, this might come naturally in time.

Suggestion that the group make a video to introduce themselves.

Social Media

Discussions were held around social media; both the dangers and positives and the opportunity to input into this i.e., creating booklets/resources for children & young people.

Discussions were also held regarding young people in regions supporting internet safety and social media training for carers – all agreed that young people a lot of knowledge around social media, hence, to do this training together would be of great advantage. Members spoke about getting the balance right between safeguarding and being trusted by adults/carers, i.e., phones not constantly being checked constantly.

Mental Health

Members spoke about mental health being a top priority and they wanted to consider how they might help support young people within the Capstone Group around this very difficult subject. John (non-voting member) spoke about being a qualified ‘first aid for mental health trainer’ and wondered if this might be something that he could offer. 

Discrimination

Members spoke about discrimination and bullying for young people in care and how assumptions are sometimes made about them when they are just young people, despite perhaps having different experiences from those not in care. Members spoke of celebration opportunities as a way of illustrating individual achievements – which might help to change opinion and promote a positive view of fostering.

Privacy and carer logs

A discussion was held around privacy for young people in care and this was specifically relating carers daily logs. Members felt that this was a lot to ask of foster carers and was not ordinary life. They understood requirements around safeguarding - but felt a lot of what was recording was unnecessary and they were also concerned about the privacy for young people and how carer notes sometimes invade this privacy. They spoke about parents versus corporate parents and that sometimes foster care feels too corporate.

Pocket Money

We discussed pocket money and savings and how this is worked out - the group felt that they would like to review this. They recommended go Henry as an aid to financial literacy.

Interview and Panel Questions

Members were happy to review interview questions and panel questions. Some regions already have these in place and were happy to pool these.

Communication  

How can we communicate better not just via e-mail and how we can keep this communication going in between meetings. Members suggested Google Jamboard as a platform to be able to share and make suggestions on documents.

Rights and Entitlements

Discussion held re information on rights and entitlements for young people in care and it was agreed that the group would review the children and young people’s guide.

Other suggestions;

• On-line art club 
• Reviewing welcome boxes 
• A residential trip
• Cultural awareness 
• Wellbeing 

AOB 

Members asked that minutes of this meeting is sent to staff, carers and young people so they know what the group is working on.

Actions 

• Share Young Person’s Guides to for group to review.
• Request interview questions for panel and staff – share what we already have with regions.
• Share minutes with staff, carers and young people 

Next Meeting – 4th July 2024 @ 5:30pm