Cyngor Gofal Cymru / Care Council for Wales

This conference will be of particular interest to Foster Carers, Adoptive Parents, Fostering and Adoption Teams, Child Care Teams, Leaving Care Teams and those working in Education, Health and Legal Professions.

Professor Howe is regarded as one of the major influences in the UK on Attachment Theory and its impact on child development. Professor Howe will be delivering two key lectures:

Lecture One: will explore children’s psychosocial development, paying particular attention to the influence of parenting, relationships and attachment. After outlining the main ideas, the focus will shift to consider children’s psychosocial development in cases of abuse, neglect and trauma.

Lecture Two: uses the ideas outlined in the first lecture to consider some principles of support and intervention based on the work of developmental, brain and attached-oriented scientists The afternoon sessions will include: The personal account of an adoptive parent of a sibling group of three and her family’s journey through trauma to building resilience and how together they developed the capacity for joyfulness. A presentation by David McBride, Independent Social Worker who will:

• Set the context for promoting best outcomes and life chances for all children and specific emphasis on looked after children
• Consider promoting best outcomes from a number of perspectives i.e. children and young people, parents, foster carers, fostering service providers, local authority social workers, local authority managers, local authority commissioners and County Councillors.
• Analyse the potential conflict between enabling children and young people to have the human right to a private family life with their carers and the demands of measuring and reporting outcomes within the looked after system
• Reflect on experience setting up and running an outcome monitoring system as well as the IRO perspective monitoring corporate parenting.
• The personal experience of a young person who has had challenging early experiences and his journey to successful young adulthood (To be confirmed)

More information about the Optimising and Improving Outcomes for children and young people separated from their birth family Conference.