Kay and John, managers from Kibble’s Intensive Fostering Services travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to present at the Foster Family Treatment Association Conference in July. Their ‘trauma informed’ service works with traumatised young people 5 – 18 years and integrates a range of services including educational and psychological supports.
Their presentation WHAT WORKS? A developmental trauma reflective case study began with a DVD of a play performed by two young people, one of whom is placed with IFS, their drama teacher and a supporting actor. The play is co-written by the young people and gives their insight into their experiences of being in care. An opportunity for a Q&A session was then followed by a case study presentation considering the psycho-educational support offered via training and practice ethos within the Intensive Fostering Service to foster carers and staff.
Discussions focussed on key concepts incorporating Life Space Crisis Intervention, Safe Crisis Management, disorganised attachment & developmental trauma, along with consideration of new emerging focus for the service, namely Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics and Social Pedagogy.
Kay says: “we thoroughly enjoyed sharing our trauma model as a common language with our stateside colleagues whom like us see our carers as the greatest agents of change in young people’s lives.”