Social Work Week

"We pride ourselves on being creative and relationship-focused"

Liam started his social work career at the University of Portsmouth studying a master's degree. During his studies, he began a practice placement with the family support and safeguarding team at Portsmouth City Council. This experience ignited his passion for supporting children and families.

"After qualifying in 2019, I returned to the family support and safeguarding team. My first year was supported by the Stronger Futures Academy, which provided me with invaluable opportunities for reflection, learning, and training."

In 2023, Liam progressed to become an experienced social worker. This role allowed him to take on more complexity and support colleagues within the team. Liam has recently become an advanced social worker, which enables him to mentor and enhance the practice of other team members.

"This new position offers an opportunity for us to continue our passionate work of directly supporting families while also mentoring colleagues and enhancing practice across the service. Personally, I am enjoying my new role. It’s incredibly rewarding to be part of the conversation on improving our practice and fostering a culture of learning."

"The relationships are stronger between families and foster carers"

Tom is a team leader at Portsmouth City Council and supports families within each mockingbird constellation. His team are responsible for developing hub homes and each constellation. Tom shared his learnings and hopes for the future of the programme.

"When we launched mockingbird, it became clear quite quickly that the connections and relationships that formed between the home hub carers and their satellite carers were really strong and central to the mockingbird model. We also found foster families within each constellation started to connect and support each other".

"As a result of the mockingbird model, the relationships are stronger between families and foster carers".

"All foster carers in the constellations have the opportunity to support one another. They share their experiences, training and signpost each other to useful resources".

"Mockingbird has changed how we do things and it has been a delight to be part of that journey."

"It is rewarding to see the progress our young people make as they become confident young adults who move on to independent living."

Kerry enjoys helping young people reach their potential as a social services assistant. She collaborates with team members, including personal advisors, to ensure young people can access the support they need to transition to independence.

In addition to performing regular reviews, Kerry works alongside other professionals who may be supporting them in achieving their goals and becoming more independent. These professionals also work closely with our carers.

"My role is varied and includes attending events to raise awareness, meeting people, sharing information about fostering, taking initial enquiry calls, and assessing applicants through to becoming foster carers."

Claire recruits and trains new foster carers in Portsmouth to support children and young people. 

She works closely with people to understand their strengths, identify areas for support, and help them prepare to foster through training, information sharing, and support groups. Claire also supports them through the fostering panel at the end of their assessment.

Claire loves getting to know people and seeing them progress from their first enquiry to becoming approved foster carers. It's incredibly rewarding for her to help people prepare to offer safe, happy, loving homes for the children in their care.