Council continues to run services for vulnerable children and families in Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Council's (WCC) children and families service is continuing to run services to keep vulnerable children and families in Warwickshire safe.

There are more than 5,500 vulnerable children and young people in Warwickshire who require support from social workers, family support workers, foster carers and youth workers.

The service is helping to ensure that families have the food and medication supplies that they need and that parents are able to meet their children’s needs.

This includes helping children and young people to understand social distancing measures and providing information on government advice about coronavirus, as well as keeping them calm and occupied at home by providing useful home learning exercises, indoor activity ideas and much more.

There are more than 700 children in Warwickshire that are in care and so foster carers are also working throughout lockdown, continuing to support children in care every day.

The council has recently received an increase in enquiries of people wanting to become foster carers and the council always welcomes more applicants. Applications are being progressed virtually as much as possible during the Covid-19 pandemic.

John Coleman, assistant director of children and families service at Warwickshire County Council said: “As a service we always put children and families at the heart of everything we do, and now this is more important than ever.

“We have embraced new ways of working; we now have online youth groups which have proved very popular and provide a place of support for young people and our foster carers are doing an amazing job of supporting children in care.

“Our social workers are continuing to visit homes where needed, we are taking full precautions to protect our staff and families and they are using PPE during every visit.

“Often the families we are supporting are very vulnerable and face issues like domestic abuse, mental health or substance misuse so for these vulnerable families, the coronavirus pandemic adds further stress and difficulties to an already complex situation.

"This makes the support from our social workers ever more important at this difficult time.

“As a service we would like to reassure all families in Warwickshire that there is lots of help and support available during this time if you’re struggling.”

The council is also running a variety of advertising campaigns across social media targeted at children and young people in Warwickshire providing information on what to do they can do if they feel unsafe at home.

The council's family information service provides information to families, parents, carers, teachers and other professionals in Warwickshire.

The service has enhanced the support available, distributing a newsletter to thousands of family’s inboxes twice a week with updates about coronavirus, information on school closures, mental health support, activities and education ideas for children and more.

Anyone in need of support or advice can call: 01926 742274 or emailing: [email protected]. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

If you are a child or young person and you feel unsafe at home, or feel worried about a friend or sibling during the current situation, go to: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/information-coronavirus/coronavirus-children-families/1