We are not just a home, we are an experience
Within our residential children’s home, we provide the children and young people that we care for with a therapeutic, homely environment that is comfortable and welcoming thus, far removed from the stereotyped image of residential institutions.
Our homes are unique, modern, and beautifully furnished because we seek to provide the children and young people that we care for with a home that inspires them to aspire higher.
We believe that education, both formal and informal, is a key pillar to a child’s ability to succeed and because of this belief, we strive to ensure that the children we care for are supported to engage in their education and learning in a way that is accessible to them and aligns with their needs.
We seek to engage, and re-engage, the children and young people that we care for in their education because we believe that every interaction they have will provide them with the opportunity to acquire knowledge, skills and information for real-life
application.
Within our homes and within our interventions, we use Constructivism and Social Constructivism pedagogies to create interactive, collaborative learning environments for the children and young people that we care for as a means of enhancing their experiences.
As an organisation, we are aware of the challenges faced by child mental health services and the extensive wait that children and young people are forced to endure when trying to access support for their mental health and emotional well-being. In response to this crisis, Youthworx have sought to address this issue by providing the children and young people that we work with, and care for, with access to our in-house qualified, registered therapist; there is no waiting list for the children and young people that we work with and care for to access this service because their wellbeing and health is paramount.
Our Carers, Our Work
At Youthworx, we want the best for the children and young people that we care for and their health, safety and wellbeing is paramount and intrinsic to our service provision.
As an organisation, we are very much alive to the current, and developing, issues faced by children and young people.
Our carers and staff are highly experienced and have extensive work histories within statutory children’s services, youth justice,
educational establishments and child mental health settings. Due to this, we are adept at identifying risks and intervening to protect the children and young people that we care for, and work with, from threats to their safety. We work collaboratively with organisations such as the Police, Children’s Services and the Youth Offending Service to ensure that information is shared in a timely manner and that risks are identified, assessed and mitigated.
Issues such as Child Sexual Exploitation, Child Criminal Exploitation, County Lines, Cyberbullying, Gang Affiliation, Healthy Relationships, Domestic Violence in adolescent relationships, Substance Misuse and Radicalisation are topics that we regularly discuss with the children and young people that we care for during 121 key work sessions and weekly “resident meetings” within the home.
As an organisation, we fully understand the draws of negative youth cultures. Because of this, we engage the children and young people that we care for in interventions that work to increase their insight into the real-life realities of negative lifestyles choices.
In addition to this, we also provide the children and young people with alternative methods to increase their finances and social currency in a way that is legitimate, legal, and safe. We do this in a number of ways, including providing support and finance to help them to develop sustainable businesses.
Why We Are Different
At Youthworx, we provide the children we care for with a warm and loving home environment. The boundaries and expectations that we set for them are clear and consistent and our approach is to be firm, yet patient and nurturing.
We believe that we are set apart. Our values, principals and ethos are real and we wholly believe in our ability to support our children and young people from their experiences of adversity, through to their testimonies of greatness.
Within our homes, we operate an open-door policy for the children and young people we have cared for so that they can continue to access support, advice and guidance when they need it. In addition to this wraparound service provision, we offer semi-independent supported living accommodation to our young people who are ready to move on from our home.
At Youthworx, it is important for the children we care for to feel a sense of belonging and attachment; we understand that we cannot replace a child family (neither would we wish to do so), but what we can do is create is a support system of familiar people that the young person can access after they move on from our home.
