By the Bridge achieves Awards from LILAC
Annabelle Atkins, Participation and Achievements Leader Central Services
A National Voice’s innovative project LILAC (Leading Improvements for Looked After Children) recently carried out a comprehensive assessment of By the Bridge.
LILAC aims to denote a quality participation service, and focuses on ensuring that looked after children and young people are involved in decisions relating to both their individual care and the practices and policies of the services that look after them. LILAC’s standards have been developed with care-experienced young people to reflect what is truly important to them.
By the Bridge is pleased to announce our success in achieving LILAC Awards for; Shared Values, Care Planning and Review, and Complaints and Advocacy.
LILAC says of By the Bridge ‘All staff and foster parents show outstanding commitment to developing each child to his/her full potential and providing them with a real family life, full of fun and affection.’
LILAC’s assessors are care-experienced young people, trained to assess the performance of Fostering Organisations and Local Authorities, and how well their services involve and consult with children and young people.
During the assessment process, LILAC’s team ‘looked at a wide variety of documentary evidence, but it was through several visits and a number of meetings with staff, foster parents and, of course, children and young people, that it became apparent that behind By the Bridge’s success in negating any potential barriers that could hinder involvement by children and young people in its services, is a real sense of feeling that By the Bridge listens to its families’.
We would like to thank all the young people, families and staff who took part in the assessment process, the feedback given has been invaluable to LILAC’s team.
By the Bridge strives for innovation in leading improvements for looked after children and are working towards achieving further accreditation by LILAC.
