insideKENT Magazine Issue 77 - August 2018 | Page 166

CHARITY
Kent Charity Profile:
CHILDHOOD FIRST
LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE INTEGRATED THERAPEUTIC
FOSTERING SERVICE
TO CLOSE A GAP IN THE GROWING DEMAND FOR SPECIALIST CARE FOR
PSYCHOLOGICALLY TRAUMATISED CHILDREN IN LOCAL AUTHORITY CARE,
THE CHARITY CHILDHOOD FIRST HAS LAUNCHED ITS NEW INTEGRATED
THERAPEUTIC FOSTERING SERVICE.
Integrated Therapeutic Fostering (iTF)
specialises in treatment to promote the
recovery of children and young people who
present severe emotional and behavioural
problems as a result of attachment difficulties
usually rooted in early life trauma.
iTF is a standalone not-for-profit fostering
agency that will accept referrals from local
authorities as well as provide fostering
placements for children from Childhood First’s
four therapeutic communities.
Sir Martin Narey, who has recently led
the government’s two national reviews of
residential and foster care, said:
“I am delighted to learn of Childhood First’s
new integrated therapeutic fostering service
which aims to recruit and retain the best
possible foster carers, equipped and supported
to care for the most challenging and previously
harmed children — a key recommendation
in my independent review of children’s
residential care (July 2016).”
“Childhood First’s foster carers will be
supported by experienced, qualified,
practitioners through professional
accreditation to help some of the most deeply
traumatised children and young people to
transition from community-based residential
care into foster homes.”
Childhood First’s distinctive service is based
on its unique model of Integrated Systemic
Therapy (iST) which has evolved over 50 years
of working therapeutically with children and
young people; a holistic, group-based
approach founded on the traditions of milieu
therapy, psychoanalysis and systemic
psychotherapy.
For children and young people who are ready
to leave the therapeutic communities and live
within a family environment, iTF provides a
seamless transition. The new service is led by
registered manager, Liz Fleet, and clinical lead,
Harry Lukens. Here Liz explains the benefits
for children and local authorities:
"iTF enables children who need therapeutic
support, but are able to cope within a family
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setting, to experience a consistent family life
at the same time as healing the trauma of their
past, supporting their recovery and developing
their openness to learning to trust and relate
well to others.”
"Our aim is to help them to achieve improved
socialisati on and life outcomes. At the heart
of our approach is our conviction that 'the
damage caused by relationships can most
effectively be healed by relationships.'”
"We developed our unique model of Integrated
Therapeutic Fostering so that it places great
emphasis upon the power of healing through
consistent and healthy relationships with the
adults involved in their care and through
experiencing a warm and nurturing family
environment. We reflect those qualities in our
relationships with our carers."
iTF is now looking for people across
Norfolk and Kent to join their community of
specialist foster carers. To foster, a spare
bedroom is needed to provide children with
a space of their own as they come to terms
with their past.