Creating stability
Entering a new placement can be an incredibly unsettling and anxious time for young people in the care system. Without feeling safe and stable in their environment, it’s difficult for them to build a solid foundation on which to grow and thrive. At Bluestones Medical Complex Care, we recognise how critical it is to listen to the young people we care for and understand their needs.
Our aim is to provide them with a nurturing and supportive environment, where they feel cared for and feel a sense of belonging. By creating a stable home environment, we aim to give young people in our care a sense of security. This allows them to relax, open up, and work through any past traumas at their own pace. We are here to listen and understand.
One young person, that arrived 5 months ago, had a challenging transition after experiencing instability and moving through 11 previous placements. He felt anxious about entering another placement with having limited support in the past. It can be daunting for a young person to arrive in a new placement and negative expectations can build up. Sharing this young person’s integration and development is such a privilege and couldn’t be done without the dedication our care team.
We encourage our young people to express themselves. One way we encourage this is by allowing them to personalise their bedrooms and making it their own, however they would like. For example this individual spent time designing his bedroom with new furniture and adding colour to the room to reflect his unique style and interests. This young person now proudly calls his home here, just that – home, and commenting that he “loves it.” Our goal is to create a warm, welcoming environment where each young person feels comfortable being themselves. We believe nurturing their self-expression and identity is pivotal at this stage in their lives.
Celebrating milestones
It is our job to show young people a pathway to a positive future, and that we are not here to replace family. We never want to disrupt the bond between a young person and their family, which is why we try to involve family if and when it is appropriate.
Recently, this young person had his 16th birthday, and the care team organised a special celebration and went above and beyond with balloons, lights, and a huge 10 layer cake! The young person invited friends round to celebrate and most importantly he had his mum, stepdad and 5 siblings join us too. It was amazing to see them all together. The care team then took this him out for dinner at Rio’s steakhouse where they continued his birthday celebrations.
This fantastic individual has also now enrolled in school and is taking their first steps into gaining qualifications and leading to a bright future. The progress he has made within the past 5 months is immense and commendable from receiving glowing reports from a teacher on their effort and engagement. We are always encouraging education and upskilling in life skills, and seeing it pay off is a proud moment and we will continue to build on this new found confidence with our great staff and resources.
Having faced hardship when he was younger, he finds it difficult to open up and trust other people, so seeing the progression and growth is truly amazing! With the care team’s patience, compassion and giving him a consistency of care he hasn’t experienced before, we cannot wait to see what the next step for this young person is.
* At Bluestones Medical Complex Care we ensure we have consent from the people in our care to share their stories and any images they approve of.
