Mockingbird Family Model

• A 2015/16 pilot, led by The Fostering Network in eight sites, has shown signs of improving placement stability and foster carers' retention and wellbeing
• The charity hopes to expand Mockingbird to at least five new services

ACTION

The Mockingbird Family Model, launched by Seattle-based The Mockingbird Society in 2004, aims to improve fostered children's placement stability and carers' retention and wellbeing, through peer support, respite and social activities provided by a "hub home" to a "constellation" of six to 10 "satellite" homes.

After first hearing of Mockingbird in 2012, staff at The Fostering Network were drawn to its strong evidence base, community ethos and placement-strengthening potential. "We see Mockingbird providing a fantastic opportunity for children to have as similar as possible a childhood to their peers," explains the charity's programme manager, Freya Burley. "It's an extended family model at its heart, giving children a real sense of stability and familiarity and providing a support network for their carers."

The Fostering Network began to explore Mockingbird in 2014, leading to two training trips to Seattle. From April 2015 to March 2016, £1.6m from the Department for Education's Children's Social Care Innovation Programme enabled it to support the trial of 18 "constellations" of 252 carers and around 200 children, run by Tower Hamlets, Oxfordshire, Calderdale, Leeds, Greenwich and Stockport councils, Doncaster Children's Services Trust and independent provider Heath Farm Fostering in Kent.

Burley says the charity's first step was to hold conversations with the trial host services to ensure "absolute buy-in" and understanding of Mockingbird. The charity helped each service establish an implementation group to drive Mockingbird locally, supporting staff with learning seminars, practice exchange and networking opportunities.

All services had to fill two Mockingbird roles. The first was a "hub home carer" for each constellation; an experienced foster carer with two spare beds for planned and emergency respite, providing peer support to carers and running monthly meetings and activities to facilitate relationship-building between families. The second was a "constellation liaison worker", usually the hub home carer's supervising social worker, who supports his or her Mockingbird role, acting as a link between the constellation and the fostering service.

In Doncaster, the children's services trust invited foster carers to express interest in joining constellations, and project lead Vickie Oldroyd liaised with social workers and others to identify families likely to benefit most. This included families requiring regular respite for high-needs children, those with siblings in different foster homes, who could be brought together regularly within a constellation, and socially-isolated carers needing more support. "One of the key things you need in a constellation is a mixture of families," Oldroyd explains. "If everyone had high needs, it wouldn't work. Mockingbird's about building an extended family; people with different strengths who can support each other."

Doncaster's two constellations became operational in November 2015, and care leaver and experienced respite carer Tracey Sinnott was appointed hub home carer supporting 10 homes, with 18 children aged from 14 months to 18 years. She, Oldroyd and social workers held an initial meeting with each carer to discuss the support needed and she visits them regularly, as well as facilitating a monthly peer support group.

Most children have had overnight stays with Sinnott, who personalises the bedroom for each child, describing it as "just like grandma's house". Her home has been a lifeline for Christine Gregory, whose 13-year-old Sally has complex needs and a monthly respite weekend in her care plan. "Monthly respite is a lot to contend with for a 13-year-old going to a different person each time," says Gregory. "But Mockingbird has given her continuity of care from Tracey, who she's got to know very well. " Mockingbird has also built a support network for Gregory, who didn't know the other carers before the constellation was formed.

Sinnott also offers children in the constellation a familiar place to stay in emergencies or crises, easing stress for them and their carers. Oldroyd's support includes help with family activities, facilitating meetings and enlisting speakers, feeding back any issues to relevant trust staff.

A typical constellation costs £30,500 a year to run, mainly consisting of the hub home carer payment. New host services pay a fee to The Fostering Network, Mockingbird's lead in the UK, covering licensing, training and support. The charity is supporting several self-funded organisations to introduce Mockingbird and hopes to secure further government funding from April, enabling its continuation at seven sites and expansion to five more.

IMPACT

An October 2016 evaluation by Loughborough University's Centre for Child and Family Research suggests Mockingbird helps towards placement stability and carer retention: the four per cent of constellation children experiencing an unplanned placement change was half the estimated national rate. No participating foster carer stopped fostering over the evaluation period, compared with Ofsted's national estimate of six per cent of carers stopping in 2014/15.

This article is part of CYP Now's special report on foster care. Click here for more