Corporate and Community Parenting

“Corporate parent” is the name given to an organisation or person who has special responsibilities to care experienced children and young people. Simply, a corporate parent is intended to carry out many of the roles a loving parent should. The ethos of a successful corporate parent is to provide the children in our care with the best possible support and care, to accept responsibility for them, and make their needs a priority. It means, above all else, to ensure they are safe from harm, but also to always be striving for their best interests, to nurture their ambitions, and help them get the most out of life.

In North East Lincolnshire, this is referred to as Corporate and Community parenting. Our ambition to be good Corporate and Community parents goes far beyond the relevant legislation and government policy. Instead, we recognise that we have a moral, social, and economic responsibility as public services, civil society, local communities. and wider society to work together to equip and empower our care-experienced children and young people to succeed and thrive throughout their lives, including when they have their own families.

This set outs how we will provide children and young people with the best possible care, support, and opportunities for their current and future needs. Through our vision and our strategy, and alongside the local offer for care leavers, we will deliver this Promise we have made to our children and young people as their Corporate and Community parents.

Our Promise was developed through a series of workshops with our children and young people. This is because we are committed to raising awareness of, and supporting, children in our care and care leavers to engage in arrangements. Therefore, the Promise details what our young people want from us as Corporate and Community parents.

Key documents include:

Our promises to children in care and care leavers

A key focus for the children and young people is permanence and stability. Having consistent, positive, and trusting relationships is the key to everything else, whether that be with staff at NELC, or family members and foster carers.

Every child has the right to a safe, stable, and caring place to call home. This promise strives to ensure that the children and young people live with people who are well-trained to support and care for them.

Effective Corporate and Community Parenting will enable a young person to be as best prepared as possible for adulthood. This can be achieved through improved access to education, employment, and training; through providing greater stability, security, and safety; through improved access to health support; and through supporting improved financial stability.

The overriding premise within this strategy is to ensure that children and young people’s voices are heard, so that they are able to influence their own care and can co-produce local services and support which meets their needs.

Corporate and community parents should endeavour to guarantee that the children and young people have a range of options to ensure they feel heard.

The best opportunities should be available to our children and young people. This includes support to enable them to achieve their career goals; to develop at every stage of their learning journey; and to be attending and thriving within their setting. View our Corporate and Community Parenting Employability Strategy (PDF, 2MB) .

This promise includes positive physical and mental health and wellbeing. It focuses on ensuring that our children and young people are aware of what services are available to them and how they can access them.

The purpose of the Corporate and Community Parenting Board is to ensure we fulfil our duties towards children and young people in our care, and care leavers. It brings together key representatives from North East Lincolnshire Council, wider partners, and other stakeholders to focus on improving outcomes for children in our care, and care leavers, and to actively promote their life chances.

To achieve our goals, the Corporate and Community Parenting Board will:

champion, and respond to, the needs of children and young people
promote the physical and mental health and well-being, of children in our care and care leavers
encourage and take into account the views, wishes, and feelings of children in our care and care leavers
help children in our care and care leavers gain access to, and make the best use of, services provided by the local authority and its relevant partners
promote high aspirations, and secure the best outcomes, for children in our care and care leavers
prepare children in our care and care leavers for adulthood and independent living
provide clear evidence that partnership working is improving outcomes
ensure that partners have very high aspirations for children in our care and care leavers
provide effective leadership and contribute to the development of services, which are regularly audited for effectiveness

Core membership includes young people with care experience, foster carers, elected members, and representatives from various partner organisations.

Download our Corporate and Community Parenting Partnership & Governance Arrangements (PDF, 80KB) .

Elected Member’s role in Corporate and Community Parenting

The Corporate and Community Parenting Board includes elected members.

The role of elected members is crucial in terms of ensuring that the needs of the children in our care and care leavers are acknowledged and understood, and our promise upheld by the council and our partners.

Duties of elected members as Corporate and Community Parent include:

Asking yourself “Would this be good enough for my own child?”
Ensuring the provision of care provided is the best possible
Having a clear understanding of the issues faced by the children in our care and care leavers
Ensuring those responsible for their welfare and education are held to account
Remembering that children in our care living outside the Borough are still your responsibility
Supporting young people and care leavers to access opportunities into training and work
Raising awareness of Corporate and Community Parenting
Considering any possible impact of council change on the children in our care and care leavers

Our Voice, Listen Up

Children looked after ages between 10 and 17 have a council where they can comment on what matters to them, and allows them to share their views and feelings.

Our Voice Listen Up is all about hearing the voices and making positive change through listening to, engaging with and working with children in our care and care leavers.

Your Voice