No longer here - find me on Bluesky @samtrner. Policy @kinshipcharity. Children & families, education, social justice. Geordie and thrower of frisbees.
Newcastle, England
Joined September 2018
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If anyone cares, as with increasingly many others, I'm over on @bluesky with the same handle (@samtrner) and expect to be spending more time there instead. Lots of folks from the children and families/education policy space are there now too...
bsky.app/profile/samtrner.bs…
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Great to welcome the Secretary of State @bphillipsonMP to meet with #KinshipCarers in her constituency and others across the North East this morning. Really grateful for those who gave up their time to share their experiences and views to support the #ValueOurLove campaign. 💛
I am determined to give every child the opportunities they deserve, and kinship carers play a crucial role in delivering this.
Pleasure to meet with @kinshipcharity in Houghton to discuss their #ValueOurLove campaign and reiterate my commitment to kinship carers.
ALT Photograph showing Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP, Secretary of State for Education, with kinship carers in Houghton-le-Spring, November 2024.
Today's @educationgovuk figures on looked after children show the same pattern repeating itself in #KinshipCare as we've seen in previous years - growing numbers and % in kinship foster care and stalled movement to arrangements outside the care system. 🧵
explore-education-statistics…
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As we @kinshipcharity identified in our #OutOfOrder paper in September, this trend comes with significant implications. A hierarchy of support for #KinshipFamilies creates a perverse incentive which is not in the interests of families or local authorities. kinship.org.uk/our-work-and-…
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Thanks to @FoundationsWW for having me along this morning at their learning and development day to talk about @kinshipcharity's three most recent policy reports.
1⃣ #Forgotten kinship.org.uk/our-work-and-…
2⃣ #OutOfOrder kinship.org.uk/our-work-and-…
3⃣ #MakeOrBreak kinship.org.uk/our-work-and-…
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Loads of great and challenging questions and discussion re: motivations for changing kinship arrangements, reaching and designing policy solutions which work for informal #KinshipFamilies, building trust between #KinshipCarers and local authorities etc.
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Bit delayed but a big thanks to @MrAlCoates and @GayAdoptionDad for having me on @TheAandFPodcast again to talk about #KinshipCare and some of @kinshipcharity's recent report findings.
Come for the children's social care discussion and stay for the... map chat? 🗺️
Surely the only reasonable explanation at this point is that The Telegraph is some kind of elaborate 170-year-long gag designed to sow anger against the ruling elites and deliver wholesale political revolution. Nothing else makes any sense.
I wrote a thing about a couple of key new bits/changes in the #KinshipCare statutory guidance and other recent announcements of relevance to policy and practice in kinship care. Do take a look!
During #KinshipCareWeek, @educationgovuk published new #KinshipCare statutory guidance for local authorities in England. 📄
But what's new, and what does it mean? ❓
Read our new post to learn more about the guidance and other recent announcements. 👇 loom.ly/Vj7sPjA
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I'm obviously biased given both the topic and the region, but it's really great to see North East MPs championing #KinshipCare in discussions with @educationgovuk ministers @bphillipsonMP @CMcKinnellMP (who are North East MPs themselves). 💛
#ValueOurLove @kinshipcharity
Really pleased to have met with @bphillipsonMP and North East MPs yesterday, we discussed the difference breakfast clubs will make in the North East, Kinship carers and I raised SEND provision.
Labour is putting education at the forefront of national life once again.
This is particularly crucial given the North East (2.3%) has the highest proportion of #KinshipCare households of any region in England (1.5%). 📊
Six of the ten local authorities in England with the highest prevalence are in the North East. 🧭
ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationa…
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Eagerly awaiting further details on the trial (e.g. who's eligible, what it looks like etc) in the forthcoming #Budget, but this is a really great step forward for our #ValueOurLove campaign and for #KinshipFamilies in England.
Today, the UK Government has announced that the forthcoming Budget on Wednesday 30 October will include £44 million funding to support kinship and foster carers in England.
loom.ly/Q172hII
It comes off the back of exceptional campaigning efforts from #ValueOurLove #KinshipCarer campaigners across the country who have pushed the new Government and their MPs for change during and since the election. Every email or signature or meeting or question all adds up.
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Thanks to @AndyMcDonaldMP and @EllieChowns for supporting the #ValueOurLove campaign during the second reading of the #EmploymentRightsBill in Parliament yesterday and backing @kinshipcharity's call for paid employment leave for #KinshipCarers. 👏
During the second reading of the Employment Rights Bill in Parliament yesterday, MPs used our briefing to highlight the absence of paid employment leave for #KinshipCarers within the Bill and urged the Government to go further.
🧵👇
#EmploymentRightsBill
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Paging children's social care folks - new dashboard has just dropped. gov.uk/government/publicatio…
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Here's how it's looking for the outcome most relevant to #KinshipCare (children and young people are supported by their family network). No additions or amendments to the single indicator included in the last update in December.
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Had such a great day at this event which properly demonstrated the power of peer support and community. Amazing contributions from group leaders who have really stepped up and worked hard to bring kinship carers from their local areas together. 👏
This #KinshipCareWeek, #KinshipCarers, local authority professionals and local councillors across the North East came together to celebrate the amazing contribution which the region's kinship carers make to the nearly 10,000 children living in #KinshipCare here. 💛
Thanks @alistrathern for pushing local leaders on their commitments to #KinshipFamilies, and particularly on adopting leading practice in #SpecialGuardianship allowances by highlighting @kinshipcharity's report on pioneering local authorities: kinship.org.uk/wp-content/up…
This #KinshipCareWeek, as well as continuing to champion national action I want to make sure we are doing our bit locally to support those in Kinship Care.
That’s why I’ve written to @letstalkcentral & @hertscc pressing them to lead the way in local support for Kinship Care👇
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This is crucial given what we know about movement from kinship foster care to special guardianship and the reluctance which prevents many #KinshipCarers from doing so given the lack of support, even if they think it's the best arrangement for their family. kinship.org.uk/our-work-and-…
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Some thoughts on this announcement from a policy and framing perspective. 🧵
loom.ly/Evb1ju8
Firstly, it’s really great to see the new UK Government maintain some of the momentum following last year’s Strategy within its first 100 days, including delivering new kinship care statutory guidance and appointing the excellent @JahnineDavis as National Kinship Care Ambassador.
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This #KinshipCareWeek we are delighted to share our newest #ValueOurLove campaign supporter - the actor & star of #Succession Brian Cox. Born in Dundee, Brian spent some time in #KinshipCare, under the care of his three elder sisters. 💛
#KinshipCareWeek
#ThisIsKinshipCare
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It was great to welcome Minister @JanetDaby and the new National Kinship Care Ambassador @JahnineDavis to a @kinshipcharity peer support group today. As ever incredibly grateful for every #KinshipCarer who kindly gave up their valuable time and expertise. #KinshipCareWeek
Support networks are key for kinship carers who have stepped in to raise children that aren’t their own.
Today I met with a peer support group in action with @kinshipcharity and our new Kinship Ambassador, @JahnineDavis
I encourage all carers to look into groups in their area.
It was particularly lovely to hear @JanetDaby talk about those attending as "a golden thread in your children's lives" and for @JahnineDavis to reflect so openly on her own experiences and to spend her time really intensely listening and acknowledging everyone's contributions.
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Check out our amazing new #ThisIsKinshipCare animation. Huge credit to everyone involved and to the #KinshipCarers who wrote and narrated. 👏 #KinshipCareWeek
Kinship Care Week (7-13 October) has officially landed and so has our new #ThisIsKinshipCare animation. 💛🎥
Please hit the share button for this poignant animation to ensure it travels far and wide this #KinshipCareWeek. 🌎
#KinshipCareWeek
#ThisIsKinshipCare
Huge well done to everyone at @kinshipcharity who worked on getting the new website looking so swanky. I particularly recommend the ace new Kinship Compass tool for exploring local support, information and services for #KinshipCarers. kinship.org.uk/support-and-a…
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This was a great event and incredibly well-attended by professionals supporting #KinshipFamilies. Lots of interest in updates on Strategy commitments and @educationgovuk activity since, and strong support for extending financial support and ASGSF eligibility to wider cohorts! 👏
Today, Kinship welcomed nearly 200 professionals from local authorities, virtual schools and external organisations to our quarterly, online Professionals Network meeting.
Learn more about what we covered 👇
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Thanks to @CommunityCare for covering our new #OutOfOrder paper on boosting financial support for #KinshipCarers. 👍
I'll try to do a thread on the data bits later. In the meantime, you can read the full paper here: kinship.org.uk/wp-content/up…
communitycare.co.uk/2024/09/…
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