At Silver Birch Care we believe that by providing young people with positive role models, we can successfully equip them with the independent living skills they need to move forward and make positive contributions to their wider communities.

Preparing for post 18 life

One young person from our Thornton Heath unit informed staff that as she has 5 months left until she is 18, she would like to accomplish all that she can with Silver Birch Care before she departs. Our staff and the young person worked together to create an action plan that highlighted their aims and objectives for post 18 life. Once completed, our staff gave the young person a print out of the action plan to put on her notice board in her room for her to refer back to daily.

Education

One young person decided that she would like to change college because she would not be able to complete her course due to failing a DBS check. Our staff praised her for maintaining her determination to complete a college course, and as they know she is very keen on animals, they suggested that she could apply for a veterinary course. They also advised her that there were volunteering opportunities at Battersea Dogs Home and if she was interested, and that staff could support her make an application. The young person stated that was excited about the opportunity and wanted to go ahead with the application. Fingers crossed all goes to plan!

Emotions

Staff have noticed that following any incident involving one young person, she would usually say that she was going to self-harm. As staff have a duty of care for all our young people, they would do their best to calm her down, make her comfortable, and ensure that she does not bring any harm to herself. Following an incident, the young person would say that she only made these threats out of anger and that she does not mean it. To help support her, staff have suggested that she keeps a daily diary to keep account of her moods – including both the highs and lows. Once the young person has complied enough information, she will be able to look back and see what things trigger her anger and what things calm her down. The young person stated that she was happy with this suggestion. Staff will be purchasing the young person a diary this week.