reconstruct.co.uk

Welcome to the Milton Keynes Children’s Voice project information resource. Below you will find lots of helpful information on who we are as an organisation and the different services we will be providing to young people in Milton Keynes.  

This resource includes information on what you can expect from us as an organisation, our processes, useful documents to promote the service to young people and carers, as well as links to the referral forms.  Add this page to your bookmarks by selecting 'Ctrl D'.   

If you have any question or queries please do get in touch by emailing mkchildrensvoice@reconstruct.co.uk  

Learn all about who we are, what we do and meet the team who will be supporting you...jump to section>

Find out more about our advocacy service and access our referral forms....jump to section>

Find out more about our IV service and access referral forms and guidance documents....jump to section>

Find out more about our role and access the referral form and investigation template....jump to section>

Find out more about our role in undertaking Reg 44 visits as well as useful contacts....jump to section>

Help us spread the word about our services for children and young people...jump to section>

Reconstruct has over 30 years’ experience of developing and delivering training, consultancy, quality assurance and compliance services to a range of organisations, as well as direct services to vulnerable young people. 

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of vulnerable children and adults is at the centre of the work Reconstruct undertakes. Incoprorating the needs of our partners, and the children they support, is paramount. 

Together with the local authorities we partner with, we strive to secure the best possible outcomes in respect of access to services with the provision of professional and appropriate training; supportive consultancy and compassionate direct delivery of services.  We offer a full range of services designed to make positive change, develop strong ethical practice and promote better outcomes for the individuals being cared for.  But don't take our word for it - see what some of our children think about our services in the video above! 

An advocate is someone who provides support to children and young people in care, care leavers and children and young people who are subject to a Child Protection Conference. 

Advocacy means to speak up for someone and there are some groups of people who may need more help that others – in this case, vulnerable children and young people.  It’s about making sure that children have a say in decisions that affect their life. Advocacy is about making things change because children’s voices are heard and listened to. 

Empower children to speak up for themselves or for the advocate to speak up on their behalf

Make children aware of the decision making processes they are going through and to help them navigate the process

Ensure that  children receive independent information, advice and support and be able to signpost them to specialist support where necessary

Assist children in the swift resolution of complaints

Children in receipt of social care (including Children in Need, those on a Child Protection Plan and Looked After Children) 

Care Leavers that are not transitioning into Adult Social Care

Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and disabilities 

Homeless Children 

Children in a mental health setting

Please note, the following categories are entitled to support from the Adult Advocacy Service and are not included in the Children’s Advocacy Service:  

Care Leavers transitioning into Adult Social Care  

Children complaining about health

Over 16s lacking mental capacity 

Any referrals for the above categories will not be processed and will be sent back to referrer. 

Referrer completes the online referral form and this automatically sends to the coordinator. If you complete the hard copy please email to mkvisiting@reconstruct.co.uk  This applies to the following categories:

ICPC/ RCPC  

LAC / CiN / Care Leaver   

Homeless children  

Children with SEN  

Children in a Mental Health setting  

Care leavers

Step

The Reconstruct coordinator and/or assigned advocate will call you to discuss the following upon receipt of referral: 

To let you know the status of the referral and who the Advocate allocated will be. If the referral is missing any information, they will also ask for further clarification. Including if it their are any risks that the advocate should be aware of before meeting the child/young person.

Advocate will arrange with parent/carer to speak with the young person.

If parents or young person do not want to engage then advocate would complete a non-starter form and advise the social worker.

If the young person is aged 16 plus the Advocate will ask the referrer if it is ok for them to contact the young person directly.

Advocate will meet with the young person face to face or virtually and gather their views and feelings.

Step

Please ensure invites to meetings are sent well in advance to allow for Advocates to be allocated and for the V&F’s to be collated. Should an advocate not be available due to MK delays, Reconstruct will not be held responsible for not attending said meetings. We will endeavour to support the child but this may not be possible and the child may have to be represented at the next meeting. 

BACK TO TOP

An Independent Visitor (IV) is an adult volunteer who is independent of Social Services.  Their role is to establish a supportive and long term relationship with a young person built on trust. They will guide and listen to a young person, helping to build their self-esteem and develop new interests and skills over time.

Visit a child on a regular basis, usually once a month, to befriend them 

Provide Looked After Children with someone to talk to who is independent of the local authority 

Provide a consistent and reliable adult with a view to building a trusting and positive relationship with the child 

Provide a child with the opportunity to try new activities and spend time with them away from their placement. 

All Looked After Children will be able to access the Independent Visitor Service up to the age of 18

Children with disabilities and special educational needs

It is expected that the majority of children accessing this service will be over the age of 8 years old

Independent Visitors will not be available to care leavers. However, where a child has an existing relationship with an Independent Visitor, and they become a care leaver, this can continue if the young person deems it beneficial. Click to jump to the Moving On section which provides more detail on this.

We encourage all staff to promote the service and let carers and young people know that we are here to support. Our user friendly poster for Carers can be downloaded here, so feel free to circulate to your carers as well as print and pop up within the council buildings.

Step

Referrer completes the online referral form and this automatically sends to the coordinator. If you complete the hard copy please email to mkvisiting@reconstruct.co.uk

We have also put together some useful guidance  which will provide you with a more in depth understanding of the types of referrals to send through. For new recruits, or for those who are not familiar with the IV service and what it entails, we have developed our 'What is an IV?' guidance document which provides a detailed explanation of the role of an IV. 

BACK TO TOP

We can provide experienced workers to undertake interviews with children who have been missing from care. The level of independence will provide an opportunity to look at each episode individually and within the context of the history of the individual child. Any patterns emerging and any concerns regarding CSE, risk of grooming, inappropriate peer relationships, bullying or any other concerns will be reported immediately after the interview.

Understand the reasons why the child or young person ran away and reduce the risks linked to them going missing  

Identify the risks, harm and issues faced by the child either before or whilst they went missing 

Highlight any unmet needs the child may have 

Reduce the probability of the child running away again, also equip them with the resources and knowledge of how to stay safe if they do choose to run away again  

Looked After Children up to 18 years of age who live outside the borough of Milton Keynes boundary, regardless of how the Police rate their level of risk

Return to Home interviews for all Looked After Children living inside the borough of Milton Keynes boundary, and non Looked After Children, will be conducted by the Milton Keynes Council Youth Faculty.

Step

Referrer completes referral form and this is automatically sent to coordinator

BACK TO TOP

Reconstruct have been providing Regulation 44 visitors for over 10 years and currently have a team of professionals delivering this service across the UK. Our team have extensive experience of working in residential children’s homes, have been registered managers and registered individuals and therefore are very familiar with the regulations, the inspection process and how to deliver services which work to improve the life chances and outcomes for children in care.

Ensure that all children within the placement are being appropriately cared for and their individual needs are being met, considering any specific needs relating to their ethnicity or known disability

As part of their report, the Regulation 44 visitor must set out their opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes children’s wellbeing

Assist the service in its development by providing a regular independent perspective on the functioning of children’s residential provision

Contribute to building a chronology of the development of the unit with visitors drawing on historical reports to ensure that issues previously identified have been addressed

Reconstruct will be providing monthly visits to two of the Local Authority Childrens Homes. 

If you would like to discuss this further please contact our admin team: learning@antser.com 

BACK TO TOP

We really want to get the word out that we are providing the advocacy and IV services to young people in Milton Keynes and encourage you and your teams to share our information resources the young people you work with.

Copyright  Antser Ltd © 2020.   All rights reserved.

Privacy policy   |   About us