The real value of children’s residential workers
It may not feel like it on a day-to-day basis, but a residential children’s worker has a privileged role. Probably one of the hardest jobs there is no doubt, but one that can make the difference to whether a young person flounders, survives, thrives or excels. But quite often they are undervalued and underappreciated when they should be celebrated.
They have the hard job of ‘parenting’ (which is hard enough in its own right) children and young people who have had some truly awful experiences. They have the challenge of building trusting relationships with young people who have learned not to trust anyone in order to keep themselves safe. Nonetheless they keep them warm, fed and nurtured. They attend training to learn about the impact of trauma on children; they learn alternative strategies to help them navigate their multiple adverse childhood experiences, manage their complex emotions, support their mental health, support them to get an education, look after their physical health. Quite often this is not welcomed and young people push against this care with various forms of behaviour that can be challenging to help them through.
They work within a system that is over-stretched and underfunded, working with other professionals who do not have the time to dedicate to the young people they would like, meaning a residential worker will fulfil many different roles. They support young people to maintain links with their family, although this can be a very difficult balance to achieve. They advocate for the young people and fight for services, attend reviews and children’s hearings and ensure that young person’s views are heard amongst all the jargon of care plans, outcomes, GIRFEC, SHANARRI, compulsory supervision orders and contact orders. Helping young people deal with rejection or continued emotional abuse from their birth families and feeding this back to the social worker to protect them.
There are so many hard days where it is difficult to see that they are making a difference but they come back the next day anyway. That level of commitment and dedication is hard, but it is repetition that teaches the young people that they care and believe in them, even on their darkest days.
As if this wasn’t hard enough, children’s residential workers continued to show up through a global pandemic, where everyone else was told to stay home. They showed up to look after young people despite risks to their own health, through a period of relentless turmoil and unpredictability and helped young people to process it, reassure them, home school them and do the same with their own family at home. Coming out the other end of the pandemic has highlighted the intensity of what they were asked to do and did because of their commitment to the young people in their care.
To every children’s residential worker - thank you.
Your commitment, nurture and dedication to the children and young people builds their sense of worth, increases their self-esteem and will hopefully set them up to feel like they are loved and appreciated for who they are. You help them develop new skills, confidence and teach them to have fun where they might not have done before. These relationships and bonds are what young people need to be able to work through their trauma, feel seen, appreciated and loved through confusing times where they feel that no one cares. They will use this as their foundation to be able to work through the challenges they face and grow into the best version of themselves.
Thank you.
