Local Partnerships and Looked after Children
Eleanor Mooney Loud & Clear Youth Music Blog Feb 2019
Some reflection from our Loud & Clear Programme Leader Eleanor Mooney on working with local authorities and our Fund A delivery April 2108 - March 2019
Our Project
Loud & Clear Early Years is a Youth Music funded project at Sage Gateshead. Our funding began in 2012, providing weekly music making for foster and adoptive families with children aged 0-5.
For more information including an overview of our pedagogy and project structure, go to Inspire Music https://www.inspire-music.org/case-studies/66-loud-and-clear-early-years
Partnership History
We have been incredibly lucky to deliver our project in partnership with two local authority Foster and Adoption teams for the last 6/7 years. It would be practically impossible for us to deliver this work without their support, knowledge, expertise and determination. The foundations of our project are built upon peer and participant training, partner presence within our sessions providing pastoral support, cross partnership steering meetings all underpinned by reflection and evaluation. We have been so lucky to benefit from the regular supportive presence of experienced social workers, resource workers, foster carers, adoptive parents all working alongside our musicians to enable our high quality inclusive family music making. Due to our current political and economic status, it’s unlikely to surprise anyone to learn that over these years our partners have experienced a lot of challenges. Both authorities have been through multiple funding cuts, restructures, redundancies, long term sickness and key staff departures alongside the day to day challenges of working with this particular demographic.
Right Now
Over the last 12 months, it has become very apparent that our partners have less and less capacity to provide our project partnership with the time and commitment they very much want to.
Partner staff are less and less likely and able to attend our weekly family music making sessions, meaning a lower level of pastoral provision, less sector awareness for our musicians and less opportunities for partners to observe families in neutral settings.
Steering groups are harder to plan and almost impossible to achieve all partner presence at, something we value very highly within our project model.
Due to confidentiality, we rely heavily on our partners with regard to recruitment, reaching new carers/families and advocating for our work. Partners have now lost so many skilled members of staff and with resources at a critical level, they are unable to commit the same time and attention to this process which we of course understand.
What Next?
We remain committed to the partnerships with our local authorities and fully recognise that we could not have achieved such value and success with our Loud & Clear delivery without their knowledge, experience and support. Our model is one underpinned by partnership and shared expertise which we feel is needed more than ever in these current uncertain times.
As an organisation we are looking into ways we can take the pressure of recruitment and advertising of sessions away from our partners, ensuring all appropriate confidentialities are considered throughout.
We will strive to remain a constant and reliable partner, contributing to their training and family provision wherever possible, ensuring the relationship feels equal and supportive. We will continue to schedule Steering Group meetings, reminding our partners that their input is valued and needed by our project and giving regular opportunities for them to attend.
Through musician support and ensuring our training and reflection values are upheld, we will continue to provide high quality family music making for our regional looked after and adoptive families during these unpredictable times.
Have you had experience working with local authorities? Have you noticed a change in relationship? Do you have any further advice about how to be a supportive partner?
Loud & Clear video ... see above
