The Somerset Corporate Parenting Board has unveiled its new strategy, co-written with children in care and care leavers. This strategy outlines Somerset Council’s guidelines and aims to ensure that children and young people in care are nurtured to grow and thrive.
The 2025-28 Somerset Corporate Parenting Strategy asks, ‘Would This Be Good Enough for My Child?’. When a child enters the care of Somerset Council, the responsibilities that would normally belong to a parent become the legal and moral duty of everyone at the Council and its partners, making them Corporate Parents.
The Strategy is built around seven key responsibilities:
- Ensuring health
- Giving young people a voice
- Assessing their needs
- Taking a trauma-informed approach
- Having high aspirations for them
- Being rights-based
- Providing stability and security
These responsibilities guide the Council’s actions for children and young people in care over the next few years. The Corporate Parenting Board monitors, challenges, and influences the services Somerset Council and its partners deliver to continually improve outcomes.
Working with members of the Somerset in Care and Somerset Leaving Care Council (SiCC and SLCC), a Pledge was developed, symbolised by a sunflower to reflect happiness, admiration, optimism, honesty, and resilience.
SiCC and SLCC is a group for young people in care and care leavers in Somerset, enabling them to have a voice to challenge and shape the services they use. Visit the SiCC and SLCC website for more information about the group and the changes they have made.
The 2025-28 Somerset Corporate Parenting Strategy, Pledge, and training film can be found here, along with other useful documents.
You can contact the team by email: SomersetCorporateParentingBoard@somerset.gov.uk
