Introduction | Promotion of the sexual health of young people placed with foster carers | Provision of sex and relationship education by foster carers | Contraception advice and information | Support to young parents | Home Tuition
Introduction
There may be occasions, hopefully rare, when a young woman placed with you becomes pregnant. Your preparation and training will have already made you aware of the need to be accepting and supportive of the young woman in your care and help ensure, in consultation with the child’s social worker and birth parents (as appropriate), that she makes the decision about her pregnancy which best suits her needs and respects her wishes and beliefs. If she decides to proceed or not proceed with the pregnancy you need to feel confident about giving the appropriate information and support about the health and other services available to her and about maintaining her education at secondary school or college and meeting her educational needs.
You won’t be alone in supporting her as the young person’s social worker and your supervising social worker will continue to play key roles, though their roles may be more to help you in your crucial support and enabling role. How far the young person’s birth parents and wider family will be involved will depend on the circumstances of them becoming looked after and advice and direction from the young person’s social worker, but in many situations it is hoped the young person’s family will also play an important role.
The following section on promoting the sexual health of looked after young people is also relevant to carers caring for young men.
Promotion of the sexual health of young people placed with foster carers
As part of the corporate parenting role social services have a responsibility to ensure that all young people in their care receive high quality sex and relationships education and that they have information and the confidence to access contraception and sexual health services.
Young parents are also to be provided with the appropriate support and guidance in parenting and sustaining their education.
This section is based on Brighton and Hove City Council and NHS Primary Care Trust’s Guidance for Fieldworkers, Residential Social Workers and Foster Carers on providing information and referring young people to Contraception and Sexual Health Services, which can be obtained by your supervising social worker or from the website www.dfes.gov.uk under teenage pregnancy unit and then under guidance documents. Brighton and Hove City Council have produced guidance for staff working with young people involved in under age sexual activity, which is also available from your supervising social worker.
Provision of sex and relationship education by foster carers
In consultation with a young person placed with you and their social worker and your supervising social worker, you have a responsibility to provide appropriate information and support to promote their positive sexual health.
You should support young people to develop their assertiveness and negotiating skills to help them resist any pressure to have early and unwanted sex. A young person’s parents may express wishes about their child’s sex education, which should be taken into account, but your over-riding concern must be to safeguard a young person’s health and welfare.
You can take young people to sexual health services as part of a wider sex education programme and accompany them to a clinic if you consider the young person to be at risk of unprotected sex and is concerned about visiting the clinic.
You can provide information on contraception options but as you are not a health professional you should not give advice. The health professionals will provide advice directly to a young person.
You should be aware that schools are required to provide sexual health education as part of the curriculum for all children and young people. School programmes on sexual health are based on national and local guidelines and take place both at primary and secondary level. If not automatically notified by a child’s school, you should try to find out when sexual health programmes are being introduced so that children and young people attend. Information regarding sexual health education in schools can be obtained from the Head Teacher or Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) Co-ordinator at school. Looked after have a dedicated teacher within schools and you should link with that person to explore the delivery of sex and relationships education.
Contraception advice and information
You should explain to young people that they have the right to confidential contraception and sexual health advice and services, even if they are under 16 years old or on a Care Order.
If a young person asks, you should encourage them to seek sexual health and contraception advice and direct them to local services if it appears that the young people are, or are thinking about becoming sexually active, if you feel that by doing so you are protecting them from unplanned pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections. This includes under 16s, gay, lesbian and bi-sexual young people.
You should provide information about the sexual health clinics where young people can get advice and or treatment for sexually transmitted infections if you feel that by doing so you are protecting them from infections.
If considered necessary, you should provide details of free pregnancy testing and pregnancy counselling services. These services will also provide confidential support to young women in the decisions they may need to make as a result of the test.
You can provide leaflets and posters about local services alongside information about other relevant community services, which are provided free at Health Promotion tel 01273 296550.
If you would like to provide condoms and arrange or carry out a pregnancy test, you should consult the young person’s social worker and your supervising social worker.
A disclosure by a young person of underage sex is not necessarily a reason to breach confidentiality, but you should clarify the confidentiality situation with your supervising social worker before any education, support or referral to services is provided.
Support to young parents
Brighton and Hove NHS Primary Care Trust and the City Council are developing specialist services for young parents to prevent them from becoming excluded from opportunities as a result of early parenthood.
You must ensure that a young woman who is pregnant and planning to keep her baby attends antenatal appointments with the community midwife at your local surgery. If there are difficulties with this please refer to the Teenage Pregnancy Community Midwife who can provide direct support and who can also take the young parent/s around the labour ward.
Terminations of pregnancy - young people are able to have a termination confidentially under 16 if the doctor considers they meet the Department of Health Fraiser guidelines of competency. Before you start working with young people on sexual health confirm the boundaries of confidentiality with your supervising social worker
If you are working with a young father who would like some additional information and support about fatherhood and parenting please refer to the specialist Young Fathers’ Worker.
For young parents who may want some additional support about self-care, child birth, breast-feeding, you should refer the young parent to CHOICES antenatal group which is a specialist drop-in support group for young parents. (See services section).
You must refer all school aged young mothers to the Teenage Pregnancy Reintegration Officer (RO) who will provide them with support in sustaining their education during pregnancy and work with the young parent post delivery, to re-enter education/training and develop a childcare package. Teenage Pregnancy Advisors (PAs) provide the same service for young parents aged 16 – 18, and can also help with housing and benefits. (See services section).
Specialist learning opportunities are being developed across Brighton and Hove and information is available from the PAs and RO, along with any information on childcare placements and paying for child-care.
Britain has the highest rate of pregnancies in Europe. Brighton and Hove has a high rate of teenage pregnancy, nationally it is in the top 20%. Various areas of Brighton and Hove have higher incidences, for example Hangleton, Whitehawk and Moulsecoomb. Education can be disrupted through pregnancy. Looked after young women in year 11 over the last few years have missed considerable amounts of school and entry to GCSEs. Teenage pregnancy occurs in all social groups.
What must happen if a looked after young woman becomes pregnant?
- the young woman’s foster carer and social worker must ensure that the young woman is supported to remain in education
- the young woman may wish to receive support from the pregnancy support groups run by the department’s family centres
- the designated teacher for looked after children in the secondary school attended must support the young woman and liase with the local Alternative Centre for Education (ACE).
Home Tuition
Pregnant young women attending school may be provided with home tuition for approximately the half a term before the birth of the baby and up to half a term after, if required. At the end of this period it is hoped that the pupil will be ready to return to school on a full time basis or on a reduced timetable.
In consultation with the young woman and their social worker you, the school the young woman attends, the education welfare officer or the young woman’s GP can request home tuition from the Council’s Pupil Support Services at King’s House Hove (tel 01273 293568). As with all home tuition cases, the designated medical officer provides a medical report confirming that the pupil is pregnant and a date when the baby will be due. On the basis of this information the tuition is arranged and a start date is identified.
Home tuition would normally be provided in your home although alternative arrangements can be made. Tuition is during the school day and term time only. Pupils are provided with two hours per week, although in exceptional cases these hours may be increased. When a pupil enters Year 11 and works towards sitting GCSE examinations the hours may increase to five hours a week. Home tuition is only provided until a pupil reaches statutory school leaving age or, if they are sitting public examinations, the date of their last examination.
When tuition has been agreed normally a female tutor is allocated. She will be given a brief background of the young person’s health, educational and home circumstances. The tutor will contact the young woman’s school and be advised about the curriculum that needs to be followed and the pupil’s educational history. The school remains the first point of contact for the home tutor and the tutor’s link with other professionals concerned with the pupil, including yourself, the school medical officer, educational psychologist, education welfare officer and social worker. The school will provide the tutor with books and other educational materials. The school remains responsible for entering a pupil for public examinations and should liase with the home tutor.