MEMBERSHIP

Any young person, who is or has been looked after in Wales, is welcome to become a member of Voices From Care. Voices From Care relies on it's members to keep us up to date on issues of concern and interest. We use their everyday reality of living in or leaving the care system to inform our other work areas.

ADVICE AND SUPPORT WORK SERVICE

Voices From Care provides an Advice and Support Work Service for young people who are or have been looked after in Wales. This is generally individual support given by Voices From Care Support Work staff around any issue that is of concern to young people. Some of the issues that young people have asked for support on have been: Housing, Drug issues, all types of abuse, helping to get the young persons voice across in all sorts of meetings, leaving care, education, parenting issues, and as you can imagine this list is endless so we cover ALL issues.
The Voices From Care Support Work Service is one of the most confidential in the UK, meaning that we completely independent from social services and other agencies.
Young people wishing to become involved with the work of Voices From Care are offered practical and emotional support via Voices From Care Support Work staff. Voices From Care is a place to meet other young people in or leaving care to share experiences.

THE TRAINING SERVICE

Voices From Care operates training services to organisations and agencies that provide services to young people "looked after". The basis of this training is the indisputable fact that the experiences and views of young people are a valuable source of information, which can compliment the training of professionals by offering a real insight into issues facing young people.
Voices From Care Training Services currently focus on five primary areas:

· EDUCATION
· EMPOWERMENT
· HEALTH
· LEAVING CARE
· COMMUNICATION

This service is informed and delivered by young people who are or have been looked after by local authorities.
Voices From Care's training is flexible to the needs of participants and can be a tool in overcoming the task of involving young people in the development of both voluntary and statutory organisations who provide services to those who are or have been in the looked after system.
Voices From Care offers young people the chance to be trained, to deliver training and promote the voice of young people collectively in a variety of settings, including local authorities, voluntary organisation, colleges and universities across Wales.

RESEARCH

Voices From Care needs to know exactly what is happening to young people who are or have been looked after, so we know what things need to change. The organisationundertakes it's own research - asking members and volunteers about their experiences and issues. This research is then used to inform the other work areas of Voices From Care.

CAMPAIGNING

Voices From Care exists to improve conditions and outcomes for young people who are or have been looked after. The organisation actively campaigns around issues, which are of concern to young people. We will work with other volutary organisations, the media and through appropriate avenues in our campaign work.

Voices From Care ensures that the views/experiences of young people who are or have been looked after are known at a policy-making and decision making level. Where possible we try to ensure that young people are in direct dialogue with those responsible for shaping the care system.