Decision details
Award for the Mockingbird programme
Decision Maker: Director of Children, Families and Education
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
The Director for Children, Families and
Education has decided to award grant funding in the sum of
£105,000 to the Fostering Network to enable delivery of the
Mockingbird Programme for a period of 2 years from May 2024 to
April 2026.
Reasons for the decision:
Mockingbird is an innovative programme of
foster care using an extended family model – the Mockingbird
Family Model. This model supports the council plan 2023-27 priority
‘To prioritise those with the greatest needs’ and will
deliver a programme which is designed to improve the stability of
fostering placements. The model strengthens the relationships
between carers, children, young people, fostering services and
birth families, reducing the likelihood of placement breakdown and
associated detrimental effects on children and families. Wirral
Council, have been successful in securing Department for Education
Funding to deliver the programme for 2 years as part of a regional
bid with 8 other North West local authorities.
A procurement exercise has not been conducted due to the fact that
this provision is highly specialised and the Fostering Network
operates under an exclusive licence from the Mockingbird Society to
deliver and sub-licence the Mockingbird Family Model in the United
Kingdom. The Mockingbird Family Model can only be operated within
the UK under a contract with The Fostering Network.
It is anticipated that the programme will be sustainable beyond the
2 year funding period, and the ongoing annual costs (currently
£15,300) would be met by via the existing Children’s
Services budget.
Alternative options considered:
As specified above, the Fostering Network
operates under an exclusive licence from the Mockingbird Society to
deliver and sub-licence the Mockingbird Family Model in the United
Kingdom. The Mockingbird Family Model can only be operated within
the UK under a contract with The Fostering Network.
Doing nothing would likely increase the number of placement
breakdowns for children in care, result in costly residential
placements and poor outcomes for those children and future
generations, which in turn would increase costs for the public
purse and have an impact on the directorate’s ability to
deliver the budget identified in the MTFP.
Publication date: 15/05/2024
Date of decision: 15/05/2024