Setting up a programme

Enquiries about setting up a new KEEP programme in the UK should be directed to Colin Waterman.

Where organisations are considering setting up KEEP the following areas should be given consideration:

Foster and Kinship Carer cohort plus Special Guardians

• do you have a pool of carers with children in the programme age range to establish and sustain KEEP within your authority/agency? 

Current provision

• what other training is offered to your carers?
• will KEEP complement or duplicate?

Staffing

• each KEEP group requires two facilitators with experience in working within foster care and with groups. A willingness to deliver a manualised programme is essential. 
• each area should also have a supervisor or manager who has overall responsibility for the programme, making key decisions, providing supervision and covering for the facilitators when needed.
• sufficient time needs to be allocated for consultation and supervision, weekly telephone calls to carers, audit and fidelity data collection, and home visits to carers unable to attend a session in addition to direct group delivery.
• a minimum of approximately 0.5 WTE of staff time a week is recommended.

Logistics

• KEEP groups will require a consistent venue which can hold 15 people comfortably.
• a laptop with an integrated camera is essential for recording the groups. These recordings are uploaded onto a secure website.
• to enable timely access to the KEEP FIDO website (a secure website for recordings owned and managed by Oregon Social Learning Center) we recommend a named link within your IT Department so that technical requirements will not delay the running of your groups.
• a small budget for refreshments, programme materials and carer incentives will be required.

Enquiries about setting up a new KEEP programme in the UK should be made to Colin Waterman, who can be contacted via e-mail, or on 0161 2033264