The young person(s) will be picked up at times and places pre-arranged and agreed in our pre-meetings. Seat belts will be worn at all times while driving and seating allocated by the person driving. There will be no smoking or vaping in the cars either whilst driving or if stationary. Any rubbish that is generated will be removed and put into a suitable bin. There is no acceptable situation where damage is allowed to the car by the young person(s).
Each booking will undergo a full pre meeting where the young person(s) relevant information is divulged and meeting set ups are planned and agreed. Activities, food and drink arrangements, areas for concern and strategies to handle specific situations will be discussed fully before the young person(s) are placed into our care. We need to make sure that we have as much information as possible to create the right care plan for the young person(s). It is really important we do not miss out important information regarding the young person(s) history or behaviour that may mean our care planning is not as effective as it could be.
If a young person(s) requires handling for their behaviour, i.e. to remove them or stop them from harming themselves, others or damaging property, this needs to be discussed in the pre-meeting and become part of the care plan and planning for their activities. Violence against staff or property will not be accepted and due to the fact we spend a vast majority of time in public places this will also result in changes to activity planning if extreme enough. It is also likely that any young person(s) requiring handling will need two members of staff with them throughout their time with us. De-escalation techniques and verbal interaction will always be used in any volatile situation and will most of the time be very successful. Any serious incidents will always be reported immediately and full notes taken for a full report after the session has ended.
If a young person(s) are prone to running off, or are particularly spontaneous in their decision making, this needs to be highlighted in the pre-meeting and a realistic strategy created for their care. If the child is particularly vulnerable or young then we will not allow any level of leaving our care even if we have to physically intervene. Older and more streetwise children cannot really be stopped if they are looking to run away from our care and in fact it could lead to greater issues if they are stopped physically. Again de-escalation techniques and verbal interaction will always be used in any volatile situation and will most of the time be very successful. Any serious incidents will always be reported immediately and full notes taken for a full report after the session has ended.
Rewards will be planned based solely on the the young person(s) interests and what drives them. We look to reward the young person(s) as they move into the direction behaviourally that we are aiming for and will not take back or remove anything once earned.
Consequences could be changes to activity set ups, or freedom of choice. They will be based on logistics mostly as certain behaviours will simply not enable certain activities or journeys from happening. Boundaries need to be respected and will be enforced by relevant consequences relevant to each particular case. Warnings and other therapeutic de-escalation strategies will always be the first and most popular form of helping the young person(s) through any difficult time they may be having with their behaviour.
The goal is not for fear of consequences or express anger, but to establish a link between certain behaviour issues and the resulting outcome not being ideal, providing growth and an opportunity for talk and explanation. From here we can work with the young person(s) as to how to utilise alternative strategies to manage those behavioural issues.
A decent standard of behaviour will be expected at all times, especially when we are in people's places of business. Familiar landmarks will be show to all young people in case of us getting separated. Any incidents of grossly volatile behaviour will mean changes to the care plan and activity set up for the young person(s) with immediate effect.
There is a zero tolerance policy to drugs, alcohol or anything illegal being taken or held whilst in our care. This will be made clear in any pre meeting. The police and social services contacts will be advised immediately on discovery of anything illegal and they will be removed. For older children who smoke/vape and where this is accepted by guardians and those in charge of care, we can arrange suitable times/places for the young person(s) to partake in our pre meetings and also on pick up.
The young person(s) have every right to make any allegation they feel is justified. We will always provide full reports of our times with each young person(s) and will highlight any incidents or major issues with great detail. We do, however, require that any young person(s) with a history of false allegation making be flagged in our pre-meetings so we can make sure we get staffing levels right for them, as well as activity plans that take this into account. We strive to build strong relationships with the young people we work with minimising the allegation likelihoods coming from them being disenfranchised. We will cooperate fully with any allegation should it ever come forward.
The young person(s) need to be dressed appropriately, (correct footwear) for whatever the planned activities are for the day. This can be sorted prior to pick up with guardians. Things like sun cream and medication will also need to be ready for when we take the young person(s) into our care. These things can also be highlighted in our pre-meetings.
All activities and refreshments will be included in the agreed price. That will include tuition fees, rewards, transportation costs and any other relevant expenses, for example parking. Any other financial arrangements need to be discussed in the pre-meeting prior to us taking care of the young person(s).