Our mission 

Cocoon Group Services (CGS) is a social care provider which offers accommodation, support, and therapeutic interventions, for young people between 16-18 years who are diagnosed or are being assessed and low, medium or high complexed needs.

In recognising the challenges pertaining to transitioning, CGS may continue to accommodate young people after their 18th birthday until their 24th birthday, where multi-disciplinary judgment supports this decision and where it is in the best interest of the young person.

CGS provides young people with opportunities to establish and experience a wider social network through meeting new people and places where they can socialise and engage in safe activities outside of their normal environment. The objective is to support and develop, both the social and life skills to enjoy independence away from their families. This will empower them to make informed choices, enhance their confidence, self-esteem and promote independent living skills. This will be reflected in their bespoke placement plans.

Our values:

It is our passion, experience, knowledge base, work ethic, and models of interventions, that support all young people to develop and thrive whilst living in a warm, nurturing, and stable environment. Our values demonstrate this and are as follows:

1. Safety 

We are committed to keeping all young people safe and protected from all forms of abuse and harm by ensuring thorough risk assessments of each young person remain current and reflective of their needs.  We have adopted the contextual safeguarding approach which looks beyond their families. This approach recognises the different relationships young people form within their neighbourhood, colleges and online.  Therefore, as an organisation, our team seek to build professional and trusting relationships with young people and encourage them to attend weekly key-work sessions, residents meetings and our speakeasy youth forum where current issues and topics are discussed, with the view that these sessions allow them the space to share open dialogue and also educate and spread awareness on staying safe. 

 

We endeavour to undertake a robust safer recruitment process and employ experienced and qualified staff to meet the needs of the young people. CGS also takes into account that no staff will be employed without the relevant training which includes NVQ level 2 and 3 working with children and young people, Safeguarding and Child Protection level 2 training which takes place on an annual basis. In addition to this, our homes have CCTV to minimise the risk of intruders entering the home without authorisation.

2. Respect

Respect is at the heart of CGS, our young people learn that their behaviours affect their rights and those of others around them. All members of our staff team treat each other with respect.

3. Transparency 

We promote this by ensuring that stakeholders and service users have access to appropriate relevant accurate information regarding our services, Young People within the placement, operations of the organisation, and outcomes of all young people's progress. 

4. Honesty and Trustworthy

Being trustworthy and honest means that staff within our organisation will behave ethically. As a company, we will endeavour to maintain this practice by ensuring that we carry out monthly 1:1 supervisor, weekly team meetings, daily handovers, training, and regular staff checks through the DBS online service. Staff are expected to report concerns and incidents to management with immediate effect as explained in their initial induction and training. 

5. Dignity

Each young person is different and comes with a range of complex needs. CGS is mindful of those differences, treating each person with dignity, respect, promoting each persons’ capacity and opportunity to address their own needs and improve their daily lives. Therefore, our staff are very clear on their roles and duties for each young person and all professionals within the network.

We work to seek solutions for young people within our provisions with the view that they will build healthy attachments and relationships with other residents, staff, their family and the wider community. This is evidenced by responding to young people’s individuality and treating them with dignity and respect regardless of their race, culture, gender, sexuality, language, or religion.

We value and encourage the right to freedom of expression for all young people. To achieve this, we support and engage young people regularly through key work sessions to provide them with an opportunity to express their views. CGS also involves its young people in the ‘Speakeasy Forum’ which are weekly meetings and workshops, coordinated and facilitated by the young people and managed by staff. Moreover, where there may be issues of conflict with young people living within the home, we encourage regular residence meetings where these issues can be addressed and remedied safely and appropriately. 

6. The centrality of human relationships

CGS management and staff aim to support young people who need assistance with organisations and individuals who can provide the appropriate help. We recognise that facilitating human relationships can be a useful vehicle for creating change, by engaging with the professional networks which include our in-house Systemic Family Therapist who can create, maintain, and enhance the well-being of all looked after children including their families where possible.

7. Social justice 

At CGS we advocate on behalf of all young people we support who may be facing harassment and or discrimination in the wider society. We seek to educate and empower those who are not aware of the inequities they are experiencing. For example, we will facilitate educational support from an external provider when a young person is at risk, not in education, employment, and or training (NEET). All young people not only have access to their key-workers, but they can also access our in-house therapists and youth-work mentor to explore their options for education and employment opportunities or to speak about their well-being and how they can regulate their moods when experiencing mental health issues.

We also work in close partnership with the placing authorities and other external agencies to ensure the education, social, health, and wellbeing needs of young people are being met. Cocoon Group Services (CGS) encourages all young people to be fully engaged in meetings held for them so that their voices are heard in their placement planning, LAC reviews and strategy meetings. CGS supports all young people's educational programmes, this includes working in partnership with external educational provisions to identify any potential barriers to learning.