In this conversation about mental health, Hetty Verhagen (therapeutic social worker and university lecturer), Emma Fincham (fostering consultant) and Ellyse Partington (Digital Marketing and Engagement Officer), consider what mental health means to them.

They explore Emma's role as a mental health first aider, along with Hetty's direct work with social work practitioners, to consider how organisations can do better to challenge stigma and create comfortable environments for open and supportive conversations.

For more resources from this session, take a look at our equality, diversity and inclusion webpage where we have created a mental health section in support of #mentalhealthawarenessweek!

Take a look:
https://corambaaf.org.uk/resources/equality-diversity-and-inclusion

Episode 3: Mental Health Awareness Week

CoramBAAF Publishing Manager, Jo Francis discusses the complexities of diagnosing neglect in looked after children and how its impact can manifest itself differently from child to child.

Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/books/working-children-who-have-experienced-neglect

Episode 13: Working with children who have experienced neglect with Victoria Sharley & Alyson Rees

Where did my dinosaur go? is a charming children's book about two meerkats, Mia and Kit, who do not like their new home. They don’t like their new routine, their new bedroom, or new foods for dinner – and most of all, they definitely do not like their new carer, Becky the capybara. But when the meerkats (along with their very special cuddly dinosaur toys) stay with Becky, they discover that a new home can be OK, and sometimes it’s alright to trust new people. 

Jo Francis, CoramBAAF's Publishing Manager, sat down with three members of the author team that worked on Where did my dinosaur go? to talk about where the idea for the book came from, their research findings and how that impacted the story that they told.

Amelia Goswell graduated with a degree in geography from Durham University and currently works as a transport planner in London. 

Meryl Westlake is a researcher at University College London (UCL) studying mental health and risk-taking among children living in residential care. She hopes that the book can share understanding from research in a way that helps children and their foster carers have important conversations about trust. 

Dr Eva A Sprecher is a researcher at UCL, who works with care experienced young people and foster carers to understand how we can support young people who have lived in care with their mental health, especially through thinking about relationships. 

Watch the interview on the CoramBAAF website: https://corambaaf.org.uk/resources/corambaaf-conversations/where-did-my-dinosaur-go-author-interview

Episode 19: Where did my dinosaur go? | Author interview

We are the UK’s leading membership organisation for professionals working across adoption, fostering and kinship care. We provide information, best practice guidance, advice, training and resources to support our members and influence policy to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Episode 19: Where did my dinosaur go? | Author interview

CoramBAAF

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