Directors Articles
Since putting on the cities first ever open air concerts in Bedminster skakeboard park nearly 20 years ago and subsequently staging major youth development events in both Kingswood & Eastville park attracting a combined 50,000 people, Our founding Director Patrick Hart has forged a succesful musical career as well as forming the "philanthropic" organisation Elevation who were pioneers of much of the current care styles that are used today. His philosophy of mutual respect (Give respect , Get respect) was enshrined in the first ever Elevation statement of purpose nearly ten years ago. he is still a regular speaker at conferences accross Europe and is also a respected broadcaster. Here are some of his articles.
Too Expensive...Is This Fair? (June 2005)
More and more young people are being told by their Social Workers that they can no longer stay in a "private placement" because it¹s too expensive, often even giving young people figures of how much a placement may cost. Though the reality of finance and budgets is important, is this fair to the many private organisations who strive to provide a cost effective service ? C.E.O. Patrick Hart spouts off...again !
Over recent years, the face of Child Care has changed dramatically, with birth of the NCSC and now the CSCI has seen operating costs rocket in terms of both fees, physical requirements and administrative duties. Of course we all hope that the standard of care for our young people has also improved, alongside the accountability of those that care for them. In reality though, many smaller organisations have gone to the wall, unable to cope with the spiralling costs and mountains of paperwork now required to do the job, others have been swallowed up by the more "corporate" companies who care for young people for a tidy profit to their managers & shareholders. And then there are organisations like Elevation, whose roots have always been firmly in the community and who operate a not for profit policy. We have always beleived that you cannot balance care & profit, they just do not go together. However you must run the organisation in a way that does not compromise either the quality of care nor the quality of carers. This means that your costs must refelect those fees imposed on you alongside that increased demands that the ever changing legislation requires. If you beleive that young people that we care for can take in the complex nature of child care costings, then i beleive that it is prefectly acceptable to give them figures and charges for organisations such as Elevation. Of course you should also be willing to tell them your salary and that of your senior managers also. However if you actually take the point that by simply saying "this placement is too expensive" is both a "cop out" and extremely unfair to the many hardworking organisations who look after young people. Then you will I hope instruct your staff to think more carefully about the effect they may have by making these statements. And then of course is the question of credibility, because often 6 months later, a young person returns to the "Too Expensive" placement because the local Authority can't actually find anywhere else that can meet the young persons needs.
If You Cant Judge Your Own Work, How Can You Judge Others...(Jan 2004)
So many organisations make wild claims about their performance, or indeed how good they are. At Elevation of course we believe that our organisation and services are of a high standard. but do we really know ourselves ? Do we
really see what others see ? Rob Collins looks a little closer.
NCSC Report August 2003, The home excels in providing the young people individualised activity programmes to suit their personal preferences.
Every time an inspector comes calling, our CEO Pat Hart is always positively excited at the prospect. Most of the staff team thought this a little weird at first, but after a while began to not only understand, but also believe in this attitude. Welcoming an inspection, comment or feedback on your work is daunting for some, but if you actually care about your work and take pride in it, surely you'll want others to see it ! Inspections can often bring to light areas of improvement that need to be made as well as good practice. If you know your own organisation well enough, you¹ll also know what to expect in terms of feedback. Too many organisations make false claims about "how young people respect their staff" when statistics or even inspection results will show large instances of assaults on those same staff.
For Elevation, education is paramount for young people and every support is given to encourage them to access education.
It's easy to let young people do what they want and have a good relationship with them. The challenge is when you re-enforce boundaries and ask young people to do things that they don't want. What is their reaction to you then ? Do you actually have a genuine mutual respect ?...Elevation are proud of their record and the positive feedback from local
Authorities, Parents, Schools, inspectors and most of all young people. We do make claims about our achievements, and we are ready and willing to substantiate them.
Elevation recognises the diversity and skills of staff and this is used to enhance the placement for young people.