STABILITY, STRENGTH & SPARKLE
Welcome to Treasure Keepers
‘Specialist Developmental Trauma, Mental Health & Adoption Support Service for
Children & Families’
You, as Parents and Carers are the ‘Treasure Keepers’.
You have the power to transform lives...
"The agency makes a great difference to children and families. It provides emotional and practical support strategies to help children and families manage day-to-day challenges. Families are highly complimentary about the quality of support that they receive. Parents and professionals described the agency as ‘a lifeline for families’. One parent said, ‘We would be lost without them. They have brought us back from the brink of an adoption breakdown quite a few times.’" Official Ofsted Report 2022
"I have been a user of Treasure Keepers for over 10 years. My children and I had suffered extreme trauma. I came to them funded by social services and broken, not open to their help as it was more of a tick box exercise. My children ranged from a baby to an 8-year-old and are my birth children. The first 8week intervention was slow and I was in total disbelief of their methods. I was very guarded and didn’t feel safe but as the intervention progressed over several months. I started to let them in, and I’ve never looked back. During the years of support, I’ve been funded and self-funded time over time. I truly believe without this service I would not be where I am today. They have walked beside me on my journey and held my hand all the way. My children have all grown in strength and are living their lives to the fullest. I am strong now and over the many battles can hold my head up high and in confidence. Treasure Keepers works if you just go with it open minded."
Written on: 17.10.2023. Name withheld to protect confidentiality
ABOUT US
Stability, Strength & Sparkle
Treasure Keepers is a small specialist, innovative, psychological service, supporting children, families and professionals living with or supporting lives affected by developmental trauma.
We offer Specialist Assessment, Psychological Consultation & Therapies (including Adoption Support) and Training.
Treasure Keepers offer a blended approach from a social care and psychological health perspective.
Assessment, interventions and training are firmly based in the psychological understanding and treatment of Trauma.
This approach is then blended uniquely with a Social Work perspective of balancing risk by promoting strengths all through a Therapeutic and relational lens.
This uniquely blended approach aims to provide the potential for the best possible outcomes for young people.
Our Psychological Consultation and Interventions work under our bespoke umbrella models of TREASURE therapeutic Parenting and GEMS psychological therapies.
We offer services to children and young people across their childhood and adolescence (up to age 24) with complex trauma needs.
These children and families have usually had exposure to trauma and abuse (physical, emotional, sexual and neglect).
Our Purpose
The purpose of Treasure Keepers is to use our specialist assessment model and Umbrella intervention Models (TREASURE and GEMS) to improve the lives of those affected by developmental trauma by cultivating Stability, Strength and Sparkle.
Treasure Keepers believes that through high quality, thorough and specialist assessments and then providing bespoke intervention supporting Children, Parents, Carers and Professionals that meaningful and lasting change can be cultivated.
Our purpose is to enable a strong start to children’s lives by improving their day-to day experience and then in future reducing the likelihood of their development of Adverse Life Experiences (and repeating patterns of trauma).
Treasure Keepers® passionately believe that Parents & Carers are the key to young people’s resilience, regrowth and recovery from Developmental Trauma.
We believe that building and strengthening relationships, developing young people’s emotional, mental & physical skills, and establishing safety and stability enables families and young people to sparkle and cultivate their potential.
We believe that children who have experienced developmental trauma should have an enjoyable childhood, and benefit from excellent parenting, enjoying a wide range of opportunities to develop their talents and skills and to the cultivation of a successful adult life.
We intend to improve understanding, compassion and outcomes for children, families and placements affected by developmental trauma through services that are innovative, creative, individualized and excellent.
We strongly believe that this population deserve support to thrive and Treasure the lives they have.
Mission Statement, Values and Aims
Stability, Strength & Sparkle
Mission
To help those affected by developmental trauma (Children, Young People, Parents, Carers & Professionals) to discover and treasure their Stability, Strength and Sparkle, creating improvement and change toward trauma resilience and well-being.
Our Values
All children and young people are the Treasures of the future and Treasures within our homes.
‘Treasure Keepers Treasure and Value Your Uniqueness’ (Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Statement, 2021)
Our Aims
Treasure Keepers aims to help children and young people who have experienced developmental trauma and their families or carers to discover and treasure their Stability, Strength and Sparkle.
We believe that the experience of Parenting can be Treasured and supported to enable the cultivation of strong, stable families and placements.
Treasure Keepers aims to use our Umbrella Models of Therapeutic Parenting (TREASURE) and Psychological Therapies (GEMS) to improve outcomes and cultivate trauma resilience.
Key Objectives:
Provide High Quality, Innovative Assessment & Therapeutic Services that improve outcomes for Young People and Family/Placement stability. Ensure these are delivered in a timely fashion as childhood and adolescence moves quickly!
"The high-quality assessments help families and professionals understand the child’s trauma and the dynamics in the family. The assessment reports are very detailed. Agency staff spend time with families and professionals to explain the summary of the findings. As a result, children and families feel fully supported throughout the assessment process." Official Ofsted Report 2022
Understanding the Complexities of Developmental Trauma. Treasure Keepers place great importance on a thorough and holistic complex specialist assessment. This understanding of what it is known that the young person may have been through, now presents with, and has capacity for in the future is essential to be able to design the correct kind of individual and Parent/Carer support for each young person and their family/placement.
Increasing Stability, Strength and Sparkle. Treasure Keepers believe that the experience of developmental trauma and the subsequent life changes that happen for children (including becoming Looked After and/or adopted) can lead to an opportunity for increased stability, strength & sparkle. The journey of developmental trauma may have been difficult but can lead to opportunities for resilience, recovery and regrowth within safe new family settings. The service believes that through our psychological interventions (TREASURE and GEMS interventions) that our population can become more stable within themselves and within their family/placement units, develop their innate strengths and learnings from their journey and rediscover their ‘sparkle’ (talents, wellbeing and hope).
Most children and families show improved emotional well-being as a result of the therapeutic support that they receive from the agency. This is demonstrated through increased confidence, resilience and their ability to manage difficult feelings. One parent described the individual progress for their child as ‘huge’. This child moved from not accepting any physical contact, to a child who climbed onto their parent’s knee for a cuddle and sang a nursery rhyme. The parent said, ‘The first time he [the child] sang a nursery rhyme to me, I cried.’ Official Ofsted Report 2022
Supporting Exceptional Parenting. There is a requirement for Parents & Carers that care for children who have experienced developmental trauma (Looked After & Adopted) to be ‘exceptional, sparkling’ parents. The children they care for may be complex and disturbed emotionally, behaviourally, psychologically and in their health. Their Parents and Carers may find the demands of providing responsive and therapeutic parenting challenging and confusing. High quality support (through our TREASURE model) to be able to maintain this task is essential. High Quality parenting changes the experiences of Young People and thus changes their brains and bodies. This leads to better outcomes for this population.
Help and Protect all in feeling safe. Treasure Keepers have thoughtful and careful safeguarding polices and responses. We will always ensure that safeguarding concerns and risks are well managed.
Supporting the Workforce. Treasure Keepers place high value on encouraging the workforce who walk alongside developmental trauma to cultivate their understanding, reflective capacity, empathy and personal/professional wellbeing.
Ensure cost effective services are provided and resources are optimally used.
Prepare and provide up to date records that are kept safe and secure.
Recruit only the highest quality of specialised Practitioners and ensure they are well trained, supervised and supported within Treasure Keepers.
Maintain and promote community connectivity and high-quality partnership practices with other professionals, agencies and systems involved with our Young People and Families.
Ensure our Service Users are involved and consulted on service delivery and service development.
Stand TOGETHER (please refer to our ‘code of conduct’) to ensure all Service Users and partnership professionals are treated with respect and without discrimination or prejudice.
Directives by statute. These include the national minimum standards for Adoption Support Agencies integral to the Care Standards Act of 2000, the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and the supporting legislation, the Adoption Support Agencies (England) and Adoption Agencies (Miscellaneous) Regulations 2005, Statutory Guidance on Adoption July 2014, the Children Acts of 1989 and 2004, and the Children and Adoption Act 2006.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD OUR STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
I established Treasure Keepers®
as I felt there was a need to offer a special service that was aimed at helping our ‘Treasures’ (children & young people who have experienced developmental trauma) in a compassionate and innovative way. These Children and families/placements deserve special services designed for them to give them a better chance at a better life. Treasure Keepers® offers specialist psychological support and intervention for Carers, Adopters, Birth Parents and professionals of children and young people with complex emotional and behavioural needs that are experiencing developmental trauma.
The Service has developed bespoke Models of intervention designed to give the best outcomes in the best way for our young people and their families."
Vikki Cohen BSc (Hons) MSc DipCounsPsy C.Psychol AFBPsS HCPC registered
Treasure Keepers Clinical & Service Director