Mockingbird Family Model (a new way of providing foster care)

One foster home acts as a 'hub home'.

Carers in the hub home will get training from Mockingbird trainers from The Fostering Network.

The hub home offers support to 6 to 10 foster homes, known as 'satellite homes'.

The families are all supported by a liaison worker from the Fostering Service at South Tyneside Council.

This network of support is known as a 'constellation'.

It can include:

• children and young people living with foster parents (foster homes)
• children living with other family members or friends (kinship homes)
• homes with adopted children (adoptive homes)
• links to young adults living independently after leaving care (independent living)
• links to birth families and other people that are important to children's wellbeing

Families will usually live near to the hub home.

Each group will have a variety of families and children's age ranges, just like a typical extended family.