Warwickshire County Council provide a Baby Box to new and expectant parents who are care leavers. The Baby Box is given to each baby and includes essential items like nappies, wipes, baby wash, clothes and a thermometer for the baby. There is an additional £200 baby fund to allow parents to buy more substantial items they need for the baby. The initiative was rolled out in Warwickshire in April 2020, allowing the service to maintain relationships with the young parents during Covid by dropping off the packages at their doors. Driven by a care experienced employee, the initiative aligns with the Council’s ‘Corporate Grandparent’ responsibility, with an intention to
support care leavers to look after their babies where they need it and allay fears among some care leavers that they may have their baby taken away.
The boxes supplement a wider offer for care leaver parents, with Warwickshire putting on events on occasions like Mother’s Day and paediatric first aid training courses, with specialist cooking classes to support weaning also in train. There is also a Young Parents group. The team have also worked with the British Baby Box Company, who provide Baby Box to Scotland who provide baby boxes to every child born in Scotland, to develop Warwickshire’s offer, with a bigger box that the baby can lie and nap in and including a wider array of items. The local authority have now established work with a volunteer led project, Baby Basics Warwick, who will process referrals for the team.
Warwickshire have supported almost 100 care leavers via this initiative to date, and they hope to engage more local businesses, through their baby box re-launch in January, to contribute so they can broaden the offer. The team have advised other local authorities on adopting a similar model. The project has the added benefit of helping the team to better understand the number of young care leavers who go on to have children, which has helped to improve the local support for care leavers. The initiative has both provided practical support to care leavers but has importantly created a culture of support and trust between this cohort and the local authority.