The Big Issue – August 19, 2019

• Looked-a�terchildren arefivetimes morelikelyto be temporarily
  excludedfrom schoolthantheir peers


• Onein 1 0 rough sleepers in London havebeen incare


• Morethan oneinthreecareleavers end up NEET (not in education,
  employmentortraining)
  “Eventhough adoption is notforthefaint-hearted,thesingle best thing
  we can do for children is give them love and stability.”

W

hatifyoucouldseetheworldthroughachild’s

eyes– wouldyouchangeyourbehaviourtowards

them?HelenCostathinksso. Whensheco-founded

theCornerstonePartnership,shehadonemission:toimprovethe

livesof familiestouchedbythecaresystem.Butfouryears later, her

socialenterprisehaspioneeredthecountry’s firstvirtual-reality

programmethatfostersunderstandingbetweenan adoptedchild

andtheadopter,usedinmorethan 4 0 localauthorities.

Costa,5 0 ,workedinpharmaceuticalsbeforelandingajobin

whatwastheDepartmentof TradeandIndustry. Shemovedto

theLondon DevelopmentAgencytotakethereinson scienceand

innovation beforejoiningBoris Johnson’sadministration atCity

Halltoworkon socialpolicy–hersisaCVnotforthefaintof heart.

Andthenshedecidedtoadopttwochildren.

“Icouldn’tgoback,” shetellsTheBigIssue.“Idecidedthatthe

adoption systemneededsomereconfi guringandlookedintohow

thegovernmentwastryingtoreform it.ButIjustthought:‘I’llshow

youhow wecandoitdi�ferently’.”

TheCornerstonePartnershipstartedasasmallproject,the

combination ofe�fortsfrom Costaandco-founderClaireBrasier

(whohassincesteppedaway fromthesocialenterprise).

“Wewantedtochangetheexperienceof becomingan adopter,

thenchildrenbeingplaced,thenthesupportthatyouget–all

ofthosethingsarecoreintermsof how goodanexperienceit

turnsouttobe,” Costaexplains.“Buttheprocessisgearedupjust

forchildprotection andnottohelppeoplebecomebrilliantand

comfortableparentstochildrenwhoarelikelytohaveexperienced

trauma.Iencounteredproblemsatevery partofthesystem.”

A�tersecuringfunding,Cornerstoneo�ficially launched

inJanuary 2 0 15.Ito�feredparentingtrainingandsupportfor

adopters, pluspeermentoring.

ButCostawasn’tsatisfiedthatthosemethodshelpedpeople

understand“whatdrivesachild’sbehaviourwhenthey’reinanew

houseandeverybody’sscreaming”.Shefoundheranswerwhenshe

saw avirtualrealityfilmmadefortheAlzheimer’s Society.

“It’sreally hardtorememberwhatyouweretaughton a

trainingcourse,” shesays. “ButtheVRwasexactly whatwe

needed.Projectingpeopleintotheworldaschildrensothey

couldunderstandtheimpactthatchild’straumaishavingin

theirlaterlives.”

Havingfilmsmadefortheimmersivetechcostthesocial

enterprise£25 0 , 000 .Throughtheeyesof achildfromthe

wombonwards,usersexperienceabuseandneglect;thenthey

areremovedandputintocare.Since 20 18,TheCornerstone

Partnershiphasbeentraininglocalauthoritiestoadministerthe

service,enforcingarequirementthatsomeone–usually asocial

workeror psychologist–qualifiedtodealwithany potentialupset

ispresentatalltimes. “Ifyouareusingitinatraditional setting–by

thatImean withafamilythat’sstrugglingwithachildthat’sbeen

placed–thenyou’reabsolutelyusingittorecapturetheempathy

fromtheparentsorthefostercarerssothattheystopthinkingthe

child’sbad,thechildneedstochange.Itresetspeople’sapproach,

remindingthemit’snotbecausethechildhatesyou,it’sbecause

they have trauma that’s being triggered day in, day out.”

Thesocialenterprisehasmovedon

tothemakingof itsnextfilm,tackling

theadolescentyears. “Weabsolutely

needtohelppeopletomanage

teenagerswithmorekindness,” Costa

says, “andhowtounderstandwhat

sexualexploitation lookslike.

“Weareworkingon aprojectthat

looksatyouthviolenceandknifecrime,

too. Itseemsmoreimportantthanever.”

Withmorethan 4 0 councilsacross

thecountryusingTheCornerstone

Partnership’simmersivetechnology, 350

VRpractitionersnationallyandonly 1 0

membersof sta�f,thesocialenterprise

isfinancially self-sustainable,though

Costaacknowledgesthechallengeof

beingastart-upatatimewhenlocal

authoritybudgetsareshrinkingand

Brexitlooms.

“We’repurely mission-driven,” she

explains.“Butwecan standon ourown

two feet.” ShehopesCornerstonehelps

othersdothesame.

Interview:Hannah Westwater

@hannahjtw

changemakers.

The thinkers. The creators. The agitators

Illustration

:Ma

tth

we

(^) Brazi
er
TheCornerstonePartnership
HELEN COSTA
FINDOUTMORE
thecornerstonepartnership.com
Thetechnologyisalsousedtorecruit
newfostercarersandadopters, helping
thosewhoareuncertainaboutputting
themselvesforwardor whohavebeen
puttingito�f.
“Whereit’sbecomereally
interestingiswhereit’sbeingused
aspartof an assessmenttobecomea
fostercareror an adopter,” Costasays,
explainingthataperson’semotional
responsea�terusingtheimmersive
techtellsthemalotabouthowthey
wouldrespondtotheresponsibilityof a
vulnerablechild.
Costa’s pioneeringsocialtechnology
hasbranchedoutfromthecaresystem,
too. Mostrecently ithasbeenused
tohelptheperpetrators ofdomestic
violenceunderstandthekindof impact
theiractions haveontheirunborn
children,andtohelpbirthmotherswho
areunwillingtoleaveviolentfathers.
Ithasevenbeenusedinschools“to
showteachersthedi�ferencebetween
achildwho’sjustbeingnaughtyand
achildwho’sreactingbecausetheir
trauma’s beingtriggered,” says Costa.It’s
now beingconsideredfortraining and
supporting fi refi ghters.
Transform
adoption and
transform lives
Costasays:“Theoutcomesforchildrenwhocomeinto care are
disproportionately rubbish. Look at the fi gures:
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