Health | CoramBAAF

Our health consultants develop a range of practice notes, briefings and other resources to support our members in their work with children and young people in care.

Getting started in...

As the UK’s leading membership organisation for professionals working across adoption, fostering and kinship care we want to equip professionals like you with the knowledge, best practices, and resources needed to improve the lives of children and young people. This is why we are launching a free breakfast webinar series to help you get started in adoption, fostering and kinship care.

Mental health

Book your place at our upcoming Learning from Research webinars that are focus on the mental health of children in care. Members, sign in to your website account to join our webinars for free.

The mental health of children and young people in state care in England

30 May | 2pm -3.45pm | Zoom
This presentation will highlight practice and policy-relevant findings from two ESRC-funded research studies which set out to answer these questions, utilising (1) a 5-year longitudinal follow-up of the mental health of children in care in England through secondary analyses of longitudinal, national-level administrative data and (2) two waves of a survey of children and young people aged 11-18 years in care.

FREE FOR MEMBERS

Getting best-evidenced mental health support to care-experienced young people

22 July | 2pm - 3.45pm | Zoom
This talk will present findings from the ADaPT project – an active implementation study spanning 28 mental health teams across England. Working with general CAMHS, targeted CAMHS, and social care mental health teams, they explored what helps and hinders mental health teams to deliver NICE-recommended direct mental health care, with a specific focus on (complex) posttraumatic stress.

FREE FOR MEMBERS

Adoption & Fostering journal

Adoption & Fostering is the only quarterly peer-reviewed journal dedicated to adoption, fostering and kinship issues. Members, make sure to sign in to your website account to access the below articles.

Read our latest health notes

The health notes from Volume 48 (Issue 1, March 2024) of our 'Adoption & Fostering' journal are now available. Members, remember to sign in to your website account for free access to all edition and issues of the journal.

Rising levels of obesity and medical problems for prospective substitute carers in Gloucestershire

Audit of Looked After Children (LAC) in residential care and BMI increase in one UK local authority

Blogs and updates

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Ascertaining risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder at initial health assessments for children in care

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) from prenatal alcohol exposure poses risks for looked after children. Timely diagnosis is crucial, and an audit in Brighton and Hove assessed the documentation of alcohol use and recorded information about the risk of developmental problems in initial health assessments from April 2021 to April 2022. Read more in 'Ascertaining risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder at initial health assessments for children in care' by Layla Beckett, Michelle Bond.

Dealing with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

This authoritative guide is an essential read for all those working with or looking after fostered and adopted children who may be affected by FASD, to help ensure that they provide the support these children need to reach their full potential.

Read our book

Parenting a child affected by parental substance misuse

This guide explores general issues around substance misuse and children entering care, as well as the impact on children of exposure to substances during pregnancy, and possible effects on children at different ages and stages of development.