Training & events programme

This half day course is aimed at professionals who work with children and families who may benefit from a therapeutic intervention and would like to increase their understanding of different therapeutic approaches. Foster carers, kinship carers and adoptive parents who are considering different options for therapeutic support may also benefit from this training.

Decision makers in fostering and adoption agencies have a vital but often under-explored role. Many decision makers describe finding themselves in the role with little or no preparation, and with few arenas locally to share dilemmas or discuss best practice. What is the best process for reaching a sound decision? How can you avoid it simply becoming a ‘rubber-stamping’ exercise? What is your role in relation to the quality assurance of the panel’s activities? How should a decision maker appraise a panel chair? What does a reasonable decision look like? How should it be conveyed?

The role of the supervising social worker has many facets, involving managerial, supervisory, educative and support functions. This course provides supervising social workers the opportunity to develop their practice and confidence in these areas. It will include a review their role and responsibilities in relation to foster carers and promote the development of best practice

This two-day open course will provide practitioners and particularly those who may be new to undertaking, quality assuring or considering fostering assessments with an opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and practice in completing fostering assessments. This workshop may also provide a refresher for those wanting to reflect and build on knowledge skills and best practice in the completion of fostering assessments.

This course is an opportunity to consider what we know about staying in touch from research, including what works well, the voices of those with lived experience, and aspects that may present challenges or need more support.

This open course aims to give new and recently appointed fostering and adoption panel members an opportunity to develop their role as effective panel members and to consider the tasks and responsibilities involved. This will be within the context of the current legislative framework and emerging messages from research. Fostering and adoption/permanency panel work is challenging to all concerned in the process. This course is intended to share issues, dilemmas and best practice.

This course is an opportunity to explore the legal and practice framework of private fostering, including best practice in how to work with this often unseen group of children. It will include explanation of the respective responsibilities of parents, private foster carers and local authorities, when private fostering arrangements are made. It will provide an opportunity to explore some of the dilemmas and challenges that can arise, as we interpret the law and guidance around private fostering, and discuss the reality of private fostering arrangements in practice within assessment, support and review processes. Since the war in Ukraine, some Ukrainian children who have travelled to the UK for safety, are living in private fostering arrangements. This course will also explore their needs, and current advice on legal and practice requirements.

This two-day open course will provide practitioners and particularly those who may be new to undertaking adoption assessments with an opportunity to develop knowledge, skills and practice in completing adoption assessments. Practitioners will be enabled to consider thorough, rigorous, consistent and fair approaches across the service in the assessment of prospective adopters. This course may also provide a refresher for those wanting to reflect and build on knowledge skills and best practice in the completion of adoption assessments.

Previously Robust analysis and evidence based connected persons & special guardianship assessments

This open course will be an opportunity to explore personal and professional values and thresholds in respect of assessing connected persons, including tools to assist in assessing the child’s and the Connected Persons’ continued relationship with the birth parents and any possible risks posed to the child and carer and how these can be managed.

This open course will offer a comprehensive approach to undertaking sibling assessments. It will explore who the key contributors to sibling assessments are and how assessors can plan assessments and engage these contributors in the process. Most importantly it will explore how to gain the views of the children, observe sibling interactions and draw conclusions on the quality of sibling relationships as well as focusing on the individual needs of each child and of the sibling group.