Making plans for staying in touch

THEME

No two children or their families are the same. The most critical aspect of any staying in touch plan post adoption is that it allows for individual needs and situations. 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. It will include what to consider in putting together an individual flexible plan which allows for changing circumstances, and can reflect the changing needs of the child throughout childhood, teenage years and beyond.

Participants will have the opportunity to consider decision making and planning for staying in touch post adoption and the implications for their own practice.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the session participants will have had the opportunity to

• Consider the  current context for Staying in Touch (SiT)/Contact planning in adoption​
• Consider the  historical, and legal context
• Consider the importance of maintaining relationships in supporting a child’s identity.
• have considered what research tells us about contact, and heard voices of children, adopters and birth parents​
• consider types, purpose and potential barriers to maintaining relationships  for adopted children
• feel more confident in making child-focused decisions around Staying in Touch/contact​
• have explored how to write a contact/family time plan including what support and preparation is needed​

PRESENTER

Lindy Wootton, Associate Trainer, Coram BAAF

Lindy Wootton possesses over 35 years of valuable experience working with people in the voluntary and public sectors, serving as a trainer, practitioner, manager, project leader, mediator, and restorative justice practitioner. After qualifying as a social worker, she initially worked in child protection before transitioning to adoption. In 2013, she joined CCS Adoption, where she took on diverse roles, including managing early permanence projects and the life story work service – Sharing Stories, as well as handling assessment, training, post-adoption support, and agency decision maker. In 2022, Lindy left CCS Adoption to become an independent social work consultant, undertaking work for the National Adoption Strategy Team and delivering training as an associate trainer for CoramBAAF. Lindy holds a BSc in Social Administration, MSc in Criminal Justice Policy, MSc in Social Work, and is a qualified mediator. 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

Children’s social workers/team managers

Adoption social workers

On open courses we can accommodate a maximum of four delegates from one organisation only. For a larger group booking, please see the information on commissioned training.

RECOMMENDED READING

Beyond together or apart - Planning for, assessing and placing sibling groups 

Author: Shelagh Beckett (2021)

Brothers and sisters have potentially the longest lasting and one of the closest relationships of their lives with each other – connections that have enormous capacity for shared understanding and warmth, and which are expected to last. But looked after children needing permanence – and approximately 60 per cent of looked after children have siblings – are faced with the real possibility that these connections will be weakened or even severed if they are placed separately.

CoramBAAF members can also watch the introductory event to the Siblings Assessment Report (SAR) which explains the model of sibling assessment that was developed and outlined in the book.

Writing a later letter

Author: Fran Moffat (2020)

A later life letter is one written by a social worker to a child who is being adopted, to help the child make sense of their past, but it is intended to be read later in the child’s life. This is a difficult and delicate task.  How do you write to a young person who may not remember you? How do you explain painful events in the young person’s childhood? What is the role of the adoptive parents in the writing and use of the letter? 

Contact after adoption 

Author: Elsbeth Neil, Mary Beek and Emma Ward (2015)

Decisions about contact between an adopted child and their birth family are an essential part of the child’s placement plan and need to take into account the child’s welfare. It is therefore essential to understand how contact affects adopted children throughout their lives. Research has found that the impact and quality of contact can vary widely. Sometimes it is wanted and valued by children. In other cases it can have an unsettling and disturbing effect. Very little research has included the views of older children and adolescents.

Contact after adoption summary 

Author:  Elsbeth Neil, Mary Beek and Emma Ward (2015)

This short book summarises the findings of the study, Contact after adoption - a longitudinal study that followed up a group of adopted children, their adoptive parents and birth relatives, where some form of post-adoption contact was planned. The findings are of particular importance due to the study’s duration – the children, all placed under the age of four, have been followed through preschool, middle childhood and into later adolescence.

TIME

Registration 9.45 am
Start 10.00 am*
Close 4.00 pm*

*Times subject to change

FEES

Full or associate CoramBAAF member - £125.00 + £25.00 VAT = £150.00
Individual CoramBAAF member - £105.00 + £21.00 VAT = £126.00
Non-member -  £155.00 + £31.00 VAT = £186.00. 

CONTACT

Telephone 020 7520 0310

Email training@corambaaf.org.uk

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