Training & events programme

This open course course will enable participants to increase their understanding of the role of permanence in children's lives. By reflecting on best practice, it will help those attending to form permanence plans that are geared to improving the outcomes for children and young people, including their emotional, cognitive and physical development.

There has been an increase in the number of ‘relinquished’ babies and children needing adoptive families. Placed with their parents’ consent, agencies commonly use early permanence placements for these children.

This course will look at the relevant statutory frameworks and recent case law. It will also explore the challenges of working with relinquished babies and their parents, some of the complexities of the background histories of relinquished babies, the importance of counselling for relinquishing parents, care planning and the support needs of relinquished children and their adopters.

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?

This two hour training will provide an overview of the legal and practice issues regarding Convention Adoption for children being placed abroad. There will then be ample time to discuss issues regarding Convention Adoption overseas cases during a case study and group discussion.

This course is an opportunity to delve deeper into how to write analytical and evidence-based assessments of any kind.

This course is aimed at social care professionals who are engaged in the assessment of prospective adoptive parents and who wish to increase their awareness and confidence in considering gender issues in assessment, analysis and decision making.