CoramBAAF hosts National Adoption Strategy Webinar
On Tuesday 8 February we were delighted to host a webinar with Sarah Johal, the new National Adoption Strategic Lead, on ‘The National Adoption Strategy – Why, Where and When’ for members and partners from across the adoption sector. We had a really rich and valuable discussion with lots of food for thought.
Sarah outlined how the Government is supporting Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) leaders to deliver the National Adoption Strategy’s vision with their three priorities: recruitment, the child’s journey and adoption support.
She gave attendees an overview of the National Adoption Strategy and emphasised the Government’s commitment to achieving excellence for adoption across the country. She set out a clear aspiration for adopted children to achieve their full potential and to be supported as they move into adulthood, but acknowledged that further work is needed to make sure support is consistent across the country.
Sarah set out the key challenges facing the adoption sector:
- Falling numbers of children with a plan for adoption.
- Supporting recruitment and matching children for adoption.
- How we modernise adoption to respect children's identity and value significant relationships.
- Lifelong support for children and adult adoptees.
She also highlighted the need to address racial disparity in adoption with a continued focus on recruiting black adopters, rebuilding trust with black communities and ensuring support is available for families.
Sarah pointed to the desire to improve and modernise contact. RAA leaders are working with Linkmaker to pilot moving letterbox contact onto a digital platform called ‘Letterswap’ in April 2022, to be rolled out nationally after the pilot.
After the presentation, we broke into small groups to discuss our reflections, and points raised included:
- The importance of ensuring Voluntary Adoption Agency involvement
- A need to listen to the voices of birth families
- Ensuring support for adoptees into adulthood and later life
- Supporting contact between siblings and significant others while also supporting those involved (birth parents and adopters)
- The recruitment eligibility criteria and matching.
Sarah Johal and her team are holding face to face good practice events in London and Manchester in March, webinars during national adoption week for professionals and themed events throughout the year.
We will continue to work closely with Sarah, on behalf of our members, as she develops and implements the Adoption Strategy. If you have any questions or would like to contribute to our ongoing engagement with the strategy, please do get in touch with us at membership@corambaaf.org.uk.
You can download the slides from Sarah's presentation above here