Links to VAA events

• • Adoption Focus (Midlands – see here for specifics) – event details here
  • Adoption Matters (North West, North East, Yorkshire & the Humber, Stoke, Staffordshire, Shropshire and North Wales) – event details here
  • ARC Adoption NE (North East from Northumberland, across to Cumbria and down to North Yorkshire) – event details here
  • Caritas Care (North West, including Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and Cumbria) – drop-in event details here, online event details here
  • CCS Adoption (South West England) – event details here
  • Coram (London and surrounding areas) – event details here
  • Diagrama Adoption (London, Surrey, East and West Sussex and Kent) – Q&A event details here, online event details here
  • Family Futures (London) – event details here
  • Kibble Adoption (Scotland) – event details here
  • PACT (Southern and central England) – event details here
  • St David’s Adoption Service (Wales) – event details here
  • St Andrews Children’s Society (Scotland – within a 60 mile radius of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Elgin) – event details here
  • Yorkshire Adoption Agency – (Yorkshire and surrounding areas) event details here

 

Information about VAA events (ordered alphabetically)

Adoption Focus (Midlands – see here for specifics)

6pm, Wednesday 15^th January – Online information event

Adoption Focus’s online information events are a great way to learn more about adopting, the adoption process and how Adoption Focus can support you.

They’re ideal if:

• you’re in the early stages of researching adoption
• you want a general overview of how the adoption process works
• you’ve been looking into adoption for a while and feel ready to start the process with Adoption Focus, an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ rated agency
• you’re contacting local agencies to decide which one to proceed with
• you want to find out more about the children who are waiting to be adopted
• you have specific questions you’d like to talk through privately with an expert
• you’re interested in an early permanence route into adoption.

They’re free to attend and you’ll get all the information you need with no obligation to continue.

To book onto one of their upcoming online or face to face events, please call  0121 779 0891, email info@adoption-focus.org.uk or use the form here:  https://www.adoption-focus.org.uk/Event/online-events. You’ll be sent all the details before the event.

If you can’t see an event that fits in with you, Adoption Focus can arrange a one-to-one online session for you. Please get in touch.

 

Adoption Matters (North West, North East, Yorkshire & the Humber, Stoke, Staffordshire, Shropshire and North Wales)

7-8.30pm, Wednesday 15^th January – Online information event

Attending an Adoption Matters online adoption information event is a convenient way to find out more about this outstanding Ofsted rated agency and the support that it offers to children and families. All that you need to attend is internet access and ideally a device with a camera. Click HERE for more information and to register.

The events are hosted by experienced members of the enquiry team alongside a social worker. During the event they will share a presentation with you, chat through the adoption process and the ongoing support that they offer. They will also give you a chance to ask questions.

Their events last around an hour to an hour and a half, depending on how many questions are asked. Joining instructions will be sent to you 2-3 days before the event.

The events are open to anyone who is interested in adoption that lives in their geographical coverage area which is: the whole of the North West, North East, Yorkshire & the Humber, Stoke, Staffordshire, Shropshire and North Wales. If you live just outside of these areas, they may still be able to assist you, so please do contact the team to discuss.

 

ARC Adoption NE (North East from Northumberland, across to Cumbria and down to North Yorkshire)

6-8pm, Wednesday 15^th January 2025 – Face to Face Adoption Information Event at ARC Adoption NE office in Sunderland

Join ARC Adoption NE at its office in Sunderland for its first face to face information event of 2025 to find out more about adoption and the children in need of loving, permanent families. Event Details: Wednesday 15th January 2025, 18.00 to 20.00 (please note that this is not a drop in session – the event runs for approx. 2 hrs). Book a place here.

At this event, which is being hosted in conjunction with Big Adoption Day, you will have the opportunity to meet some of ARC Adoption’s friendly team who will tell you more about the adoption process and the extensive support they provide to their children and families. They will also be joined by parents of a little boy who will share their experience of adopting with the group, and help answer any questions you may have.

The team is really looking forward to meeting you and helping you discover whether adoption is the right path for you and your family – now or in the future. It could be the start of an exciting 2025.

If you can’t make this information event, why not join ARC at a virtual weekday-evening event instead. Click here to see upcoming dates.

 

Caritas Care (North West, including Lancashire, Greater Manchester, and Cumbria)

1-3pm, Wednesday 15^th January – Drop-in event at 218 Tulketh Road, Preston PR2 1ES.

Caritas Care’s Big Adoption Day event is the perfect opportunity to explore how you can grow your family with the support of their experienced and friendly team. Drop in anytime between 1pm and 3pm – and if possible, book your place HERE so the team can plan for numbers and refreshments.

What to expect:

• Real stories: Hear first-hand from adoptive parents about their journeys.
• Meet the team: Chat with social workers and learn about the adoption process and lifelong support.
• Relaxed atmosphere: Enjoy coffee, cake, and a friendly environment where you can ask questions at your own pace.

Whether you’re just curious or ready to begin, everyone is welcome! Caritas Care proudly supports families from diverse backgrounds, including LGBTQ+ and global majority communities.

6.30-7.30pm, Wednesday 15^th January 2025 – Online information event

Alternatively join Caritas Care at its online information event in the evening. This is a unique chance to explore the adoption process with guidance from their experienced adoption team and meet some of their adopters.

What to expect:

• Expert guidance: An Adoption Social Worker will lead you through the adoption process step-by-step.
• Real stories: Hear first-hand from adoptive parents about their experiences.

Why attend?

• Get answers to your questions and ease any uncertainties.
• Connect with professionals and gain a clear understanding of the adoption process.
• Gather the knowledge and support needed to make an informed decision.
• Take the first step on your adoption journey – Book your place HERE.

 

CCS Adoption (South West England)

6-7.30pm, Wednesday 15^th January 2025, The Park Centre, Daventry Road, Bristol, BS4 1DQ

CCS Adoption is a supportive and independent agency based in the South West, finding permanent, loving families for children who need them since 1904 and is particularly proud of its ‘Outstanding‘ Adoption Services (awarded in February 2024).

CCS is hosting its Big Adoption Day in-person event in its office space in Bristol, and free places can be booked using the form on the CCS website.

Coram (London and surrounding areas)

To mark Big Adoption Day 2025, Coram will be collaborating with the National Theatre which coincides with their new production of Ballet Shoes, Noel Streatfeild’s beloved story about three adopted sisters and their found family. The National Theatre and Coram will invite families and supports to the matinee and evening performances of Ballet Shoes, to experience the magic and power of storytelling through theatre.

Guests will be invited to attend a special panel discussion hosted by writer and broadcaster James O’Brien, who has spoken about his own experience of being adopted. Alongside the panel discussion guests will be offered bespoke family tours of the National Theatre, giving a glimpse behind the scenes of Ballet Shoes to discover the backstage magic and highly skilled team that bring the show to life.

During the run of Ballet Shoes, the National Theatre will also work with Coram to offer discounted tickets to members of the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) across the country.
Save the date and keep an eye on this page for further details on how to get your tickets in December!

5.30-7.30pm, Wednesday 22nd January 2025 – Adoption information session at Coram Campus, 41 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ

To celebrate Big Adoption Day, Coram Ambitious for Adoption is hosting a free information session about adoption at the Coram Campus in London. Please note this event is a week after Big Adoption Day, on Wednesday 22nd January and not 15th January.  If you live within the M25 area, come along to their free in-person Adoption Information Evening which will give you the opportunity to find out more about adoption and ask any questions you might have. These events are a great chance to learn general information about adoption and how to adopt through Coram.

Social workers will talk you through the types of children in need of permanent and loving families, the assessment process and the preparation process for new adopters, how children join their new families, and the kinds of post-adoption support that Coram has to offer. You will also have a chance to hear directly from adopters.

There will then be time to ask any questions you may have. It’s the ideal opportunity to find out more, whether you’re only just beginning to consider adoption or if you’re further down the line in the process.

 

Diagrama Adoption (London, Surrey, East and West Sussex and Kent)

12pm-1.30pm, Wednesday 15^th January, extra special free Lunchtime Q&A Session with adoptive parents

Diagrama Adoption will be celebrating Big Adoption Day with an extra special free Lunchtime Q&A Session with adoptive parents there to share their experiences with you. They will share their personal experiences of the journey and give an insight into their own experiences of adoption. You’ll be able to ask anything that is on your mind.

Our adopters will also answer questions about adopting a child with complex needs, an older child or siblings, as well as foster care arrangements for a child that can lead to adoption (usually called an Early Permanency placement).

Click here to book: https://tinyurl.com/4c22fbmw

6pm, Wednesday 15^th January, online information session

Diagrama is also holding its usual online information session at 6pm on Big Adoption Day, so to get more of your questions answered by their expert team we recommend you join that session too! This free online session will provide an overview on the adoption process and talk you through everything you need to know. Click here to book: https://tinyurl.com/mr35znj2

 

Family Futures (London)

6.30-8pm, Wednesday 15th January – online information evening

Join Family Futures this Big Adoption Day and explore the journey of adoption at their online information evening. Family Futures focuses on preparing adopters to parent children who wait the longest. Through a bespoke assessment process, they equip prospective parents with an understanding of the impact of trauma and provide therapeutic tools to support their child’s development.

Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with their social work team, hear from experienced adopters, and learn how Family Futures’ tailored approach empowers families to thrive. Book your place here.

 

Kibble Adoption (Scotland)

• Information Session 1 (In-person) 10am – 12 noon

• Information Session 2 (In-person) 2pm – 4pm

• Information Session 3 (Online) 7pm – 8pm

Wednesday 15th January at Kibble Adoption, Abbeyfield House, 1 Station Road, Paisley, PA1 2SB

Join Kibble Adoption which is hosting in-person events packed full of important information for Big Adoption Day 2025. If you are just curious or ready to begin your journey, this session is for you. See here for more information.

This session will provide you with:

• Insight into the adoption process
• Guidance on the steps to take
• Opportunities to ask questions
• Stories from adoptive families and experts.

You will also hear from Kibble’s experienced adoption team and Adoption Ambassadors.

To book please email kasrecruitment@kibble.org.

PACT (Southern and central England)

6.30-8.30pm, Wednesday 15^th January – online information event

“I really thought it was helpful, the right balance of realistic expectations, information on the process and experience.”

PACT provides outstanding-rated adoption services across southern and central England. It creates families by recruiting, assessing and approving people who want to become parents through adoption and matches them with children looking for their permanent, loving home. PACT provides specialist adoption support to all its families for life. PACT’s information events provide a warm and welcoming environment to find out more about the adoption process, ask any questions you may have and see if PACT is the right agency for you.

To book on, visit www.pactcharity.org/big-adoption-day or call our team on 0300 456 4800.

Big Adoption Day meet the PACT team – Wednesday 15^th January

Reading – 7 Southern Court, South Street, Reading RG1 4QS – 10am-3pm

Brighton – Projects The Lanes, Nile House, Nile Street, Brighton BN1 1HW – 10am-3pm

London (Vauxhall) – The Foundry, 17 Oval Way, London SE11 5RR – 12pm-4pm

Milton Keynes – Harben House, Tickford Street, Newport Pagnell MK16 9EY – 10am-3pm

Come and meet PACT’s adoption teams, ask any questions you may have about adoption and find out if PACT is the right adoption agency for you!

To book a slot, visit www.pactcharity.org/big-adoption-day or call PACT’s team on 0300 456 4800.

 

St David’s Adoption Service (Wales)

10am-2pm, Wednesday, 15 January 2025 – Drop in event at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Join St. David’s Adoption Service for Big Adoption Day 2025, which is an opportunity to learn how you could make a life-changing difference to the children in Wales who are waiting for an adoptive family. Whether you’re exploring adoption for the first time or taking the next step in your journey, St David’s can guide you. This is a drop-in event so there is no need to book – more information is available here.

What to expect:

• Meet the experts: Speak with the dedicated team at St David’s to learn about the adoption process and how VAAs like St. David’s provide unparalleled support.
• Real-life stories: Hear inspiring experiences from adoptive families and discover how adoption changes lives—for children and parents alike.
• Find out more: Learn how adoption through a VAA offers a bespoke, supportive service and why 96% of VAAs are rated highly by national inspectorates.

 

St Andrews Children’s Society (Scotland – within a 60 mile radius of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Elgin)

6-7.30pm, 15^th January 2025 – Online information event

St Andrew’s Children’s Society is very pleased to be holding a Virtual Adoption Information Event on Wednesday, 15 January from 6pm to 7.30pm as part of Big Adoption Day 2025. The event will take place virtually over Teams, and you can sign up on Eventbrite here.

At the event you’ll hear about the adoption process and from a St Andrew’s adopter, who will speak about their experiences of adopting and answer any questions you have. St Andrew’s Children’s Society helps people to adopt who live within a 60 mile radius of Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Elgin. They welcome adoption enquiries from people who follow a faith, those who don’t, single people, couples and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

If you would like to find out more about adopting, but can’t make it the event, please call 0131 454 3370 or email info@standrews-children.org.uk and they will get back to you.

Yorkshire Adoption Agency (Yorkshire and surrounding areas)

7pm, Tuesday 7th January – ChatAdopt session

Please note this event is not on Big Adoption Day itself. ChatAdopt is open to anyone looking into UK adoption, no matter where you are in your journey. Whether you are wondering about adoption being right for you, all the way through to being registered to start Stage 1 of the process.

The session will give you a brief insight into the UK adoption journey and the process. It will give you the chance to learn more about Yorkshire Adoption Agency and what it provides to its families.  The groups are kept small to give you plenty of time to ask any questions, and they try to have an adopter present to share their experiences adopting with the agency.

Yorkshire Adoption Agency is also collaborating with several Yorkshire based organisations as part of its Big Adoption Day celebrations to celebrate how magical the very first family day out is for our adopters and how important bonding as a family is.

 

Find out more about what a VAA is here.

Visit CVAA’s agency finder to find your local VAA.

Big Adoption Day, led by the UK’s first children’s charity Coram with the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies UK (CVAA), will see participating agencies hosting in-person and online events in their local areas, and celebrating the real-life stories of families who have adopted, to encourage anyone interested in exploring adoption to find out more.

A list of all VAA events taking place across the UK can be found here.

With 2,600 children currently waiting to be adopted across England, of whom 1,230 have been waiting more than 18 months* and most of whom are aged under five, there is an urgent need for more prospective adoptive parents to come forward to provide permanent, loving homes for these children.

Big Adoption Day will highlight the benefits of adopting through a VAA which provide a bespoke service for adopters and offer an alternative choice to statutory regional adoption services by working across local authority areas. 96% of VAAs are rated highly or very highly by their national inspectorates.** With a century of experience, VAAs have placed thousands of children with adoptive families and provide ongoing support to enable them to thrive through family days, counselling, school liaison, therapeutic services and peer support.

Dr Carol Homden, CEO of Coram, said: “Big Adoption Day gives us an important opportunity to come together across the sector with the shared purpose of finding more loving families for the growing numbers of children waiting.

“We celebrate all the amazing families who have embraced the life-changing and rewarding journey of adoption. We hope Big Adoption Day will inspire others to take their first step and join one of the events taking place across the country where they can find out how we can support them throughout the adoption process and beyond.”

Satwinder Sandhu, CEO of CVAA, said: “We are proud to mark Big Adoption Day as it recognises the vital contribution the voluntary sector makes to the lives of the most vulnerable children across the UK. We support 22 member agencies with their efforts to recruit and support adoptive families from every type of background and VAAs go the extra mile in providing essential support at all stages of the journey and for life.

“Having worked for voluntary adoption agencies myself I am personally connected to many young adults who were placed as babies and toddlers with adopters I worked with. I know from them that it was the support from their parents and their VAAs that made the difference so we hope that others considering adoption will be inspired to attend Big Adoption Day events to find out more.”

To find your local VAA visit our agency finder.

CVAA and its members are fully committed to the modernisation of adoption, and therefore welcome the publication of the final Public Law Working Group report on adoption, Recommendations for best practice in respect of adoption. We thank Justice Judd for leading such an important and mammoth piece of work and commend all those that contributed to it. The report contains a raft of thoughtful and sensible recommendations to ensure that adoptees are properly supported in how they explore and develop their identities, including having better access to vital information about their personal histories. We welcome these recommendations, many of which strengthen guidance and regulations that are already in place. We also welcome the long overdue attention to other areas of practice, notably access to records and adoptions with an international element, both of which play a significant role in the work of CVAA’s member agencies. We are also pleased that, whilst it does not have the remit to address the legal structure of adoption, the report recognises that focus on this does need to happen.

Whilst the report is comprehensive and representative of the social care’s sector direction of travel,   the final report itself compels CVAA to express the same views we have shared before.

It is inarguable that such a seismic shift in thinking and practice – particularly in relation to how adopted children’s relationships are managed – will require significant investment. Voluntary adoption agencies are acutely aware of the potential value of face-to-face contact for adopted children, after proper assessments have been undertaken and with solid support plans in place. Yet they have also seen the harm which can be done to children and the potential for re-traumatisation when these relationships are explored without specialist support which is routinely available and also supports an ongoing review of all plans in place for all affected children and birth families. We are also acutely mindful that the modernisation of adoption is much more than about maintaining relationships, as the core psychology behind the separation and loss involved for all children needing adoption is complex and lifelong.

New and sustained funding is absolutely critical for the sector if the recommendations in this report are to be realised and delivered, otherwise this report will soon become redundant. Funding would make it feasible for the adoption sector to deliver the proposed changes – supporting birth parents for example, reviewing contact plans over time, and thoroughly exploring all types of connection, including digital. Investment would also make possible the extensive training needed for all professionals involved in adoption, from social workers to judges and lawyers.

It is important to emphasise that investment would also reach far beyond the small numbers of children adopted each year. This would be an investment in all care-experienced children, in their futures as adults, and society as a whole. It is how we will get to a future of care-experienced adult communities who feel secure in who they are, valued and capable, and live fulfilling lives defined by positive relationships. VAAs have this aspiration for every child they work with and are desperate to improve the system for them, so are calling for further financial weight behind this report so that its ambition can be realised.

 

Further information

CVAA’s response to the draft PLWG report published in December 2023 is available here.

The response from VAA Family Futures to the report is available here.

CVAA’s vision for a new a new network and hub (‘My People’) to support adopted children’s relationships is available here.

 

Published 7^th November 2024

At CVAA, which represents voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) across the UK, this message feels very important when it comes to finding the right families for children. We want people from all walks of life to see this life path as an option to them, and feel comfortable taking steps to learning more about adoption.

It is therefore vital that adoption agencies fully measure how well they are doing at welcoming people from all backgrounds, to learn and improve. As a result, this National Adoption Week we have carried out new analysis on Coram-i’s ‘adopter characteristics’ data, to understand the statistics on VAA adoption orders and adopter diversity.

We first looked at the number of adoption orders made to LGBT adopters. We were blown away to find that over one in four VAA adoptions (27%) are to LGBT adopters. This is a phenomenal increase from 16% in 2018/19 and even from last year when the proportion was 21%. It is also significantly higher than statutory agencies, for which fewer than one in five adoptions (17%) are to LGBT adopters.

We then looked at the number of adoption orders made to adopters from minoritised ethnic backgrounds. We discovered that VAAs have consistently been around twice as likely to have AOs made to people from these communities, compared with statutory agencies. Yet after some improvements increasing diversity in recent years, the latest year showed a slightly less diverse picture with 12% of VAA adoptions being to those from minoritised ethnic groups rather than 15% in 2021/22.

This last graph shows that VAAs have more work to do to support people from these backgrounds considering adoption, which is a challenge we are rising to. Our strategy published in April focuses on adopter and sector diversity – supporting VAAs to embed learning so that those from a wide range of ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds, feel confident coming forward to adopt and that all services are delivered through an equitable and inter-sectional approach, rooted in anti-discriminatory practice.

At our upcoming November conference we’re very pleased that Dr Tam Cane, University of Sussex, will be delivering a morning session on how agencies can better support children and families from culturally diverse backgrounds and embed these principles at the heart of what voluntary agencies do.

We’ll keep publishing updates on our progress on our blog.

 

25th October 2024

 

In this blog post we’re sharing our recommendations for the next government on adoption support, which we have developed in collaboration with voluntary adoption agencies across the UK. You can find adapted versions for Scotland and Wales here. We know that this is a subject which affects all adoptive families and, with further government investment, could have a profound impact on the lives of children and parents alike.

We hope this information will be useful for any interactions you have in the run up to the election, and we’d love to hear about any successes you have. You can read our full Manifesto for Adoption here.

We are calling on the new government to provide timely support which prioritises early intervention

Since its inception, the Adoption Support Fund has been transformational for children, and its continuation is essential to ensuring children’s permanence and stability in their adoptive families. However, it must be acknowledged that despite this, overall support from adopted people remains woefully inadequate, including within our schools. The next government must therefore introduce measures which can provide more children with the right support at the right time including within education setting and at key transition moments.

Specifically, we want:

• An ongoing commitment for the continuation of the rebranded Adoption and Special Guardian Support Fund (ASGSF) recognising the continuing need for families to be able to access therapeutic interventions. As part of this, the £5,000 annual cap per child for therapy (and £2500 for assessment) should also be reviewed in light of the high rates of inflation with the aim of creating a clear methodology for the fund to continue to increase each year as is the case with interagency fees.
• A commitment that every child placed for adoption has an assessed multidisciplinary support plan with a duty to deliver it. This could be similar to the current EHCP Plan for children with SEND and link in closely with schools and education providers.
• Equal access to the ASGSF regardless of whether the placement was made by a statutory or voluntary adoption agency.
• A commitment to increase mental health support and provision for adopted teens given the evidence that this can be a key period in their development and placement stability and expert support is crucial to ensuring a positive transition into adulthood.
• Mandating training for teachers, via Virtual Schools, on how to support care experienced children and take a trauma-informed approach in the classroom. This will require amendments to be made to the current Teacher Standards.

More recommendations can be found in our Manifesto for Adoption which relate to 5 key areas: recognising the value of adoption; reducing delay for all children, particularly those who wait the longest; supporting adopted children’s identity needs; timely support which prioritises early intervention and developing more trauma-informed schools; and acknowledging the lifelong impact of trauma.

Lastly, we are always keen to hear from adoptive parents and adoptees who want to be involved in campaigning or work influencing government adoption policy. If this is of interest, please get in touch with Alice Talbot from CVAA who can share further information on how to do this: alice.talbot@cvaa.org.uk.

 

We couldn’t have done this without listening at length to adopted young people, hearing about their experiences and incorporating their ideas. In this blog we have summarised their main messages to us – messages which the whole adoption sector needs to take note of, if we are to find truly adoptee-centred improvements to the adoption system in the UK.

More information for adopted young people is desperately needed

Adopted young people felt that an online hub of information about supporting children’s lifelong relationships was well overdue. All of those we consulted with had experiences of searching for help online and being disappointed. Tegan told us “If you Google it just comes up with academic articles about why contact is bad, which is so irrelevant and unhelpful to a 14 year old”. Ella said she “couldn’t find anything on what it might be like, or what other people’s experiences have been like”.

Young people felt alone in grappling with these enormous questions. They didn’t always feel comfortable speaking to their adoptive parents, professionals or friends about it. Besides, they struggled to find the language for what they were going through: “I didn’t know how I felt so I wanted to read stories to work out which one I related to”, Tegan explained.

The lack of information left them feeling ill-equipped to deal with the practical challenges which cropped up, such as birth relatives reaching out to them on social media. Ella reflected that if she’d had the right resources and been prepared for this possibility “it would have made things an awful lot easier”.

This dearth of advice online meant that some young people felt compelled to reach out to birth relatives on their own, unsupported and unprepared for what might happen.

 

Help should be varied, creative, and written by young people for young people

“I’ve read ‘it’s normal to be confused about your identity’ like 50,000 times and I didn’t know what it meant until I had my own ideas, not because I read that.”

The above words from Tegan show why we need to completely rethink the way that young people are supported, and find more imaginative online spaces for adoptees where they can explore and seek help from a breadth of content. Stories, poems, and art were discussed as ways to relate with adoptees trying to find ways to express themselves.

Everyone agreed on the importance of there being a dedicated website for young people, far away from advice for other people who might need it such as birth parents, as stumbling across this information could counterproductively result in further questions and angst for adoptees.

And once there is a safe space online which truly feels supportive to young people, it needs to link up as seamlessly as possible with the organisations and professionals who can take the next step in helping them. “It takes a long time to get over the hurdle of who to speak to”, Ella summarised. There were worries about “sounding stupid” or “going round in circles”, therefore any new online hub needs to help break down the barriers to getting further practical or therapeutic help.

You can read about our vision for ‘My People’, which was shaped in consultation with adoptees and adoption experts, here.

Thank you to Scottish Adoption ambassadors for all their help. More information on their brilliant Ambassador Programme and adoptee community @teentalkadoption is available here.

My People aligns directly with the new CVAA Strategy 2024 – 2027 ‘Shaping the future of adoption services’. CVAA is now actively pursuing funding to develop and launch My People.

You can find the resources mentioned on the BBC here:

• New advice guide for people considering adopting children with additional needs – available here
• Voluntary adoption agencies – agency finder
• More information about adopting with a voluntary adoption agency (VAA)
• Information about the differences between VAAs and RAAs.
• Contact information for Yorkshire Adoption Agency here (telephone: 01302 638337 | email: info@yorkshireadoptionagency.org.uk )

The broadcast feature on BBC Look North can be watched here. You can also read the written feature here: Adoption: Calls for families to adopt amid rate decline

The BBC Leeds radio interviews with adopter Joanne, as well as CVAA CEO Satwinder Sandhu, are available on the Rima Ahmed show here.

• Interview with adopter Joanne – 1hr:13m
• Interview with Satwinder Sandhu, CVAA CEO – 2hr:13m

Some key quotes from the interviews can be found below:

“We hadn’t set out to adopt a child with additional needs but a profile came through to us and we were immediately drawn to it … She was described as a ‘lively chatterbox’ and that instantly stuck with me … there was something about her and we knew ‘this is the one’ and despite it saying that she was deaf and we didn’t know much about the deaf community or the spectrum of deafness, we were open to learning, and we knew that in the grand scheme of things everything else about her personality traits fit really well within our family.”

“The support has been absolutely amazing, through the adoption agency itself [Yorkshire Adoption Agency] you get lifelong support and the training they do with you is absolutely fantastic”

“She’s amazing … very sassy … she’s brilliant and she recently did a presentation to her class on deafness so she’s really owning that identity which is really nice to see and all we want for her. She’s thriving..”

“Don’t discount any child just because they’ve got a disability. You don’t know what’s going to crop up with any child in the future. Do your research but you’re more capable than you think and the important thing is that this child has got a home where they’re loved and safe and secure … we’re so lucky to have her”.

• Adopter Joanne

“Our job at CVAA and with our adoption agency members is to really support them to think about things from a different perspective – from the child’s perspective – and really come in with a can-do attitude. As you’ve heard Joanne and Dominic talk about learning sign language – whilst it’s not easy, it was a very simple practical step, that enables them to adopt their daughter.”

“It’s really important to see children as children. Every single child, whether they are adopted or not, has needs of some description, and what they need is adults who can give them safety, love security, as well as meet their additional needs – and there’s so much support available.”

“Yorkshire Adoption Agency, who are one of our members, have an amazing team. I’d recommend anyone just contact them via the internet or pick up the phone [01302 638337]  because obviously talking to social workers who support families day in day out, will give people thinking about adoption or thinking about an additional needs child that additional level of information support and hopefully reassurance so they can do this.”

“Children waiting for adoption often have experienced more difficulties in life … they’ve lost things and people in their lives potentially … It really is our onus on us as a society to give them that opportunity to be part of a family – to understand who they are and where they’ve come … But more important, just to be children, and to be able to have a life that gives them the opportunities that we would all wish for every single child.”

“If you’re already approved to adopt, whether it was with a local authority or voluntary agency, talk to your social worker about learning more, about getting additional training and skills to think about children with additional needs, because you won’t regret it.”

– Satwinder Sandhu, CVAA CEO

One of the first decisions to make if you are thinking about adopting is which agency to choose. In your local area there are likely to be two types of adoption agencies to choose from – Voluntary Adoption Agencies (VAAs) and Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs). This blog explains the main differences between them, to help you reach the right decision for you.

VAAs are independent, not for profit organisations which are smaller than most local government agencies. RAAs on the other hand are collaboratives of local authority adoption teams covering a region. Both VAAs and RAAs do similar work in finding, preparing, training, assessing and supporting prospective adopters – and most importantly matching them with children who are in need of lifelong, loving homes. However, VAAs and RAAs also have different strengths and benefits. Deciding on an agency therefore depends on weighing these up and thinking about what you value most, as well as ensuring you feel comfortable working with the one you choose, as we all have preferences in life.

The main strengths that VAAs offer are:

1. Lifelong adoption support for their adoptive families. VAAs know that support is absolutely crucial for adoptive families and needs to be available for families to access at any time until a child turns 18, and sometimes beyond, without long waiting lists. VAAs are smaller and tend to be specialised in adoption support so can be responsive to what families need, whenever they need it.
2. A family feel. Adopters often tell us this is why they chose to adopt with a VAA. Again, the size of VAAs means that adopters can form close relationships with the wider team and agency – not just their own social worker! All the latest Ofsted inspections for our VAAs have been Outstanding or Good, and relationships are at the heart of this. RAAs are not currently inspected although adoption is looked at within the broader inspections of children’s social care services. You can look at Ofsted reports here.
3. Diversity and inclusivity. VAAs really get to know their local communities and are more likely to place children with adopters from a diverse range of backgrounds. 1 in 5 VAA adoptions are to LGBTQ+ adopters and 13% of VAA adoptions are to adopters from a minority ethnic/global majority group.
4. The ability to match adopters with children from across the UK, rather than just their local area. VAAs work in partnership with all regions of the country to help find homes for children. This can be especially helpful for those hoping to adopt a child with certain characteristics, such as a child who shares the same ethnicity and cultural heritage.

RAAs of course have their own strengths and benefits too which include:

1. Being part of the local authorities which have children in their care. This means that RAAs are the first to know about the children who have a plan for adoption, so can start looking for adopters straight away. You might hear that this means RAAs can match adopters with children more quickly than VAAs. This can be true but waiting times depend on lots of other factors too – like where in the country you live, what RAA/VAA partnerships are like in your area, and which children you are open to adopting. Some VAAs publish average times it takes for adopters to be matched with children on their websites, which can help adopters in their decision making.
2. Matching more younger children without siblings. RAAs tend to look among their own adopters first when seeking to match these children, so if you have definite preferences to adopt a baby or toddler, it’s worth considering this. However, changes in adoption mean that there are fewer babies with a plan for adoption than there used to be, so nothing can be guaranteed. VAAs are experts in finding homes for brothers and sisters, children from diverse backgrounds and who may need extra support in some way – which is why great adoption support and diversity are such big priorities for them!

Feel free to ask VAAs about the differences between their agency and the local RAA too while you are making these decisions. They are there to help and the most important thing is that adopters can make properly informed choices about the agency they go with, by weighing up what is most important to them.

The Adoption and Fostering podcast also discusses some of the differences between VAAs and RAAs in Episode 186, available here.

We are disappointed by the Children’s Social Care Implementation Strategy published on 2^nd February which fails to consider the most vulnerable children in our society: children like Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson for whom home will always be too dangerous, and those children with highly complex needs.

To be clear, we wholly welcome every penny of the funding announced towards supporting families at home, supporting kinship carers and strengthening the children’s social care workforce. But there will always be children who cannot live at home, regardless of how much support their families receive. Many of these children don’t have suitable kinship carers who can step in to look after them instead. These children need new permanent loving homes, and countless research studies have shown that adoption has the best outcomes for the small cohort of children who need an alternative lifelong home. Yet the implementation strategy is silent about these children who need the state’s help the most. There is no protection of adoption as an option for these children, risking more children entering the care system instead.

We are also astounded that the government has not committed any funding towards supporting the lifelong relationships of care-experienced children, despite this being at the very core of the care review, which called for a reshaping of the system to “put relationships front and centre.” Instead, the Implementation Strategy relegates discussion of children’s relationships to its appendix. It concludes that nothing more is needed beyond what is already in train, and specifically the on-going pilot which digitalises letterbox contact for adopted children (Letterswap). What about support for children to see their families and other significant people face to face? What about support for birth families? What about investment in the professionals making decisions about contact, so they have the capacity and expertise to make informed individualised decisions for each child, which can be reviewed and adapted as children grow up and circumstances change? These considerations are relevant for children in all forms of care. Not prioritising relationships amounts to not prioritising what children repeatedly tell us matters most to them.

Lastly we remain extremely concerned about the plan for Regional Care Cooperatives to manage all public sector care placements and commission all not-for-profit and private sector care within that region. The government has accepted this recommendation even though regionalisation in adoption has failed to meet its goals, and despite warnings from numerous stakeholders including the Review’s own Evidence Group. Our care review response, available here, provides more detail on this. The list of promises on pages 104-105 of the government’s strategy are unevidenced and we continue to ask for deeper consultation on this aspect of the strategy.

We will be keeping a close eye on the progression of the data strategy which the government has committed to publishing by the end of 2023. It has been a continued mission at CVAA to push for better evidence on children’s outcomes across different care arrangements, to ensure that all professionals making decisions about children’s futures are doing so on the basis of the best available research. Likewise we will be calling for the Early Career Framework to look at how social workers develop their knowledge around adoption and permanence, as there is currently a skills and experience gap on the front line.

It is anticipated that the government in England will make its formal response to the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care final report (published in May 2022) in early 2023. Ahead of this response being published, the Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) is sharing its own response to the final report, reflecting the views of voluntary adoption agencies across the country, urging Government to address the gaps in the report concerning adoption.

CVAA’s statement, published on 13th January 2023, can be found here.

The 2-page section on adoption in the Review’s final report (‘4.3 Modernising Adoption’, pages 109-110) certainly reflects important themes which CVAA has long advocated for, including the need for all children – those adopted and in care – to have much greater support to maintain significant relationships in their lives, alongside far better support for birth families. ^[1] These are vital recommendations and change in this respect is essential to the flourishing of all children who cannot live in their families of origin. This is both a responsibility for the adoption sector which must improve its practice, and the government which must properly fund services to adapt and grow.

Very welcome too was the recognition given to kinship carers who invariably make significant life changes to care for the children they take responsibility for, and love as their own. Kinship carers, like adopters, parent children who have had the toughest early life experiences and have high levels of need, therefore it is only right that these carers get parity of support and training with adopters.

However, CVAA remains perplexed that the final report failed to address a number of the most serious issues facing the adoption sector right now, which impact on adopted children and families day in, day out. In fact, the report gave the strong impression that the current adoption system is serving children well, save for better contact; a message reinforced by positive references to the Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) programme and the establishment of the Adoption Support Fund.

The dramatic decline in numbers of children being adopted in recent years, the greater proportion of children waiting over 18 months to be matched with adopters, and the crisis in adoption support are all absent in the Review’s final report, despite being major challenges threatening the entire future of adoption. This lack of attention leads us to question who is taking responsibility for robustly interrogating how the adoption system is meeting the needs of children? A question which is even more salient now than when the Care Review was published, given the abolition of the ASGLB at the end of December 2022. The report defers to the government’s recent Adoption Strategy, although this was not independent, and fails to note that evaluations of the RAA programme have been inconclusive. The lack of scrutiny is alarming not just for adopted children and families, but because trends in adoption have implications for the decisions made for children across all forms of care. Moreover, if the Review’s recommendation about the regionalisation of all care services is accepted by the government and modelled on regional adoption agencies (RAAs), the current adoption system will have implications for the structures which support all children in care across the UK.

In the statement we summarise three core issues which demonstrate why adopted children (and those with the potential to be adopted) should not be overlooked in the government’s response to the care review. We present them alongside suggestions of how the government and the sector can tackle them, aided by the knowledge and support of the voluntary sector.