Training & Workshops
The Principles of Best Practice in Preparing more Adopters for Brothers and Sisters
The Principles of Best Practice in Preparing more Adopters for Brothers and SistersThe Principles of Best Practice in Preparing more Adopters for Brothers and Sisters
15 January, 2026 at 10:00am - 1:30pm
Online
Practice Session co-delivered by Leigh Smith from Adoption Focus and Leonie Hegedus from Yorkshire Adoption Agency
3.5 hrs
CPD
Who this is for
Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers), children’s social care services, children and family social workers, foster carers, kinship carers, designated teachers, and other professionals working with children and families.
Details
The journey to finding homes for sibling groups is uniquely challenging, but your assessment and support strategy doesn’t have to be. This intensive collaborative practice session is where adoption agencies come together to share expertise, giving you concrete, actionable skills in the adoption of siblings.
I thought the presenter was excellent and offered really good insight and knowledge
This session covers the complete sibling adoption lifecycle: attraction, assessment, and sustained support. You will work with peer agencies to understand how they successfully inspire confidence and attract families who may be initially overawed by parenting more than one child at once. We will dedicate time to sharpening your expert assessment skills, helping you evaluate readiness and resilience in prospective adopters, and you will learn to implement essential post-adoption support that addresses the complex, high-needs dynamics of sibling groups. This practice session is an opportunity to network with practitioners from other agencies, share best practice, hear the latest research, and glean fresh ideas to transform your service delivery.
Nice balance of learning, listening and joining in
Learning outcomes
- To explore recruitment strategies
- To consider the tailoring of training for prospective and approved adopters
- To think about assessment tools we may be able to use
- To explore specific resources we may need to provide in adoption support
Sharing Yorkshire Adoption Agency (YAA) best practice regarding:
- Tips for encouraging more prospective adopters to consider brothers and sisters e.g. the why not attitude we have in the team
- Training support we use in YAA to support the above
- Practical advice on supporting brother & sister placements such as our introduction and placement support offer
- Examples of successful brother and sister placements
About the trainers
Leonie Hegedus
Leonie is an Assistant Director, qualified as a Social Worker in 2011 at Sheffield Hallam University, obtaining a BA (Hons) in Social Work Studies. Leonie is registered with Social Work England. She has eight years’ experience within the field of Child Protection, Care Proceedings, Children in Care and Adoption as a Child’s Social Worker. After initially being employed as an Adoption Social Worker at Yorkshire Adoption Agency, she has been with the team since October 2018 and was then a Team Manager between December 2019 to August 2022 before commencing her current role. Leonie is the lead on all social work operations at the agency, including being the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Leigh Smith
Leigh Smith is the Training Manager at Adoption Focus where she has worked since 2017. Before this, she worked in a Local Authority supporting children in care and an independent fostering agency supporting foster carers.
Instructions
A member of staff will be in touch with attendees one week prior to the event to share a pre-event delegate pack.
If you have any questions regarding this webinar, please contact us at [email protected]. We will aim to answer your query within two working days.
CVAA accept online payments only. In case you do not have instant access to your company card, we suggest using your personal card instead to book a training event and claim it back with your agency in your expenses. Requesting an invoice to pay for our standard practice events is not possible.