Who this is for

Adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies and Local Authorities) and Independent Professionals.

Details

This expert-led training session has been built on the recent practice webinar on being a good intermediary delivered by Pam Hodgkins and Ange Tanner in April 2022.

During the session, guidance and links to regulations and legislation will be shared by the trainers together with insights from their collective 60+ years of acting as intermediaries and receiving considerable feedback from the experiences of adopted people and birth relatives of the service provided both by NORCAP and by many other agencies and local authorities.

“Experienced presenters who had an inclusive style. Lots of factual information and guidance woven into activities and the chance albeit briefly to network” Attendee, 2022

No one can predict what will work, or will not work in any particular case. This training will aim to encourage participants to weigh up each situation, to consider the hopes and fears, as well as the personality of the person who is asking for the service and to envisage as far as possible from the information available what the circumstances are or may be of the person to be approached.

“Excellent training, very informative and insightful. It was a pleasure to listen to Pam Hodgkins speak about her experiences working in intermediary services. Also lovely to meet other people working in intermediary services.” Attendee, 2022

The training will demonstrate, though examples, how being open to the ideas of others taking time to seek comments and consensus on a proposed course of action may lead to better outcomes rather than relying on a pre-determined format.

Learning outcomes

• To recognise the value of their own experience and to share this with other participants
• To build confidence to take a holistic and innovative approach to each piece of intermediary work they encounter and to risk ‘thinking outside the box’
• To reinforce awareness of the legal and regulatory framework surrounding this work whilst acknowledging the scope it offers for imaginative and responsive ways of working
• To build a network of contacts to share and offer peer support in the future

About the trainer

Pam Hodgkins, Founder of NORCAP and campaigner for universal intermediary services

Pam Hodgkins is an adopted person. She founded NORCAP in 1982 and led the organization for over 25 years. She was the author of Birth Records Counselling a Practical Guide and various journal articles and a contributor to the 2006 Good Practice Guide. In a parallel career in Family Placement and Adoption Support social work she led the establishment of the West Midlands Post Adoption Service in 1994 and became the Chair of several Local Authority Adoption Panels and an IRM panel. Now retired and living in Yorkshire she is actively engaged with others to try to remedy the lack of easily accessible, affordable and universal support and intermediary services for those impacted by adoption prior to implementation of the AA Regs in 1984.

Ange Tanner

Ange is an experienced Intermediary and  retired social worker who worked mainly in adoption and fostering for over 30 years. For many years she was the chair and a volunteer Intermediary of NORCAP. As a birth mother of an adopted adult,  Ange provided evidence to the  Government Select Committee when the Adoption and Children Act 2002 was going through Parliament considering Intermediary Services for Birth relatives and in April 2022 attended the JCHR meeting considering an apology for the forced adoptions of 1950’s-1970’s. Her main concern is the lack of Intermediary services currently available and is working with Pam Hodgkins and others to create a  nationwide  service for adopted adults and their elderly  birth relatives of that  period before it is too late.

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 info@cvaa.org.uk. 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.

Who this is for

Adoption Practitioners, Managers, Social Workers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies and Local Authorities), Children’s Social Workers, Support Workers and Independent Professionals.

Details

The legislative framework and regulations for post- commencement adoptions have introduced a completely different framework from pre-commencement adoption (adoptions that took place prior to 30^th December 2005). It is crucial that adoption professionals have a good understanding of the changes and the implications these have for their agency and service provision, in order to meet the needs of people affected by adoption.

“Whilst I have attended similar training with Julia I still came away with a better understanding of Post Commencement regs. It helps that I have more experience of young lts accessing their records post commencement since I last attended training.” – Attendee, 2019

This training session delivered by Julia Feast OBE will look into providing access to information and support services for adopted adults, birth relatives and others in adoptions that took place on or after 30^th December 2005 (Post-commencement adoptions).

“Reassuring to know that although there is legislation for this, that even the experts say they don’t know all the answers and that we are all in it her to move forward to ensure we are all doing it the same!.” – Attendee, 2019

Learning outcomes

• Explaining the differences between pre and post commencement adoptions, according to the 2005 Post Commencement Adoption Regulations
• Enabling you to better understand what services your agency needs to provide
• Exploring what policies, procedures and information need to be in place
• Allowing you to consider complex case scenarios and explore best practice
• Introduce you to others working in this specialist and often isolated area

About the trainer

Dr Julia Feast OBE

Julia works as an independent Consultant, specialising in the life-long issues of being adopted, Care and Donor Conception. In the past she worked as the Policy, Research and Development Consultant for CoramBAAF and BAAF. Before then she was manager of the post-adoption and care counselling research project at The Children’s Society, worked as a local authority social worker and team manager, and also as a children’s guardian and reporting officer. Julia is an experienced social worker, trainer and researcher. She has particular interest in the identity and information rights and needs of adopted people, adult care leavers and donor conceived people.  Her publications include: Adversity, Adoption and Afterwards- A mid-life follow-up study of women adopted from Hong Kong, Adoption Search and Reunion – The Long term Experience of Adopted Adults, The Adoption Triangle Revisited – A study of adoption search and reunion experience, The Adoption Reunion Handbook and Access to information for adult care leavers.

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 info@cvaa.org.uk. 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.