Who this is for

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

Details

What is known about children who are placed with parents who do not reflect their racial or ethnic heritage?  How do they fare long term?

What can social workers help parents do to manage their child’s needs in a way that promotes their heritage and their esteem and how can they ensure that the social work assessment is robust?

The ethnic identity development plays a crucial role in adolescence and emerging adulthood and may be more complex for adoptees who do not share their ethnic identity with their adoptive families. Together with Professor Rosa Rosnati we will explore the findings of her latest research study on Ethnic Identity, Bicultural Identity Integration, and Psychological Well-Being Among Transracial Adoptees. 

We will share some of the main findings stemming from the international empirical studies on these topics and we will outline some guidelines form parents and for social workers and psychologists working in the field of adoption.

We will then bring it all together in the practice part of this evidence seminar which will be facilitated by Jan Way MBE, social worker and adoptive parent. IAC- The Centre for Adoption has a long history of assessing applicants where there is a transethnic/transracial component. This part of the seminar will draw upon their experience, alongside research and input from an adoptee and an adoptive parent who have direct experience of transracial adoption.

About the trainers

Professor Rosa Rosnati, Ph.D., is a Full Professor of Social Psychology in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences; a member of the executive board of the Family Studies and Research University Center; the Director of the biennial Master Course on Adoption and Foster Care in partnership with Istituto degli Innocenti in Florence; a member of the National Observatory on Childhood and Adolescence, 2020-22 (appointed by Minister of Family); and the ICAR7 Chair. Her prevalent research interests mainly explore family relationships; in particular, she has paid great attention to adoptive families with internationally adopted children with a specific focus on ethnic identity, Bicultural Identity Integration, discrimination by peers and intergroup and intragroup contact in adoptive families. On these topics she has authored and co-authored papers in peer reviewed indexed scientific journals and books.

Jan Way MBE has been a social worker since 1975, working in a range of settings including hospitals, local authorities, and adoption agencies. For the last 30 years she has worked in the adoption field, specialising in intercountry adoption, and working as a senior executive for a national adoption agency and charity. In 2019 she was awarded an MBE for her work in intercountry adoption. She now acts as a practice advisor and research lead for the agency. Jan is also an adopted person and an adoptive mother, having adopted a daughter from South America. In addition to her daughter, who is now 33, she has two grown up birth daughters.

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.