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

An interactive expert-led training session delivered by an experienced trainer and anti-racism practitioner, Esher Williams, founder of Anti-Racism Hub. You will be guided on a journey of understanding the challenges faced by Black adopters and how to reduce these barriers by addressing the impact of systemic and cultural conditions in our society.

‘There is a lot I shall take from this training to share with my colleagues and aim to improve our services approach to diversity and anti-racism in adoption.’ – Attendee 2023

Going on to explore the pillars of an agency-wide approach to decentring whiteness and how these measures positively impact Black adopters. Investigating culturally responsive competencies in adoption assessment. The group will consider the impact of race, ethnicity and culture on adoption practitioners, prospective adopters and therefore adoptees.

‘A great opportunity to learn about a really important topic which had a variety of learning tools, research and participation.’ – Attendee 2023

In this session, Esher will provide a forum for attendees to share and grow in a non-judgemental environment where curiosity and humility underpin the learning.

Learning 0utcomes

• Build an understanding of how to encourage and break down barriers for Black adopters
• Appreciate the importance of assessing Black adopters with cultural competency
• Adopting an agency-wide approach to building cultural competency in welcoming Black adopters
• Supporting Black adopters post-adoption

About the trainer

Esher Williams

Esher is an anti-racism consultant, public speaker, corporate trainer, educator and practitioner and the founder of Anti-Racism Hub. Facilitating thought-provoking and engaging training and workshops, Esher is adept at facilitating challenging but essential conversations that build understanding of the complex subject of racism, transracial assessment, placement and parenting.

As a late-discovering step-parent adoptee, a transracial adopter and former foster carer, Esher has a personal interest and dedication in helping parents/carers and children’s social work practitioners understand their responsibility in building cultural competency in their role.

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

You will have an opportunity to learn what Home for Good are doing in terms of specific aspects of this work, whilst at the same time having the opportunity to identify the situations you find most challenging and work in smaller groups to consider various solutions.

Many people rule themselves out from exploring adoption due to myths and misconceptions. Our research shows that this can be particularly true for those stepping forward from minority ethnic groups, with Black adults showing an increased openness to adoption yet also holding increased concerns about social worker assessment.

This training seeks to equip social workers, panel members and others working in child placement to better understand and communicate with prospective adopters from the Black community, recognising and respecting the particular challenges they face, to enable you to build better relationships and enable a sensitive yet thorough assessment process. We also acknowledge the nuances that can be at play for prospective adopters from the Black community who practice the Christian faith, drawing upon our expertise as a faith-based organisation to address the particular motivations, mindsets, challenges and practices of Christian prospective adopters.

This session aims to break down misconceptions, open lines of communication and increase understanding of the unique experiences and concerns of Black adopters.

Alongside hearing from the Home for Good team, you will have the opportunity to work in smaller groups to consider various challenges and solutions, networking with practitioners from other agencies, sharing best practice and gleaning new ideas.

Learning outcomes

• An increased understanding of the experiences and concerns of prospective adopters from the Black community
• An increased confidence for professionals engaging with prospective adopters from the Black community
• An opportunity to connect and network with other professionals facing similar challenges to share best practice
• An increased understanding of the role of the Christian faith in a proportion of prospective adopters from the Black community
• A greater knowledge of the spectrum of Christian belief and increased communication skills for exploring difficult issues

About the trainers

Home for Good is a Christian charity seeking to inspire and equip individuals and families to open their homes to vulnerable children through fostering, adoption and supported lodgings. Our vision is a home for every child who needs one, with a particular focus on children who wait longest for a home that will meet their needs. Children from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds constitute one of these groups of children and thus, over the past three years, Home for Good has been raising awareness about the racial disparity that exists within the care system, especially for Black children, and seeking to advocate on their behalf. Find out more at homeforgood.org.uk/racial-disparity

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.