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

Every year in the UK 7,000 babies are born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD); a type of brain damage caused when an unborn child is exposed to alcohol in the womb. Many of these babies will find themselves among the 70,000 vulnerable children in our care system and making up the numbers in a statistic that claims 75% of looked-after children have a background involving drug and alcohol misuse and are therefore likely candidates for this condition.

The impact of this on child behaviour and development are many and varied. Research and studies are limited but through awareness, understanding and a few carefully placed thought-pathways, helping these children bed into a secure family and a happy home is well within our reach.

During this webinar, we will consider the importance of having a professional understanding within the context of relevance. This will cover the prevalence of the disorder generically and within the care sector, statistics related to current outcomes for children, some of the challenges around why those statistics exist and why children fall through the cracks, and the importance of their continued professional development in this area.

This expert-led training session will cover:

• The new NICE guidelines and what this means (a breakdown of terminology, common misconceptions, limitations of a diagnosis and identification of what information is truly relevant within the context of our children and families)
• The lived experience and how that can be supported by social workers from an informed position
• Experiences of parents/carers on what works, what doesn’t, and what they need at different stages of their journey
• Views and experiences of children and parents in school settings
• Hearing from education professionals in regard to how extra provision works, what parents can do to trigger this and how social workers can support
• Views and experiences from medical professionals about the challenges of a diagnosis exploring the advantages and limitations
• A brief look at the latest news and research into FASD and current affairs

Learning outcomes

• To explore FASD as a range of disabilities caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol
• To recognise the prevalence of FASD within LAC
• To identify possible needs of a child with FASD and explore ideas to support them
• Know where to go for further information 
• Practical takeaways

About the trainer

Joy Hopgood-Gravett

Joy is a teacher by trade, a foster carer turned adopter by life’s twists and turns. She is a speaker, trainer, fierce advocate for children with FASD, since a child waltz into her life 13 years ago weighing 4lb11. Joy has spent a lot of time in recent years supporting the adults who support children affected by FASD. She like’s to think she helps them untangle it and see some of the potential and beauty it holds. Teachers, adopters, carers, social workers, even the occasional doctor… She is unapologetically positive while acknowledging the challenges. As a family that includes two children who were adopted with a history of prenatal exposure to alcohol, Joy has lived enough of family life to know children with FASD are every bit as capable of thriving in a family as their peers… they just bring a little more colour to everything!

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 and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies and Local Authorities), social workers working with children and families and other independent professionals.

Details

Research tells us that early trauma significantly affects the brain, particularly in the first few years of life. But how do babies and young children store these traumatic experiences when they haven’t developed language or explicit memory yet?

Understanding Pre-Verbal Trauma is a bespoke training session, helping adoption practitioners learn more about pre-verbal trauma, providing a deeper understanding of brain development during these crucial years (and how trauma can impact this). It answers questions about whether babies (or foetuses) can understand and remember trauma, and how their experiences could impact them in later life.

When working with adoptive parents, foster carers, social workers and special guardians, we understand that many wonder how a child could have experienced trauma if they were removed into care from birth or shortly afterwards. Sometimes, people might even say “Well, they were adopted at 3 years old, so they’ll be fine!” We know that this isn’t the case, and this webinar aims to help professionals understand why.

This expert-led training discusses the theory behind pre-verbal trauma, including trauma experienced in the womb (pre-birth). We will talk about brain development; the impact of trauma on the brain and its long-term effects throughout a child’s life; interventions that can help address pre-verbal trauma; and how professionals can support and enact change for children and young people who have experienced pre-verbal trauma.

“Brilliant CPD, that was incredibly informative. It was really interesting to have the theory behind. Presenter was incredibly informative, engaging and knowledgeable. Best CPD I have attended.” – Attendee, 2021

“EXCELLENT! Something we can actually use. Very enjoyable and needed.” – Attendee, 2021

With a firm grounding in brain development and evidence-backed research, this webinar has been developed by Gateway Psychology, a specialist clinical psychology service based in Stoke-on-Trent. Gateway Psychology is rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted for their work with adoptive families, and is one of the largest providers of adoption support in the North West.

“[I enjoyed..] having light bulb moments and being able to think of specific children and now understand how to help more and support them.” – Attendee, 2021

Learning outcomes

• To understand the theory of Pre-Verbal Trauma
• To understand typical brain development and how this can be disrupted by the presence of trauma
• Develop an understanding of therapeutic interventions to address Pre-Verbal Trauma

About the trainers

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

Details

Every year in the UK 7,000 babies are born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD); a type of brain damage caused when an unborn child is exposed to alcohol in the womb. Many of these babies will find themselves among the 70,000 vulnerable children in our care system and making up the numbers in a statistic that claims 75% of looked-after children have a background involving drug and alcohol misuse and are therefore likely candidates for this condition.

‘Of all the substances of abuse (marijuana, cocaine, and heroin), alcohol produces significantly more serious neuro-behavioural effects to an unborn child’.

The impact of this on child behaviour and development are many and varied. Research and studies are limited but through awareness, understanding and a few carefully placed thought-pathways, helping these children bed into a secure family and a happy home is well within our reach.

We will be looking at exactly what FASD is, why it’s here and what it looks like. We’ll spend a little time demystifying the language and misconceptions before exploring how we can influence the outcomes for these children using candid personal experiences to bring it all to life.

Learning outcomes

• To explore FASD as a range of disabilities caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol
• To recognise the prevalence of FASD within LAC
• To identify possible needs of a child with FASD and explore ideas to support them
• Know where to go for further information

You will be able to network with practitioners from other agencies: whether you are new to adoption or have been working in the sector for many years, this is a chance to share best practice and glean new ideas. 

About the trainer

Joy Hopgood-Gravett is a teacher by trade, a foster carer turned adopter by life’s twists and turns. She is a speaker, trainer, fierce advocate for children with FASD, since a child waltz into her life 13 years ago weighing 4lb11. Joy has spent a lot of time in recent years supporting the adults who support children affected by FASD. She like’s to think she helps them untangle it and see some of the potential and beauty it holds. Teachers, adopters, carers, social workers, even the occasional doctor… She is unapologetically positive while acknowledging the challenges. As a family that includes two children who were adopted with a history of prenatal exposure to alcohol, Joy has lived enough of family life to know children with FASD are every bit as capable of thriving in a family as their peers… they just bring a little more colour to everything!

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.