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

In 2019, as part of the ongoing development of services and practice across the sector, AFKA Cymru was commissioned by the National Adoption Service for Wales to develop 4 new Good Practice Guides in key areas – Contact; Transitions and Early Support; Working with Birth parents; and Adoption Support.

All the guides are intrinsically linked and capture good practice examples across Wales as well as up to date research and evidence based approaches from across the UK,  helping bring adoption up to date and ensuring a system that is fit for purpose – that acknowledges complexities and challenges, and respects children’s multiple relationships and identities.

A trauma informed approach, that helps us understand the impact of early trauma and to identify immediate and predicted needs of families, is at the heart of the guides and practice applications that have been developed.

The importance of relationships is a major theme: how we develop trusting relationships, how we see and appreciate other perspectives and how this helps the adults involved to remain child focused.

In this practice session, we will provide an overview of the key principles of each Good Practice Guide and discussing practice implications. We will be specifically considering the key principles of staying connected with people who are important to the child, how we keep doors open as much as we possibly can, and how we think about “contact” across all our work much more in terms of relationships, family, loss and identity.

To help us think about some of the challenges involved in staying connected, we will be considering relevant case studies and taking opportunities to learn with colleagues about positive approaches.

Learning outcomes

• Explore common principles of the 4 NAS Good Practice Guides
• Consider key principles of each guide and implications for practice
• Acknowledge the significance of continuity in relationships for children, and the challenges of staying connected with people who are important across a lifetime
• Use case examples and peer discussion to think about what is going well and how practice can be further developed.

About the trainers

Helen Hawksworth and Sarah Coldrick

Helen is a qualified social worker and Trainer Consultant with AFKA Cymru, and works closely with the National Adoption Service in Wales. She has worked in a range of settings within Local Authority Children’s Services from 1995 including Child Protection, Youth Justice, Residential Care, Fostering, Child Health and Disability, and Adoption before joining St David’s Children Society in 2011 and then AFKA in 2018.

Sarah was legal consultant for BAAF Cymru and now AFKA Cymru since 2009.  Prior to this she was a local authority solicitor and before that worked with children in inner London. Sarah works across the permanency sector within AFKA, providing advice to colleagues and on the advice line as well as working on projects for NAS and Welsh Government. Sarah is an adoptive parent of three daughters and also has some fostering experience.

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.