Who this is for

Intermediaries, adoption practitioners and managers (Voluntary Adoption Agencies, Regional Adoption Agencies, Local Authorities, and independent social workers)

Details

“Intermediary.” One word to describe such a massive event! The bringing together of parents and their adult children and their siblings, mostly separated from very young, in a way that  supports all their high emotions, wants and fears and can hope to build for a future relationship. No wonder it’s a glorious minefield of uncertainty, legality, best practice, individual experience and big complex emotions. Its not all Long Lost Family…

Through personal testimony from adopted people and birth relatives, clear and precise examination of practice and the law, case studies and discussion we’ll look at the differing perspectives involved, the  legal framework and changes to it, the challenges and risks of intermediary with historic and contemporary adoption and making contact, mediation and building relationships.

Learning outcomes

• Understand the differing perspectives and needs of adoptees, birth family and adoptive family in intermediary
• Understand the legal framework governing intermediary and changes over the years including Pre and Post Commencement and Descendants of Adopted people.
• Best practice in support, making contact, mediating , reunion and building relationships
• Risks and safeguarding in historic and modern adoption
• Intermediary in a digital world of social media and DNA

About the trainers

Mike Hancock 

Mike is the National Strategic Lead and Head of Adult Services (Leeds) at PAC-UK, supervising social workers and counsellors who work with birth relatives and adopted adults. Mike worked with contemporary birth parents for a number of years in Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield and Halifax seeing them at community bases and at home. He has run groups for these service users as well as presenting training for professionals around adoption issues. Mike has a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling and is an accredited member of the BACP.

Emma Crowther – Duncan

Emma is the North Adult Services Regional Manager at PAC-UK. Emma has worked predominantly within Local Authorities including Derbyshire and Manchester as a Social worker and Senior Practitioner within Child Protection teams. Most recently Emma has worked with an adoption and permanence team progressing children’s adoption plans and preparing children for adoption which included life story work with children and birth parents. Emma has also worked as a Social Worker within a residential assessment centre undertaking court directed PAMs Assessments for parents with learning difficulties.

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

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.