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.

“I thought the presenter was excellent and offered really good insight and knowledge.” – Attendee, 2024

You will be able to network with practitioners from other agencies, share best practice and glean new ideas.

“Nice balance of learning, listening and joining in.” – Attendee, 2024

Learning outcomes

• To explore recruitment strategies
• To consider the tailoring of training for prospective and approved adopters
• To think about assessment tools we may be able to use
• To explore specific resources we may need to provide in adoption support

Sharing Yorkshire Adoption Agency (YAA) best practice regarding:

•  Tips for encouraging more prospective adopters to consider brothers and sisters e.g. the why not attitude we have in the team
•  Training support we use in YAA to support the above
•  Practical advice on supporting brother & sister placements such as our introduction and placement support offer
•  Examples of successful brother and sister placements

About the trainer

Leonie Hegedus

Leonie is an Assistant Director, qualified as a Social Worker in 2011 at Sheffield Hallam University, obtaining a BA (Hons) in Social Work Studies. Leonie is registered with Social Work England. She has eight years’ experience within the field of Child Protection, Care Proceedings, Children in Care and Adoption as a Child’s Social Worker. After initially being employed as an Adoption Social Worker at Yorkshire Adoption Agency, she has been with the team since October 2018 and was then a Team Manager between December 2019 to August 2022 before commencing her current role. Leonie is the lead on all social work operations at the agency, including being the Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Leigh Smith

Leigh Smith is the Training Manager at Adoption Focus where she has worked since 2017. Before this, she worked in a Local Authority supporting children in care and an independent fostering agency supporting foster carers.

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, 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

Note: The national recruitment campaign includes a particular focus on sibling placements. This training is therefore particularly relevant to all agencies. 

In this webinar you will have an opportunity to consider how we can attract potential adopters for siblings and how we inspire confidence in those who may be initially overawed by the possibility of parenting more than one child…all at once! As practitioners, what are the qualities and experiences we want adopters of siblings to be able to demonstrate, or cultivate.

“Well paced seminar with good use of break out rooms to offer group discussion. Provided a lot of food for thought and ideas from other agencies sharing good practice.” – Attendee, 2021

You will have an opportunity to learn what Adoption Focus are doing in terms of a specific aspect 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.

“It was really thought provoking having a speaker who had adopted siblings talking so candidly about both her and touching on her husbands experiences too. The case study was interesting and hearing about the training of prospective adopters.” – Attendee, September 2022

Learning outcomes

• Do we tailor some of our preparation and training accordingly and if so in what ways?
• Are our Adoption Panels confident generally in approving adopters for siblings or is there a tendency to be risk averse?
• When it comes to matching, how confident and clear are we in evidencing the additional emotional, practical, financial support which our adopters may require in order to parent a sibling group?
• What specific resources do we provide in terms of adoption support; what challenges do contact issues raise for sibling placements?
• What do we know about outcomes for children placed with siblings?

About the trainer

Leigh Smith

Leigh has been a Training and Volunteer Co-Ordinator with Adoption Focus since 2017. Before this she worked in the Local Authority and then within a private fostering agency. Her roles have included supervising contact for looked after children, finding suitable foster placements for children and young people, mentoring adolescents in foster care and working in residential units. She now works within the training team at Adoption Focus and the post-adoption support team.

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

Note: The national recruitment campaign includes a particular focus on sibling placements. This training is therefore particularly relevant to all agencies. 

In this webinar you will have an opportunity to consider how we can attract potential adopters for siblings and how we inspire confidence in those who may be initially overawed by the possibility of parenting more than one child…all at once! As practitioners, what are the qualities and experiences we want adopters of siblings to be able to demonstrate, or cultivate.

“Well paced seminar with good use of break out rooms to offer group discussion. Provided a lot of food for thought and ideas from other agencies sharing good practice.” – Attendee, August 2021

• Do we tailor some of our preparation and training accordingly and if so in what ways?
• Are our Adoption Panels confident generally in approving adopters for siblings or is there a tendency to be risk averse?
• When it comes to matching, how confident and clear are we in evidencing the additional emotional, practical, financial support which our adopters may require in order to parent a sibling group?
• What specific resources do we provide in terms of adoption support; what challenges do contact issues raise for sibling placements. What do we know about outcomes for children placed with siblings?

You will have an opportunity to learn what Adoption Focus are doing in terms of a specific aspect 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.

About the trainer

Leigh Smith has been a Training and Volunteer Co-Ordinator with Adoption Focus since 2017. Before this she worked in the Local Authority and then within a private fostering agency. Her roles have included supervising contact for looked after children, finding suitable foster placements for children and young people, mentoring adolescents in foster care and working in residential units. She now works within the training team at Adoption Focus and the post-adoption support team.

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.