Update: Facing New Frontiers: Access to Records in Post-Commencement Adoptions

Since summer 2018, CVAA has been working with Julia Feast OBE, an Independent Consultant who specialises in the life-long issues of being adopted, in care and donor-conceived, on developing policies, procedures and guidance in the area of access to records and support for adopted adults and birth relatives in adoptions that took place on or after 30 December 2005. These are referred to as post-commencement adoptions, because they occurred after full enforcement of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 commenced on 30 December 2005.

With a working group of practitioners from CVAA member agencies, we developed a set of policies, procedures, and guidance documents to support VAAs with this incredibly important work. We are in the process of finalising these documents and they will soon be available to download from the members’ area of our website.

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Whilst CVAA and Julia have collaborated thus far on access to records specifically in VAAs, we are aware that issues in this area will be pertinent to all agencies working in adoption. We are therefore holding two events with Julia in November 2019 to train statutory practitioners who work in this area, and to work with them to adapt the documents that we have produced for use by statutory agencies. These documents will then be available to purchase from CVAA for a small fee in the new year.

Click here to download the event flier

Click here to book places on Facing New Frontiers: London (20 November)  or Facing New Frontiers: Birmingham (11 November)

We are also working with Julia to advocate for regulatory change in this area with the Department for Education. We will be basing our discussions with the DfE on the policies and guidance that we have produced in collaboration with voluntary and statutory sector colleagues.