The Centre for
Adoption Support
805
People enrolled for one of our webinars 2020-21
288
Children attended one of our events 2020-21
32
One to one therapeutic sessions with children
34
RAMPS delivered into schools
239
Contracts were delivered by the therapy service
74
additional Covid support contracts delivered by the therapy service
The Centre for Adoption Support is a unique support service supporting adoption and permanency. Our experienced multi-professional team works closely with families and professionals to equip them with the necessary knowledge, understanding and strategies needed to support their children at different points along their adoption journey. Working closely with our therapy service, we can offer a wide range of support to you.
The Centre’s Therapeutic Social Workers and Occupational Therapists are all adoption experienced and trained in a variety of therapeutic approaches, including Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Theraplay, VIPP-SD (Video Interaction Parenting Programme), VIG (Video Interaction Guidance) and the Nurtured Heart Approach™. The team work closely with our therapy service and all have specialist skills and experience of working with adopted children and their families.
The Centre supports adoption and permanency and we offer services to adopters, foster carers, special guardians and kinship carers. Most of our services fall within the remit of the Adoption Support Fund (ASF).
All Adoption Matters families and families that we have been commissioned to work with through their own Regional Adoption Agency or Local Authority, have access to most of the Centre’s workshops and training, free of charge. Adopters, their extended friends and family, foster carers, special guardians and kinship carers approved by other agencies, can access our webinars for just £15 per person.
“My husband and I were incredibly apprehensive about this course. However, we did not need to be at all. The content and delivery were thorough and we have practised many elements that we learnt and it has been very beneficial to the parenting of our children. Thank you”
“Excellent staff who made for a great welcome and put 110% heart, emotion, knowledge and experience into their work”
“Very human in the way they acknowledged the difficulties we are experiencing. I felt understood”
“Applying this training has been life changing!”
“This is a very special place. Social workers really ‘get it’ and are non-judgemental. They are proactive and don’t wait for the family to be in crisis”.
“After some friendly introductions and some vocal warm ups, we are transformed into Popstars within the hour! You can physically see the kids grow in confidence and self-esteem and parents let go and throw themselves into it”.
“The work has been most beneficial. It has enabled me to judge situations with a much cooler head… I am able to handle extremely strong emotions in a much more controlled and safe way. Thank you… this work has changed me for the better”.
We have worked with over 100 Local Authorities across England through referrals to our service to work with families. Below are some quotes taken from our feedback forms sent to professionals who have worked with us:
“Useful, thought-provoking, insightful and child-focused training as always”
“Really helpful course – CFAS are doing so much that we don’t always hear/know about on the teams”
“Good service and can be sure of timely responses and proposals for work/contracts”
We know every child is different. There is no 'one size' of support that fits all...
At the Centre for Adoption Support we understand that many adopted children can face challenges as a result of early life experiences and sometimes, children, their families, schools and all those around them need help and support to understand and meet those challenges. We know that learning is an on-going process for all parents and especially for adoptive parents. Our experienced multi-professional team work closely together in genuine partnership with families and professionals to equip them with the necessary knowledge, understanding and strategies needed to support children at different points along their adoption journey.
Our ethos ‘we know that every child is different; one size doesn’t fit all’ means that our support services are uniquely adapted to each individual family’s needs and are aimed at encouraging positive bonds between parents and children, as well as encouraging healthy relationships between siblings. We work closely with adoptive families to identify the best support for them at their point of need at whatever age or stage.
Contact us on Tel: 01925 534 118 or email us at: info@centreforadoptionsupport.org for more information.
Adoption Support News
Single adopters - bring a friend!
We understand the importance of having support, that’s why we allow our single adopters to bring a ‘plus one’ to all of our Centre for Adoption Support training courses, webinars and events free of charge.
Music Matters
Find out more about our Music group for children and young people, meet the team and watch an amazing video.
Supporting your children back to school during the pandemic
Our webinar for parents and schools around support children back to school during the pandemic using PACE.
Young people talk about adoption
This animation provides a great insight into what it is like to be adopted and aims to help prospective adopters understand better the needs and wants of adopted children.
Theraplay Advent Calendar
Theraplay Advent Calendar created by Mary Kennedy, Tory Kerneen and Fiona Peacock. Theraplay is about strengthening parent-child relationships.
Christmas hints, tips & advice for adopters
Christmas can be a difficult time for some of our children and families. We’ve got some Christmas tips and advice to help ease you through this sometimes difficult and often very busy time.
Supporting your children back to school during Covid-19
Centre for Adoption Support present a webinar for parents and schools around support children back to school during the pandemic using PACE.
Children's books that celebrate diversity
We work with children from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures and understand the importance of representing diversity positively to children from a young age. Below is a list of books that help to...
Supporting your family during Covid-19
We know that many families may struggle over the coming weeks and the months ahead and appreciate that you will all be incredibly busy managing the impact of the ever changing situation and uncertainty around...
Further funding to Adoption Support Fund welcomed
Adoption Matters are delighted with the announcement that adoptive families and special guardians are set to benefit from a welcome extension to the Adoption Support Fund.
Changes to the Centre for Adoption Support
As part of an internal restructure, Caritas Care has taken the decision to separate from the CfAS partnership and develop its own Adoption Support Service
Tue 24
May
In this two hours workshop we will explore the phenomenon known as Child to Parent Violence and Aggression (CPVA). CPVA can take different forms, including verbal aggression, behaviour than might feel like bullying and controlling behaviours, as well as physical aggression and violence. CPVA can occur at any age in childhood and affects many more families than people may realise.
Fri 10
Jun
The Nurtured Heart Approach® (NHA) is a relationship-focused parenting approach which was originally developed to help children whose behaviour challenges adults (‘intense’ behaviour in the NHA), but is now being used to help all children and adults to use their intensity in successful ways.
Thu 16
Jun
Having an understanding of why adopted children find school days such a challenge is invaluable if we are to help them succeed in large social settings and in turn to access learning.
This webinar will provide the opportunity for professionals and parents to increase their understanding of children’s behaviour as well as having a greater awareness of the role each performs in a child’s emotional wellbeing.
We know that learning is an on-going process for all parents and especially for adoptive parents. We understand that many adopted children can face challenges as a result of early life experiences and sometimes, children, their families, schools and all those around them need help to understand and meet those challenges. Our experienced team will work with you, and if appropriate your local authority, to identify the best support for your family at your point of need at whatever age or stage.
Our full list of training events and workshops is available to view on our Events page. Our training programme is ever changing to meet the needs and demands of our adoptive families and we would welcome your suggestions for future workshops.
An overview of what we currently offer includes:
Our webinars are free of charge for Adoption Matters families and Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) families that are currently receiving support from the Centre for Adoption Support. If you are an adopter, special guardian, foster carer from a different agency or a family member or friend of an adoptive family, the cost to attend our webinars is £15 per person.
We know that today families today come in all shapes and sizes, but we understand that it can sometimes be daunting to attend a new event alone. That’s why we allow all of our single parents to bring a ‘plus one’ to all of our Centre for Adoption Support training courses, webinars and events free of charge.
All of our packages of therapeutic support to families fall within the remit of the Adoption Support Fund (ASF). The ASF can be used to fund specialist therapeutic support for your family. You will need an assessment of your support needs carried out by your local authority to access the fund. The assessment will indicate which support services are likely to be the most helpful. We have worked with many local authorities in ensuring that this process runs as smoothly as possible.
Remember to look at the adoption support passport here that outlines support adopters in England may be entitled to.
Your local authority may then carry out an Assessment of Adoption Support Needs. Depending on the outcome of this assessment, the local authority may be able to meet these needs through their own core services or may commission our service to provide training, support or therapeutic services.
If you have any queries about our range of services, please complete our enquiry form here or contact us on Tel: 01925 534 118 or Email: info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
We know that learning is an on-going process for all parents and especially for adoptive parents. We understand that many adopted children can face challenges as a result of early life experiences and sometimes, children, their families, schools and all those around them need help to understand and meet those challenges. Our experienced team will work with you, and if appropriate your local authority, to identify the best support for your family at your point of need at whatever age or stage.
Our full list of training events and workshops is available to view on our Events page. Our training programme is ever changing to meet the needs and demands of our adoptive families and we would welcome your suggestions for future workshops.
An overview of what we currently offer includes:
Our webinars are free of charge for Adoption Matters families and Regional Adoption Agency (RAA) families that are currently receiving support from the Centre for Adoption Support. If you are an adopter, special guardian, foster carer from a different agency or a family member or friend of an adoptive family, the cost to attend our webinars is £15 per person
All of our packages of therapeutic support to families fall within the remit of the Adoption Support Fund (ASF). The ASF can be used to fund specialist therapeutic support for your family. You will need an assessment of your support needs carried out by your local authority to access the fund. The assessment will indicate which support services are likely to be the most helpful. We have worked with many local authorities in ensuring that this process runs as smoothly as possible.
Our training programme is ever changing to meet the needs and demands of our adoptive families and can be found on our events page
Most of our services fall under the remit of the Adoption Support Fund and we can assist with applications by providing helpful descriptors of our support packages and detailed costings.
If you have any queries about our range of services, please complete our enquiry form here or contact us on Tel: 01925 534 118 or Email: info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
Here at the Centre for Adoption Support we recognise that many of the children and young people who are growing up in adoptive families have complex physical, emotional, developmental and educational needs. Research indicates that a growing number of children and young people demonstrate emotional and behavioural needs that go beyond the strategies learnt via professional training and experience. The rich information that we have gathered as a service has enabled us to develop a deeper understanding of the challenges that some adopted children face in the education setting.
We have facilitated training into nurseries, schools and colleges with the aim creating an ‘attachment and trauma aware’ community, so as children and young people experience the nurturing environments that they need to develop, grow and achieve.
We have extended our accumulated learning to many caring professionals within educational settings, so increasing their levels of confidence and understanding. Professionals have fed back how much they have valued the training and personal development which has had numerous benefits, for not only the families and children that they work so hard to support, but also for the staff themselves feeling valued and enabling them to move forward to the next level as a team.
Our ‘Attachment and the Impact of Early Trauma Training’ has reached approximately 90 schools and colleges, with the number of attendees ranging from small teams to groups of 80 plus staff. Additionally we have facilitated numerous Reduced Anxiety Management Plans (RAMPS) into schools and colleges.
We have extended our training to workplaces and higher education settings recognising that the experiences of childhood trauma may continue to have an impact as young people embark on their careers and/or into further education.
All of our training to education settings is available to view on our events page.
For information about our full range of training available and a quotation, just fill in our enquiry form here or contact us on Tel: 01925 534 118 or Email: info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
Volunteering can make a real difference to your own life and the lives of those around you. If you think you have a skills, experience or some availability that could benefit our Centre for Adoption Support, we’d love to hear from you.
Volunteering also has many added benefits – these include:
The work of the Centre for Adoption Support is further enhanced and enriched by the support provided by our amazing team of adopter volunteers. Adopters share time and time again just how much they value the support received from their peers
We offer a variety of groups and workshops to children including a children and young people’s choir, activity days out, musical groups. If you are a company who could offer any sponsorship to further our activities we would love to hear from you. Contact us at info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
Our Buddy service comprises of a group of volunteer adoptive parents who have built up a wealth of experience and learning as adoptive parents and are able to understand and relate to both the joys and challenges. They have all accessed extensive training on attachment and trauma related issues and are committed to sharing their learning. The Buddy service is facilitated by an assessing social worker and a therapeutic social worker to ensure that the support offered is tailored to each family’s individual needs.
We offer friendly, informal and confidential drop in sessions for Adoption Matters adopters at all stages of their journey. Within the sessions they can meet other adopters and experienced adopter ‘buddies’ in a safe and nurturing environment. The sessions offer the opportunity to explore and learn more about positive parenting strategies in an informal setting, together with people who are actively using these strategies in real life.
“I wanted an opportunity to discuss problems unique to our family circumstances with someone who understood why and how our children were different,” – an Adopter who attended a buddy session.
If you would like to learn more about how to volunteer as a buddy or arrange to speak to a buddy for support, please email: info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
From assisting at our peer support groups to helping out at our children’s choir, get in touch with us for more information, please email: info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
It is recognised that working with children and young people that have experienced early trauma requires specialist knowledge and expertise. Parenting such children can also present challenges and require significant emotional resilience. In order to support and facilitate change, our therapy service provides evidence based interventions that best meet the needs of adopted children and their families. We also can work with Special Guardianship Order (SGO) families, Looked After Children and foster carers.
Our Therapy Service provides a personalised therapeutic intervention based on a structured assessment. All of our therapy services are covered by the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) and we will guide you and your placing Local Authority with their submission to the ASF.
From the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021, our therapy service delivered 239 contracts offering a range of therapeutic interventions for children and families.
In addition to this they also delivered 74 Covid support packages to families. The service also saw an unprecedented rise in the need for therapy during Covid-19 and the team of 25 therapists continued to work, often face to face, with high crisis cases, throughout pandemic and lockdown periods.
Our therapists worked hard on developing therapeutic services that could be delivered online and feedback from
families is that the online support has been helpful and supportive. The service also set up mindfulness groups for
adopters which has helped maintain their psychological well-being and emotional resilience and they also plan to
offer Nurturing Attachments groups in the near future.
Approaches include:
The approaches incorporate developments in neuropsychology, brain development and sensory integration.
We can provide a wide range of therapists across the North West, Staffordshire and North East Wales. All have specialist skills and experience of working with adopted children and their families.
Assessments are conducted by a clinical psychologist and will cover all aspects of a child’s life. This will include sessions with parents, the child, school and other professionals as appropriate. The assessment will provide clear recommendations regarding a way forward.
A key feature of the therapy service is ensuring that we deliver effective interventions. The approaches are informed by the latest research on what works for adoptive families. Each therapist will work with families to put together an agreed therapeutic plan with clear goals. All therapeutic work is supervised by a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and specialist supervisors depending on the specific approach. The work is evaluated and written reports made available.
The cost of therapy will depend on each families individual requirements and will vary according to the duration of therapy and type of intervention. A detailed costing can be provided. All of our therapy services are covered by the Adoption Support Fund (ASF) and we will guide you and your placing Local Authority with their submission to the ASF.
Call or email Therapy Services co-ordinator, Lisa Haslam at: lisa.haslam@adoptionmatters.org or call on 0300 123 1066
Please send us an enquiry for more
information or
alternatively, contact us
through one of these channels...
Tel:
Email:
Address:
01925 982 243
info@centreforadoptionsupport.org
Aiken Hall, Room WAH108, Padgate Campus, Warrington
WA2 0DB
Navigating Adoption Support Conference
