Core Support
Advice, guidance and signposting
Adopt North East has a dedicated adoption support front door team offering direct contact with a qualified social worker. It might be that you need to chat about something informally or request an assessment of adoption support need.
Adopt North East website and CATCH online resource
The Adopt North East website has a dedicated section with resources to support adopters
Additionally, CATCH is online resource commissioned by Adopt North East which offers a large range of information and support to adoptive parents. CATCH provides eLearning, webinars, interviews and case studies exploring key issues for parents supporting children who have experienced trauma. This is available to adoptive parents.
Stay and play
Adopt North East runs a fortnightly, free to use baby and toddler (pre-school) group for adoptive parents. This group provides an excellent informal support for adopters to meet with other adoptive parents and share experiences and offer support to one another, facilitated by a member of Adopt North East.
Young persons group
Adopt North East run a fortnightly young people’s group for those age 11 to 18. The group offers a space for adopted young people to get together, socialise and have some fun. The group also supports young people to contribute towards service development of Adopt North East and have an active voice in all that Adopt North East does.
Peer mentoring
Adopt North East provides a peer mentoring scheme in which experienced adopters are on hand to help other adoptive parents with a variety of issues.
Life story workshops
Adopt North East have practitioners experienced and trained in Life Story Work who can offer advice and guidance to parents about how to support adopted young people to understand their history and identity.
Foundations for attachment therapeutic group
Foundations for attachment is a therapeutic program based on the Foundations for Attachment Training developed by Dr Kim Golding, approved, and endorsed by the Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy Institute (DDPI).
The program consists of three modules which are run over six sessions. Each session will last approximately three hours and parents will be provided with training resources to support their learning and reflection. This group runs regularly throughout the year.
Birth Family Support
Research suggests that it is important for an adopted child's wellbeing and sense of identity to know about where they came from and about their heritage. Maintaining some form of relationship with an adopted child's birth relatives can support this where it is safe to do so. Having a plan that is in line with a child’s needs and one that can change over time is the best way of helping a child to understand themselves better and can help them to develop a healthier sense of self as they grow up. For birth family members it offers reassurance that the child is happy and safe. For adoptive parents it offers opportunities to develop their child’s story and be aware of any changes within the birth family circumstances.
Maintaining relationships
Maintaining relationships may take different forms, including indirect methods such as letters and emails and direct methods such as virtual meetings on-line or face-to-face meetings in the community. Letterbox Contact is perhaps the most well-known and prevalent form of contact. It can help build a level of trust and familiarity between adopters and birth family. The Family Connections service is available to support Letterbox Contact through advice and guidance about practical details as well as offering emotional support to both adoptive and birth family members involved in Letterbox.
The Family Connections service can:
Explain the different types of contact arrangements available to maintain relationships
Support all parties to a contact arrangement to understand their specific responsibilities – helping to manage confidentiality, expectations, reduce any anxieties and ensure that the right practical arrangements are in plProvide advice and guidance around when it is and is not appropriate to make changes to a contact arrangement in the best interests of a child – for example changes linked to a child’s understanding and maturity
Support families to maintain and sustain contact arrangements, take a break from them or re-establish them after they have been paused
Promote the safety of children at all times through providing advice, guidance and expert review of arrangements
Mediate disagreements between parties and resolve any challenges that impact the successful maintenance of relationships
Access to birth records
Adopted adults often seek access to their records in the UK to explore their identity, connect with birth relatives, and understand the circumstances surrounding their adoption. This can help them fill gaps in their life story, gain a more complete sense of self, and address feelings of loss or disconnect that may arise from adoption.
Family Connections can offer information, advice, and direct support -
Provide Information and advice about how an adopted person can obtain a copy of their original birth certificate from the general register office
Help an adopted person to obtain and understand information from adoption records so that they can have a better understanding about the circumstances of their adoption and their origins
Signposting to other organisations, intermediary services and resources that may be of help
Provide emotional support following the sharing of adoption records as appropriateHow to access the Family Connections service:
How to access the Family Connections service:
You can contact the team Monday to Friday 10-4pm
Email: familyconnections@adoptne.org.uk
Telephone Number: 0191 643 5099