Support

Adoption Support

As an adoptive parent, you will be able to access support from us after the Adoption Order has been made. Your child may have developed ways of coping which make it difficult for them to form relationships and manage their emotions and behaviour, this may be due to their early life experiences. The staff at Adoption West is made up of experienced social workers and support workers who are available to offer support with this.

The local authority which placed your child with you is responsible for assessing your adoption support needs for three years after the Adoption Order was made. After three years, if your family requires adoption support then this is accessed through the local authority where you live, who will assess your family’s needs.

Adoption West works with Birth Links to offer a support service for adopted adults and for birth relatives affected by adoption. It aims to provide advice, support, information and guidance. You can find out more about this service here or by following the Birth Links icon below.

Further information for adopted adults is available here.

Adoption West provides adoption support services on behalf of the local authorities in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

At Adoption West we recognise that a child’s/family’s needs are not one-dimensional and will change with time, therefore it is likely you will need to look at various avenues of support.

Who can access adoption support services?

We operate a daily duty service within office hours, to take initial enquiries from families and individuals seeking support, this includes adopters, children and young people who have been adopted, adopted adults, and birth relatives of those who have been adopted.

The three year rule

How can I access support?

We have an open-door approach whereby you can contact us with adoption related problems or queries. We have dedicated duty officers available every working day: 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Fridays to offer advice and support and they can take a referral for adoption support.

The phone number for all support enquiries is 03303 550 333.

Tier One

Open to all

Adoption West support team is compromised of one senior manager, three deputy managers and xxx social workers and xx support workers, the team currently provide support to xx families.

Social workers in our support teams are available to talk about any difficulties or issues you may be having and discuss what support could be helpful. We offer universal services available to all adopters within our region this includes;

Advice/helpline/duty: We have dedicated social workers available every working day: 9am to 4.30pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 4pm on Fridays. Our Team are here to offer support and advice, so feel free to give them a call on 03303 550 333 with any questions or concerns
Direct advice and signposting to organisations that maybe able to offer informal support (see also Training and Resources)
Guidance on Keeping Connected (Letterbox and Direct Contact)
Events for adopters and children
Newsletter
Support groups
Training including parenting programmes

Tier Two

Social Work Intervention

Delivered locally for families with emerging adoption support issues/concerns that cannot be solely met in Tier One. In order to access this level of support, families need to contact the Adoption West duty and complete an Adoption Support Referral. A social worker will then offer support, with a range of options, which may include an Assessment of Need.

Tier Two Support can include;

Focused Social Work support
Planned Adoption Support Worker intervention
Direct work with children
Support with Keeping Connected
Life-story work
Access to Virtual School Lead for support to address education issues
Guidance and advice to access specialist health services, including mental health services

Tier Three

If your family needs cannot be met under Tier One or tier Two, then Adoption West will complete a comprehensive assessment of your support needs, this is required in order to access the Adoption Support Fund (ASF)

Where the assessment identifies that therapeutic services would be beneficial to your family, Adoption West will apply to the Fund on your behalf, who will then release funding to Adoption West.

An Adoption West social worker will then talk to you about who can provide the types of service that you need and which provider you would prefer, this may include accessing a therapeutic parenting group or identify that a specialist assessment is needed.

You can find out more about the ASF here: Adoption Support Fund