Kent council team wins prestigious award in national adoption week

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Kent County Council’s post adoption support team has scooped a national award for their work.

The team, which consists of clinicians from a variety of clinical and social work backgrounds, won the Excellence in Adoption Practice Award for the specialist support that they provide to families formed through adoption.

The award recognises excellence and sustained quality in adoption practice.

The National Adoption Week Awards recognise and celebrate good practice and exceptional achievement among those working or involved in adoption in England.

Kent County Council is extremely pleased to work with Coram to achieve excellence in post adoption support.

Ofsted earlier this year commended Kent and Coram Post Adoption Support Team and it’s wonderful to have this recognised again through Excellence in Adoption Practice Award.

Ofsted report noted “the quality of post adoption support is excellent – an effective and innovative range of options and services provided by a multi-disciplinary team under partnership arrangements. The support offered is flexible… and creative and very successful use of the adoption support fund”.

“Adopters are extremely positive about the post adoption support they and their children receive – for example, one adopter described the support as “phenomenal, so pertinent to what we need.”

Kent council team wins prestigious award in national adoption week Kent council team wins prestigious award in national adoption week

 

In 2014 Kent County Council and Coram set up an integrated, multi-disciplinary post adoption support service in conjunction with the Kent Adoption Advisory Board (consisting of adopters and adoption staff).

Its development was based on the experiences of adopters.

Adoptive families in need of specialist support are often not able to easily access timely specialist support.

The Kent team has innovatively applied the Adoption Support Fund to provide timely and effective short term clinical interventions from Kent social workers and Coram clinicians.

Examples of clinical/social work input include:

  1. a)    learning  workshops and parenting programmes, including for adopters of autistic children
  2. b)    intensive therapeutic parenting support groups
  3. c)    approved adopters and waiting group
  4. d)    reflective group for adoption staff
  5. e)    training of adopters to facilitate parenting groups
  6. f)     attachment training to schools

In 327 adopter feedback forms 91% found the workshops ‘very useful’.

The vast majority of adopters felt more confident to respond to the needs of their child as a result of the session and all the attendees of the intensive therapeutic parenting support groups thought that it helped them to understand their child better and 91% felt better able to interact with their adopted child.

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