Webinar: Relearning Our Mental Wellbeing – and ways of supporting it.

Our first Webinar in our conference series – On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health Abstract In this presentation, offered as a basis for discussion, Peter, drawing on his own and other people’s lived experience, aims to help us rethink both understandings of mental wellbeing and distress and helpful ways of addressing the difficulties we may… Read More

On the Journey: Navigating Mental Health

1st – 24th November 2023 This conference series will run throughout November 2023. We have brought together a range of speakers and researchers who consider issues of mental health throughout the life course, including for children and older people. We aim to bring mental health to the fore, to listen to people’s experiences in order… Read More

Reframing adoption in education through identity

For adoptees, a persistent and enduring education attainment gap exists. Experiences of schooling are further impacted by wider contextual factors, such as the construction of a consistent and coherent adoption narrative. Adopted children are set apart from most of their peers in relation to their experience of early adversities, leading to an entirely different family… Read More

KEEPING CONNECTED

An adopted child’s identity will always encompass multiple elements and a child’s long term psychological and mental health depends on finding answers to fundamental questions about who they are. All children looked after will have a contact plan, including those to be adopted. This can be either direct/face-to-face or indirect (e.g., ‘letterbox’[1]). For many years… Read More

Early Permanence

Early Permanence is a child-centred practice that offers stability at a very early stage, preventing multiple moves and the associated trauma of separation from and loss of attachment figures, until a court has reached a decision about the final care plan for a child. The need for good quality care planning for children and twin… Read More

Race in Adoption, the Absent Presence.

In the 1960’s children from Black and Global Majority backgrounds were considered unadoptable and transracial adoption (TRA) was encouraged to prevent children from staying in long-term foster or residential care. Though as the testimonies of some transracially adopted adults were heard, the ability of TRA to provide children with positive racial/ethnic identities and a sense… Read More

Why do prospective adoptive parents choose to adopt older children?

The assessment process  Prospective adoptive parents in the UK context are required to go through an assessment process. As part of the assessment process, prospective parents are required to undertake adoption preparation training where they learn about the potential needs of children who will be placed with them.   During this preparation and assessment process, prospective… Read More