Adoptive parents need to be supported to help their child grieve for the past

The Guardian reports on Devon Adoption and how they won local authority adoption team of the year

The government’s reforms to adoption have been a challenge to many local authorities. The emphasis has been primarily on the numbers of adopters recruited and numbers of children placed in adoptive homes. As resources have become more constrained, there is less reflection and emphasis on the work done with children and adopters.

Devon Adoption recently won an award from the British Association of Adoption and Fostering as local authority adoption team of the year. This was due to the emphasis on services designed for children to support any insecurities that may arise during the critical transition from foster care to adoptive home.

Children in the adoptive system will have suffered separation, loss and trauma. The child’s “journey” through this process is explained first to adopters and then to children, when they reach maturity, through court reports produced by social workers. The creation of a “life story” book with this information in can help the child understand what has happened to them, where they have lived, who has cared for them and the decisions that have happened in their lives.