CoramBAAF Conversations

Episode 31 | Listening to the child on staying in touch

This pre-recorded video offers a taster of the benefits of joining our course ‘Making plans for staying in touch’. No two children or their families are the same. The most critical aspect of any staying in touch plan post adoption is that it allows for individual needs and situations.  
This conversation covers some of the key considerations when communicating with children and young people about their contact/staying in touch plans. Listening effectively to children and young people will help ensure that arrangements can reflect the changing needs of the child throughout childhood, teenage years and beyond. 
Lindy Wootton possesses over 35 years of valuable experience working with people in the voluntary and public sectors, serving as a trainer, practitioner, manager, project leader, mediator, and restorative justice practitioner. After qualifying as a social worker, she initially worked in child protection before transitioning to adoption. In 2013, she joined CCS Adoption, where she took on diverse roles, including managing early permanence projects and the life story work service – Sharing Stories, as well as handling assessment, training, post-adoption support, and agency decision maker. In 2022, Lindy left CCS Adoption to become an independent social work consultant, undertaking work for the National Adoption Strategy Team and delivering training as an associate trainer for CoramBAAF. Lindy holds a BSc in Social Administration, MSc in Criminal Justice Policy, MSc in Social Work, and is a qualified mediator.
Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/membership/members-week-2024-listening-child/staying-touch/episode-31-listening-child-staying-touch

Episode 30 | Access to records: what you need to know

Our Legal Consultants, Augusta Itua and Alexandra Conroy-Harris came together to talk about the structures, regimes, differences and challenges for care-experienced adults wanting to access their records. 
Augusta joined CoramBAAF in April 2023 and job-shares with Alexandra, assisting with our advice line and service delivery for our members. Augusta qualified as a Youth Justice Lawyer and previously worked at Just for Kids Law. There, she provided specialist legal advice and representation on criminal justice issues and gained experience in community care, education, and strategic litigation law. Recently, she was awarded the 2023 Churchill Fellowship, which allowed her to travel to Australia to explore ways to improve access to children’s social care files for care experienced people.  
Alexandra was called to the Bar in 1989, and spent nine years in private practice, representing children, families and local authorities, followed by nine years as a Senior Child Care Lawyer in a London local authority before joining BAAF as Legal Consultant in 2008. Her CoramBAAF role involves writing,advising, and training on all aspects of the adoption and fostering process, as well as advising the IRM Cymru. Until recently she was combining her part-time role at CoramBAAF with employment as a childcare lawyer in a North-East local authority, and now maintains hands-on experience with some private practice at the Bar. 
Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/membership/members-week-2024-listening-child/identity/episode-30-access-records-what-you-need-know

Episode 29 | Complex identity: an intersectional framework for organisations, with Anthony Lynch

James Bury, CoramBAAF’s Head of Policy, Research and Development, is joined by Anthony Lynch to tell us more about his research study “Complex Identities: An Intersectional Framework” which delves into the intricate nature of identity by examining how various social categories—such as race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, and sexual orientation—intersect and shape individual experiences. The study highlights the importance of considering these aspects of identity simultaneously to understand the unique challenges faced by individuals with complex identities. 
By incorporating insights from both academic literature and grassroots sources, Anthony’s framework sheds light on the lived experiences of mixed-heritage individuals, third culture kids, and those living in border regions or with transracial and international care backgrounds. The research aims to help organisations and policymakers better support these individuals by fostering a deeper understanding and awareness of their diverse identities. 
Anthony Lynch is a researcher and mixed-heritage adoptee working in the intersection between Lived Experience and Policy. Their work in identity began when they co-founded In-Between Lines, an award-winning exhibition for individuals belonging to multiple ethnicities, cultures, and families.  
James Bury is the Head of Policy, Research and Development at CoramBAAF. James joined CoramBAAF in January 2022. James has over 7 years’ experience working directly with children. He has worked as a children’s Guardian and Family Court Advisor at CAFCASS and as a social worker in London and Norfolk operating in a safeguarding role.
Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/membership/members-week-2024-listening-child/identity/episode-29-complex-identity-intersectional

Episode 28 | Gender race, and religion: exploring the identity of care experienced children and care leavers

Ann Horne, CoramBAAF’s Kinship Consultant, is joined by researcher and academic  Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor. As part of this year’s Members’ Week celebrations, they will be talking about the theme of identity, with insights from Sariya’s research and her key findings from past and present projects.   
Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (PhD) is an Associate Professor in the Sociology of Islam at the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, Coventry University, UK. She is Chair (2020-2023) of the Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN). As a feminist sociologist of religion, she interrogates the power dynamics within knowledge production and the implications of the processes and systems of knowledge on society as a whole. She started undertaking research with and for children in care after starting the process to become an adopter, just under a decade ago.  
Her extensive portfolio includes projects funded by prestigious bodies like the AHRC, ESRC, and the British Academy, covering topics such as Muslim women’s experiences, religion, and the intersectional identities of care-experienced children. Cheruvallil-Contractor’s work is deeply rooted in feminist, pragmatist, and decolonising methodologies. 
Ann Horne joined CoramBAAF in February 2022 alongside jobshare partner, Clare. Ann has been a local authority social worker in children's services for 20 years. She has worked in kinship care for the last 14 years and for 7 of these co-managed a dedicated kinship care team in Brighton and Hove. Ann contributed to the development of best practice models within the Brighton and Hove Team, and some of her work locally later contributed to wider national policy developments around kinship assessments. Ann also took a lead in developing comprehensive kinship support services, ensuring kinship carers in Brighton and Hove were well served by a range of available supports. 
 
Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/membership/members-week-2024-listening-child/identity/episode-28-gender-race-and-religion-exploring

Episode 27 | Exploring and assessing motivations to adopt

In this episode, we dive into the insights from our latest Good Practice Guide, Exploring and assessing motivations to adopt. Jo Francis, CoramBAAF’s Publishing Manager, meets  with the guide's author, Laura Payne. Laura shares her experiences in writing the book, detailing the interviews she conducted and the insights she gained while examining the diverse reasons people choose to adopt. Together, they discuss how these motivations impact the adoption assessment process, offering valuable perspectives for professionals in the field. 
Laura Payne has worked in and managed several adoption agencies (both local authority and voluntary adoption agencies), and has over 30 years of experience. She is now a trainer and consultant, with a particular interest in assessment, panels, post-adoption support and the longer-term needs of adoptive families.
For more information visit corambaaf.org.uk.
ABOUT THE BOOK 
This practice guide will help social workers better understand and assess motivation, by examining four groups: couples who have experienced fertility issues, LGBTQ+ applicants, single applicants, and those for whom adoption is their first choice. It will empower workers to explore various motivations, how they may affect adoption success or need for support, and how to discuss often sensitive subjects with applicants – with an eye to providing thoughtful and analytical assessment. It also explores the key importance of applicants’ expectations of parenthood and how these can affect their adoption journey.   
This guide provides vital practice advice for all social workers, social work managers and panel members who may be involved with assessing and/or considering applicants to adopt.
Read the book!

Episode 26 | Building trust between children and their carers

Building a healthy relationship between a foster carer and the child in their care is deeply rooted in trust. In this insightful conversation, Jo Francis, our Publishing Manager, sits down with Brad Kemp and Lauren Fernandes to explore what it truly means to build trust between children and their carers.  
Both Brad and Lauren played pivotal roles in the creation of our latest children’s book, Where did my dinosaur go?  Brad shares how his personal experiences in care shaped the story, while Lauren discusses the significance of illustrating a book with such an important message. 
Bradley Kemp is a care experienced individual who was in care from a young age till the age of 18. He got involved with this project to show how important it is to have trust built up between a carer and a child in care.   
Lauren Fernandes is a care experienced artist and illustrator living in Dublin with her husband, daughter, two dogs and cat.
Visit corambaaf.org.uk for more information!

Adoption & Fostering journal #9 | Adoptive parents’ worries and concerns about their adolescent adopted children

In this episode, Dr Dennis Golm interviews Saul Hillman about their PhD, which focused on developing the Story Stem Assessment Profile (SSAP), a tool to measure attachment in children through narratives. Saul has been involved with all phases of the longitudinal adoption study which has followed up on late- and early-placed children since placement. 
Saul Hillman is a Senior Research Fellow at Anna Freud and an Honorary Lecturer at University College London (UCL). Saul’s research has primarily focused on attachment and mentalization in both children and adolescents, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as looked-after or adopted children.  
Read the lastest article in the study, Adoptive parents’ worries and concerns about their adolescent adopted children, in Volume 48 Issue 1, March 2024 of ‘Adoption & Fostering’. 
Members, remember to sign in to your CoramBAAF website account to access any article from Adoption & Fostering. The journal is accessed via the SAGE website. 
For more information visit corambaaf.org.uk!

Episode 25 | CFAB’s Cultural Family Life Library

Clare Seth, our Kinship Consultant, interviews Chloe Hubert from Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) about their Cultural Family Life Library - a series of guides for social workers introducing them to the history and culture of families in diaspora communities in the UK. 
Chloe has a background in asylum and immigration law and has worked in various NGOs working to support women who are survivors of domestic abuse and honour based abuse and supporting migrants, asylum seekers and refugees to access justice. She has been working at CFAB for almost 4 years where she works on the Post Placement Support Service and provides holistic casework to families and young people on practical matters such as engaging with the benefits system, housing, education as well as accessing medical services and legal advice. 
CFAB initiated their Cultural Family Life Library due to serious case reviews which highlighted that social work professionals sometimes require further support to work with families whose culture or religion is unfamiliar to them. Culture-specific training can help inform practice and avoid the risk of inadvertently enabling situations that put some children at risk.  
Some professionals also feel they lack the tools or confidence to build on cultural strengths, or to question specific cultural practices, potentially hindering better outcomes for children. With one in three children born in 2022 having a foreign-born mother, it is of growing importance that social workers receive more support for working within diaspora communities. 
Please note that this conversation references child abuse, domestic abuse, genital mutilation, harmful practices, and the death of children.
For more information visit corambaaf.org.uk or https://corambaaf.org.uk/episode-25-cfabs-cultural-family-life-library

Episode 24 | Let's talk about Morris and Rufus

In this delightful conversation CoramBAAF's Publishing Manager, Jo Francis, speaks with Jill Seeney about the success of her children's books over the years. They dig into what sparked the ideas for the stories and why they've struck a chord with social workers, carers, and kids over time.
Jill Seeney is a Fostering and Kinship Training and Development Team Manager. She has worked in fostering for many years, in a variety of roles, and previously with children as a social worker, counsellor, and French teacher. She studied psychology and educational psychology.
Find out more at corambaaf.org.uk!

Adoption & Fostering journal #8 | Grandparent Special Guardians’ lived experiences of the role and family dynamics

Dr Dennis Golm is joined by author Stacey O'Sullivan, and CoramBAAF Kinship Consultant Ann Horne, to talk about this article from Volume 47, Issue 4 of the Adoption & Fostering journal.
Stacey completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2022. Currently, she works full-time as a Clinical Psychologist in an Early Years (0-4 years) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) in the NHS. She offers an integrative approach in her work alongside families, namely utilising relational, values based and compassion focused approaches.
Find out more at corambaaf.org.uk.