News

This week we spoke to Sioned, from our Truth be Told podcast. Faced with health challenges and the end of a relationship, Sioned decided to embark on the adoption journey by herself. We discussed what it’s like to adopt as a single person, how she’s found life journey work and what adoption has meant to her life.  

National Adoption Service stands in solidarity and has signed up to Zero Racism Wales.

This week we spoke to Ben, from our Truth be Told podcast. After a busy life working in London, Ben decided to embark on a new chapter and start a family with his partner in Wales.  We discussed the attachment process and how the connection isn’t always instant.  

This week we spoke to Gareth, from our Truth be Told podcast, who adopted a sibling group of three children with his wife Clare. We discussed how they prepared for bringing not just one, but three children home at once, how they found the transition period and that first meeting with their children.

This week we spoke to Amanda, from our Truth be Told podcast, who adopted after her birth children had left home. We discussed her experiences with the matching process and what advice she would give to potential adopters starting the process.

This week we chatted with Steffan, an LGBT+ adopter in South Wales who took part in our podcast, to discuss his experience of the adoption assessment process and why he was proud to be sharing his story with other adopters.

As part of its 'Adoption Month' series, Metro.co.uk spoke to Gareth and Clare from our Truth be Told podcast about their adoption experience. 

This week we spoke with Daniel Warner, the Adoption Services Development Officer from the St David’s Children’s Society to discuss all things LGBTQ+ adoption.

To hear more from Daniel and the rest of our amazing panel, watch our Pride Cymru Webinar - Proud Families: Supporting the LGBTQ+ community through adoption

Whether you’re thinking about adopting, you’ve already done it, or you’re just interested in powerful real-life stories, you don’t want to miss our first ever podcast - The truth be told: adoption stories.

From single adopters and same sex couples to adopters of siblings and older children, the podcast has been created to tell the success stories of a range of adopters in Wales who have experienced the high, lows, and everything in between. No adoption journey is the same, but what brings our adopters together is the love they have for their children.

There will be plenty of laughs and eye-watering moments for you to enjoy.

So, without any further ado – here are the amazing adopters who took part.

Are you currently receiving adoption support services in Wales? Or have you in the last couple of years?

If so, we’d like you to consider taking part in a research study which is evaluating how we have been improving adoption support services in Wales. 

The Adoption Barometer, published by charity Adoption UK, is the largest survey of adopters in the UK. This year’s report found that Wales has made significant progress since last year’s Barometer, with three Welsh policies scoring ‘good’. We are pleased to have this progress acknowledged and would like to thank the staff in the National Adoption Service across the country for their continued hard work.

Here, Rebecca Brooks, Education Policy Advisor at Adoption UK and author of the report, explains more about the survey and its findings.

Alongside identifying an improving picture in many respects there is still evidence that the lives of some of the UK's most vulnerable children are being affected by missed opportunities to provide them with timely and adequate support, a new report reveals today. 

The report shows placing children, recruitment of adopters, continued improvement of adoption support services, have all been important activities during 2019/20. The Adoption UK Barometer of adoption services across the UK highlighted significant progress and satisfaction with the development of adoption services in Wales.

The support and financial investment by the Welsh Government during 2019/20 has been welcomed by adopters and the workforce and is making a positive difference.

We thank adopters, children and young people for influencing how services are improved and delivered in Wales. Equally, we thank all staff in the National Adoption Service wales wide for their hard work and dedication.

With schools across Wales reopening this month, we spoke with two of our adoption champions, Rosie and Jillian to find out more about their experience of home schooling in lockdown and how they’re preparing their children for the transition back into the classroom.

How do I know I’m ready to adopt?

Tracy Roberts, senior social worker from Denbighshire

We know that adoption is a big step in your lives, and it’s our job to make it easier for you. Whether you’re a few steps into your adoption process or you have yet to even call an agency, I want to talk about how to know if you’re ready and suitable for adoption.

Congratulations to Cowshed Communication, our PR and marketing company, for winning the Public Sector category in the recent PRCA Dare awards for our adopter recruitment campaign ‘Become the parent you can be’.

Enquiries in Wales rise by a third during lockdown as the National Adoption Service adapts to the challenges of the pandemic

By Corienne Strange, Policy and Practice Officer at the National Adoption Service

‘Sammy the sloth returns to school’ - Adoption Mid and West Wales release new storybook to support children returning to school.

Lockdown has been a challenging time for many adoptive families across Wales, with many parents having to work from home, whilst entertaining their children and home-schooling.

With the Welsh Government announcement that schools can return in Wales from 29th June, Adoption Mid and West Wales has released some brilliant resources to support parents with the transition back to school.

The National Adoption Service welcomes feedback from adopters; their children and their families. Nationally and regionally we work alongside Adoption UK Cymru (AUK) to gather these views. I am pleased to make available the 2018/19 overview which helps us to understand what has been working well with adoption services, what we have done to make improvements and what else we need to do.

Suzanne Griffiths
Director

Welsh Government and the Children's Commissioner, Sally Holland, have launched a survey about children and young people's experiences of staying at home during lockdown. People who can help to make a difference want to hear about how it's felt for children and young people to be at home because of the Coronavirus and what it's meant for them. The survey, which closes on 27th May, is available for two age ranges and in picture format, it will take only 10 - 15 minutes to complete and children and young people can choose not to answer some questions if they prefer not to.

Research published by Cambridge University Press demonstrates clear evidence that children placed with adopters who parent with warmth and empathy have better outcomes in relation to their emotional and mental health over time. 

NAS is pleased to support this year's Adoption Barometer research by Adoption UK.  If you are an adopter in Wales (or England!), please follow the link to access the survey which we understand should only take about 20 minutes.

Back in the summer Adoption UK launched their first survey into adoption in the 21st Century.