National Adoption Week 2012

[Claifairy]

Where is all the publicity as it seems very low profile this year. Even This Morning has dropped its daily feature.

We started our adoption adventure during Adoption week in 2010 going to information evenings highlighted during the week and hope the information and opportunities to learn more are reaching those you want it.

It was the featured story on You & Yours Radio 4 today. At least 1/2 hour on it.

If anyone is aware of any other radio or tv activity please would they be kind enough to share? Thanks for R4 feature lljkk, will see if its available online.

Do you have to have a spare room to adopt?

Sadly i think the leader of the free world will over shadow any other news

There has been some stuff. There will be lots of open evenings, if you go on the NAW website they will have events listed by area

A nice short video on sky news with a young man who is 18 now i think, and was adopted when he was 10. It was great they focussed on a happy older child adoption. His mum posts on AUK and they seem such a lovely family :) That's here

YourHand - normally a new child needs their own bedroom, but I think a couple I knew had their new child and their bc share a room, a few years ago. I guess it depends which council you adopt through and the child comes from

Nice article here www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/9646811/What-does-it-take-to-adopt-a-child-in-Britain.html Three adoptive parents sharing their story and I thought they were well chosen

Listening to You and Yours now. Really good so far, unusual for radio programs. Talking a lot about post adoption support and problems accessing it!!

It was on daybreak this morning. A woman (who was adopted herself) was advocating a new way of "difficult" children being matched.

What kind of new way?

YourHand, they do usually ask for you to have a spare room (and with good reason, in my view). However, I did get approved while living with a birth child in a two bed flat. This was on condition we adopted a younger child (0-2) of the same sex as my birth child.

Still, we moved before placement and I'm glad we did. I think it would be fraught with problems to move in a newly adopted child into the same bedroom as a birth child.

Yourhand, I think all agencies require a spare room, but my two share a room and have done since the start (DS (then 5) was adamant he wanted to; DD (then 15 months) had always slept in the same room as her foster carers). It works for us, though obviously won't last forever

Lilka - thanks for posting the links

That these children should be invited to a "party" where the prospective parents can meet them. The kids wouldn't know what it was, and apparently it would mean more parents would adopt "tricky" kids.

I think it's a god awful idea, and screams of the old orphanages where parents chose their children

My La does it. the first time I heard of it I really didn't like the idea either but the children don't know what it's for just a meet up and fun activity day. The sw gave us a couple of examples of different positives.
One couple were being matched with a couple he had severe special needs. They met him at an activity day and realised they just couldn't cope with his needs. If the match had gone ahead the child will have been told about his new family, which fell through once they met him. Which would have been very traumatic for him.
Older children have found links through the days as well who may have been rejected purely on age.
I think If it's handled well by the la fc and prospective parents it could be a good thing.
If handled badly it makes you think of a victorian orphanage line up doesn't it
Apparently it has a higher success rate than bmp

One couple were matched with a child ofc predictive type on phone

I guess I hadn't thought of it like that loco . My main worry would be that the children found out what was happening, and the damaging effect that could have.

My children were "found" by us via a parents for children evening, I know loads of people don't agree with them either. X

I suppose it depends on lots of things.
What the percentage is of matches that break down at the introduction stage.
How well the day is managed and what expectations the children are given about the day.
It's definitely not clear cut as right or wrong for me. I think for some children who may be harder to place on paper may benefit from an event like this.
The real worry is ' make sure you play extra nicely so someone decides they want to be your new mummy and daddy'

The children have no idea what the event is about. They just go along with their foster carers. Prospective adopters go along with their children ( if they have any) or perhaps a niece or nephew. They often don't speak to the child they are interested in, they just observe them across the room . Perhaps chat to the foster carers, as afults often do at events. As far as all the children are concerned, it's just a fun day out to the park , soft play, Christmas party etc