CoramBAAF Conversations – Details, episodes & analysis

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.

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!

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!

Dr Karen Kenny joins Vicky Walker and Dr Dennis Golm to discuss Karen's article in Issue 1 of Volume 47 in the Adoption & Fostering journal. It is widely acknowledged that looked after children have consistently lower educational achievements than those young people who are brought up by their birth families. Karen explains the key findings from her research and how we need to support and encourage looked after children with their education. Read more about 'The educational experiences of children in care across five decades: A new perspective on the education of looked after children in the UK'.

Visit corambaaf.org.uk for more information!

Dr Tam Cane is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education and Social Work at the University of Sussex. Tam joins Vicky Walker and Dr Dennis Golm to discuss Tam's article BRAC2eD model: An approach to de-bias decision-making in adoption assessments with prospective adopters from minoritised ethnic groups in Issue 1 of Volume 47 in the Adoption & Fostering journal.

In this episode of the podcast, Tam explains the BRAC2eD model for de-biasing is used to support adoption assessments of individuals and families from minoritised ethnic groups. 

Find out more at corambaaf.org.uk

In the first episode of the Adoption & Fostering podcast, Dr Dennis Golm and Vicky Walker introduce the Volume 47 Issue 1 of our journal. They talk us through Dennis' first editorial, along with the table of contents for the issue.

Our Adoption & Fostering journal podcast is dedicated to sharing the research, findings and developments of academics that focus on adoption, fostering, kinship and the children's social care sector. We have designed this podcast series to explore the articles that we publish in our online journal in a new format, and to make the content readily available and more accessible.

Our presenters, Vicky Walker (Production Editor) and Dr Dennis Golm (Journal editor) regularly meet to give you an overview of each edition of our journal, talking you through the table of contents of the quarterly issues as well as picking key points from our articles. They also meet with authors to interview them about their research, discuss their key findings and any questions that they have following the publication of their articles.

If you would like to take part in our podcast series or would like to write an article for the Adoption & Fostering journal please contact ellyse.partington@corambaaf.org.uk. If you want to listen to our podcast, browse our episodes below.

Find out more at corambaaf.org.uk

Live from this year's Annual Health Conference, Michelle Bell interviewed our poster presenters about the work that they are currently undertaking in the health sector.

These conversations include:

A joint Doctor and Nurse model for initial health assessments for children in care - Dr Michelle Bond, Named Doctor for Children in Care for  Brighton and Hove, and  Sue Donald,  Specialist Nurse for Children in Care for NHS Sussex.

The mental health aspect of adult assessments for prospective carers - Matilda Roberts, a medical student at Cardiff University.

Supporting the completion of health recommendations following IHA through improved patient/carer information - Kathryn Tolson, Named Nurse, and Dr Anne-Marie Chick, Specialty Doctor for Looked After Children in Oxfordshire.

Find out more: https://corambaaf.org.uk/episode-23-hot-topics-and-step-past

Emma and Matt come together to explore Matt’s experiences as a gay man and a foster carer. Matt and his partner began their journey as foster carers in 2019 and had their first placement during lockdown. Matt is often faced with stigma and stereotypes, he works to challenge these stigmas and dismantle traditional gender roles whilst also providing a supportive and loving care for his young people and community.  

They talk about the positives and the fun that comes with celebrate PRIDE month as a family and why it is important to talk about the meaning and significance of being part of something bigger. He mentions how he encourages the children he cares for to authentically be themselves. Emma and Matt also discuss advice for prospective foster carers,  

Matt Taylor-Roberts (he/him) is a passionate advocate and a prominent figure in the realm of supporting LGBT+ parents/carers and their children. As the founder and Managing Director of Proud 2 b Parents.  

Emma Fincham (she/her) Emma started working at CoramBAAF in October 2021. She is a qualified social worker, with over 25 years of experience in children and young people’s services. She most recently led a fostering team in Brighton and Hove City Council for five years.

Find out more on the CoramBAAF website.

We are excited to share the latest addition to our resources aimed at supporting practitioners to work with children and young people and their online life. Developed by Dr. Vicki Walker from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Jane Poore, our Adoption Consultant, these materials will be released over the next 12-18 months. Dive into the latest podcast episode, where they explore the impact of the online world on the mental health of care-experienced children and young people.

Dr. Vicki Walker shares her belief that everyone working in education, the police, social care, and the third sector has a role in setting an example and taking action. Vicki and Jane’s work is creating tools for social workers and children’s social care professionals to start conversations with children and young people about the online world and their mental health. 

Please note that this episode contains discussions about anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide. The views in this episode belong to the participants.

Visit our website for the episode transcript and more information: The impact of the online world on the mental health of care-experienced children | CoramBAAF

Emma Fincham, CoramBAAF’s Fostering Consultant, is joined by Paul Calder and Eva Sprecher to talk about their new children’s book, Where did my dinosaur go?. This is a charming picture book about moving to live somewhere new, and learning to trust new people – ideal for children in foster care, kinship care, private fostering, and many other situations.

Paul Calder has been a foster carer for 11 years, and got involved in the book after being on an eight-week Reflective Fostering programme.

Dr Eva A Sprecher is a researcher at UCL, who works with care experienced young people and foster carers to understand how we can support young people who have lived in care with their mental health, especially through thinking about relationships.

Where did my dinosaur go? is a charming children's book about two meerkats, Mia and Kit, who do not like their new home. They don’t like their new routine, their new bedroom, or new foods for dinner – and most of all, they definitely do not like their new carer, Becky the capybara. But when the meerkats (along with their very special cuddly dinosaur toys) stay with Becky, they discover that a new home can be OK, and sometimes it’s alright to trust new people. 

Jo Francis, CoramBAAF's Publishing Manager, sat down with three members of the authorial team that worked on Where did my dinosaur go? to talk about where the idea came from, their research findings and how that impacted the story that they told.

Amelia Goswell graduated with a degree in geography from Durham University and currently works as a transport planner in London. 

Meryl Westlake is a researcher at University College London (UCL) studying mental health and risk-taking among children living in residential care. She hopes that the book can share understanding from research in a way that helps children and their foster carers have important conversations about trust. 

Dr Eva A Sprecher is a researcher at UCL, who works with care experienced young people and foster carers to understand how we can support young people who have lived in care with their mental health, especially through thinking about relationships. 

Find out more or watch the interview here: https://corambaaf.org.uk/where-did-my-dinosaur-go-author-interview