After adoption support
Our after adoption support is available for anyone affected by adoption in Sunderland, including children, adoptive parents and families, and birth parents.
After adoption, we continue to support your family for up to three years after the adoption order is made.
Support available includes:
- Adoption Support Advisor - an advisor can provide advice and information to people who may be affected by an adoption or the planned adoption of a child
- Assessment for support - anyone affected by adoption can ask for an assessment to look at what support they need
- Making contact - birth relatives can ask for help in contacting an adopted child, where this is appropriate for the child's needs
- Birth records counselling - available to adopted adults who are looking for information about their birth family, regardless of whether they intent to make contact
- Intermediary service - for people adopted through Sunderland City Council who wish to contact their birthday family
- Confidential advice and counselling
- Advice and guidance
- Support group - for adoptive parents and birth parents
- Buddylinks - an opportunity for adoptive parents to be buddied with each other for support purposes
- Fun events - for adopted children and their families, such as Crafty Kidz and summer events
- Newsletter - for adoptive families
We also offer training, consultancy and advice and information for other professionals.
Letterbox
The letterbox contact scheme is a way to exchange information to keep adopted children up to date with what is happening in their birth family and help them to maintain indirect contact with birth family members. We're on hand to offer advice and support around this.
If there are direct contact arrangements, our After Adoption team will assist in receiving and acting as intermediaries where necessary.
Adoption Support Fund
The Adoption Support Fund (ASF) is available to adopters throughout England. The ASF offers £19m in additional funding to support families.
Who is eligible?
The ASF is available to all children adopted from care and is available to both newly adopted children and those who have not been newly adopted. The funding is available to children adopted from care in England or living in England having moved from care in Wales. Funding is available for children up to 18 years, or up to 25 years with a SEN statement.
If we place a child with you, we are responsible for assessing your adoption support needs for three years after the adoption. After that, it becomes the responsibility of the local authority where you live. We can submit applications for funding before an Adoption Order, so adopters can receive a continuous package of support from the time of placement.
After your assessment, we will consider whether therapeutic support is needed, the type required, and if it is eligible for payments from the fund. Together, we will look at the support that is available and then apply to the fund on your behalf.
After the ASF approves the funding, the funds are transferred to us and we will purchase the support for you.
