Adoption & Fostering Service
We recruit, train and approve foster carers and adopters and deliver ongoing support to them. Along with managing the allowance system, this can include providing specialist advice on drugs, teenage pregnancy and education or managing challenging behaviour.
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We also provide counselling to adult adopted children and pathways to reunions.
Adoption & Fostering Services comprise:
- Recruitment, training and approval of foster carers and adopters
- Delivery of a planned, short-term break scheme for children with profound disabilities who usually live with their family in the community
- Delivery of ongoing support to include specialist advice (drugs, teenage pregnancy, education, health) and managing challenging behaviour (CareLink) for foster carers and adopters
- Delivery of foster care allowances and adopters allowances (payments)
- Maintaining appropriate safeguarding and reviewing systems for all approved carers
- Co-location of joint-funded project in partnership with SLAM (CareLink) to provide individual support to foster carers and children experiencing behavioural/emotional difficulties
- Provision of a 24 hour support and back-up carers system to improve placement resilience
- Delivery of a comprehensive post-approval training scheme for Southwark foster carers
- Assessing, supporting and approving Southwark Kinship carers
- Delivery of a strategy to enhance foster carer provision through leisure, recreation, libraries, London Grid for Learning and after-school learning opportunities
- Actively supporting “Speakerbox” and effective participation activities
- Provision of birth records counselling to adult adopted children and pathways to reunions
- Provision of Children in Need Assessments for children once adopted
- Provision of an inter-country adoption service
