Adopt London West Support

Adopt London West Support

Here at Adopt London West there are many ways we help our families. When a referral has been made, we will assess your needs and recommend the best services for you, or we may suggest that you make an application to the Adoption and Special Guardian Fund.

Adopt London West’s support offer may include:

• An assessment of your family’s support needs that will be via a consultation with an ALW professional;
• Independent therapeutic support run by the charity PAC-UK which provides confidential advice and counselling;
• Six half-termly evening education support seminars facilitated by an educational psychologist;
• A 6-week ‘Foundations for Attachment’ virtual therapeutic parenting training to develop your understanding of how trauma affects children;
• We encourage you to join We Are Family a peer-led adoption support organisation that provides webinars, additional peer support, informal support and guidance, as well as fun social events;
• Support with maintaining relationships with birth family members and other significant people to your child via our Keeping in Touch team;
• Ensuring you are part of our mailing list for the benefit of regular mailouts, sharing details of events and other relevant information;
• Activities for children and young people and signposting to opportunities; and
• Information about the Black Adoption Project, including events for children/young people and adopters.

Adopters who are approved by ALW will continue to receive regular support from their linking social worker following the placement of a child, as well as support from the child’s allocated social worker, which will continue until the making of an adoption order.

The local authority that placed the child with you will continue to be responsible for assessing your adoption support needs for three years after the adoption order has been granted.  Adopt London West will do this on behalf of children placed by Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow, Ealing or Brent.  Three years after the granting of the adoption order, the adoption support responsibility will transfer to the local authority where you live (if different).  If you continue to reside in Hammersmith & Fulham, Hounslow, Ealing or Brent, the responsible support agency will continue to be Adopt London West.

The Regional Adoption Agency for your child’s placing local authority is always the responsible authority for the facilitation of the keeping in touch arrangements up until your child is 18 years of age.

We have a dedicated support team who can provide you with advice and support. Please email [email protected] or call 0208 825 5241.

Special Guardians

Kinship https://www.kinship.org.uk/free-support/ is the national kinship care charity, who strive to ensure  that all kinship carers and the children they raise are recognized, valued and supported.  Their advice line 0300 123 7015 is open Monday – Friday, 9.30m – 2pm.

Kinship can help with:

• Expert advice and support around benefits, financial issues, education, family relationships;
• Training events and workshops;
• Peer support groups; and/or
• Telephone peer support with another kinship carer.

Please contact us at ALW Tel. 0208 8255241 or email  [email protected] to discuss a referral to Kinship.