Official signing ceremony of partnership with Coram – children adoption

Monday seemed to be a day of ceremony and public speaking.

We don’t always know everything so what is important is to understand when help is required and then ask in the experts. Our adoption agency provides a fantastic service but we are always seeking ways to improve the service. This is particularly true when dealing with something as important and complicated as adoption.

Coram provide expertise in the area of adoption, nationwide, which has given them significantly more experience of the adoption process than we have. We want to know how we can work with other agencies to improve the time it takes for an adoption in terms of both our process and the courts. It feels like it take too long at the moment. If we can help to make this process slicker it will help to reduce the time of uncertainty for those involved.

It was lovely to meet the top team of Coram and to sign the agreement on behalf of the council. It also gave me an opportunity to remind Coram and our officers that the success of this partnership will be judged on results not on signed agreements. I have great hopes for this.

Coram, which this year celebrates 40 years as a voluntary adoption agency, has a long-established reputation as a national centre of excellence for adoption and for sharing best practice with other organisations.

The main purpose of the new partnership with Cambridgeshire is to further improve decision-making and minimise delays in the adoption process. The ultimate aim is to give more children and young people in care in the region a secure and stable future with an adoptive family, long term foster carers or legal guardians.

Cambridgeshire has commissioned Coram to provide a manager who will not only be responsible for the county council’s adoption team, but who will also focus on improving practice across the system.

Every child deserves a family – can you help

This news article is on the Cambs County Council website which is worth a read and support.

A campaign continues next week to encourage more people in Cambridgeshire to find a place in their homes for a child needing secure and loving parents.

Adoption Week runs from November 1 – 7 and Cambridgeshire has a number of children who for variety of different reasons are not able to be brought up by their birth families.

For these children the County Council’s Adoption team needs adoptive parents who can help them develop their personality, encourage their talents and provide them with the opportunity to excel in life.

Anyone can apply to become an adoptive parent regardless of sexuality or relationship status, but applicants need to be over 21 years old, honest, healthy and robust enough to take on the parenting of a child.

Adoption is a lifelong commitment and the child would become a part of the family. The parent would become the legal parent of the child after an Adoption Order has been granted.

The County Council also knows that children do better when brought up in families that have a similar cultural background and heritage. They therefore encourage adopters from a diverse variety of backgrounds and cultures.

In Cambridgeshire there are a number of children who have been waiting for adoptive parents longer than others. This includes children who are older, have a disability or some degree of physical or emotional needs.

The local authority also has a number of children that have a strong bond with their brothers and sisters and may need to be placed with them or at least be able to maintain contact with them throughout their lives. Some of the children also have additional needs and uncertainties due to past experiences and poor starts in life.

The Adoption team is therefore looking for families that are willing to offer the best for the Cambridgeshire children – anyone who is patient, flexible and energetic.

Anyone wishing to find out more about adoption should contact the Cambridgeshire County Council Adoption Team on freephone 0800 052 0078 or visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk