Stage one adoption training

Adoption support starts at the very beginning of the adoption process. The needs of the children awaiting adoptive families are at the heart of everything we do, including our training. 

All first-time prospective adopters are expected to attend preparation groups to help you consider how adopting a child will change your family. The preparation training will help you to identify how your existing skills and experience will help you throughout your adoption journey. It will also help you to identify skills to develop and give you the opportunity to meet other people  who are at a similar stage of the adoption process as  yourself.

"The training was really helpful and insightful.  It has helped me to know that this is a route we would like to follow."

Training aims

During the eLearning and virtual training sessions you will learn about:

• The backgrounds of children who need adoptive families
• The impact of early life experiences
• Child development
• An introduction to the P.A.C.E (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, empathy) parenting model and how this can help children recover and repair from past trauma
• How to assist children to make sense of their pre-adoption journey
• The adoption process

Training delivery

Birmingham Children’s Trust currently provides adoption preparation training on a monthly basis. Due to coronavirus restrictions the training is currently delivered through a mix of eLearning and virtual training sessions. You will attend three virtual training sessions over a two-week period.

Each three-hour virtual session is co-delivered by an adoption social worker and an experienced adoptive parent. This combination means you will receive realistic and relevant insight into the reality of parenting through adoption.

In addition to the virtual training sessions you will be directed to relevant eLearning sites where you will undertake independent learning in between the three virtual sessions. The eLearning is designed to be interactive and includes podcasts and videos. During the eLearning you will hear from adoptive parents, adoption practitioners and experts in the field of child development.

"The  training was so good at giving us a really clear outline and introduction of what it would mean to become an adoptive parent, the skills we would need and the needs of the children and is a great foundation to our continued learning."