Blogs Adoption

The well-established Buckinghamshire Adoption Support Team provides lifelong support for all matters related to adoption. We assist adoptive families both within Buckinghamshire and beyond, where the child originates from the county. Our support also extends to adopted adults, birth relatives, and includes a dedicated Staying In Touch Service. As a trauma-informed team, we take pride in continuously evolving our services to meet the changing needs of families and adult adoptees.

We are committed to delivering accessible, targeted, and high-quality support that meets the needs of families. Our family support services are available to both domestic and international adoptions. To ensure inclusivity and effectiveness, we offer a tiered support model designed to meet a wide range of needs.

• Newsletter (quarterly)
• Advice line – 3 days per week
• Rolling training programme – including Staying In Touch, Meeting the needs of a Child of a different Ethnicity, Race & Culture, Therapeutically Parenting Teens training and Education workshops
• Family Social events twice per year
• Linking adoptive parents for peer-to-peer support
• Virtual School Education Support worker – school training, parent consultations, school observations, support re EHCP/tribunal etc
• Access to counselling for parents via Bucks Employee Assistance Programme

• 7 - 12 years adopted children’s group – 4 x per year
• 13 -18 years adopted Teens groups – 4 x per year
• Monthly life story consultations provided by a qualified Therapeutic Life Story Worker
• Short term support via the Support Hub Team – such as therapeutic parenting, emotional regulation for children, protective behaviours support
• Access to a Child & Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHs) consultation

• Specialist therapeutic parenting training including Great Behaviour Breakdown (run once per year, via ASGSF funding)
• SPACE (8 week therapeutic parenting group run twice per year via ASF funding)
• Longer-term intervention via Support Hub i.e. Therapeutic Life Story Work, Protective Behaviours, Emotional regulation, therapeutic parenting
• Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) funded therapeutic support commissioned via external providers – Buckinghamshire are committed to utilising the ASGSF to access the best support for families, to date we have accessed in excess of £4.5 million to support our families
• Joint working with other services to support families i.e. Children’s Social Care, Family Support Service, CAMHs

We offer ongoing support to help maintain meaningful connections between children and their birth relatives. This includes Letterbox Exchanges and direct contact support for adoptees, adopters, and birth family members. Our team assists with reviewing existing Staying in Touch arrangements and supports the assessment and establishment of new or revised plans.

Buckinghamshire also provides training for adoptive parents to help sustain these connections, and we host a monthly Drop-In session for birth family members, offering guidance on letter writing and other Staying in Touch queries.

We offer support and counselling to adopted adults who wish to access their adoption records. For those turning 18 and wishing to continue their Letterbox Exchange, we provide support up to the age of 21.

For adults adopted before 30th December 2005, we offer advice, guidance, and signposting to tracing and intermediary services, as well as adoption-specific therapy.

For those adopted after 30th December 2005 (known as "Post Commencement"), we consider requests for the Disclosure of Protected Information — known as a Section 61 request.

Young adults seeking therapeutic support via the Adoption Support Fund (ASGSF) can access an assessment of need and be supported in accessing the appropriate services.

We offer dedicated post-adoption support for birth relatives, including access to independent counselling when adoption is the plan for your child or relative. This support is delivered in partnership with Parents and Children Together (PACT).

Alongside counselling, we run two monthly support groups:

• Our support group for mothers, now in its 20th year, provides a welcoming space to connect, share experiences, and access services.
• We also offer a Drop-In support service for other birth relatives, creating an informal and social environment where both peer and professional support is available — including help with letter writing.

As mentioned above, birth relatives can also access support with Staying in Touch arrangements through our dedicated Staying In Touch Service.

We welcome contact from anyone touched by adoption, so please do reach out with any queries, whether they feel big or small and we will endeavour to help:

Email [email protected] or call our Adoption Support Advice Line: 01494 586626