3 tier support system

From the minute you start your adoption journey with us you'll have access to a wealth of adoption support.

We'll work with you to develop all the skills and qualities you'll need as you build your family. And it certainly doesn't stop once your child comes to live with you; our post adoption support is there for you as long as you and your family should need it.

Preparatory Training

Our adoption preparation process explores and explains every aspect of adoption. Becoming an adoptive parent demands huge adjustments – to your work life, your leisure activities, holidays and relationships. You will also need to develop parenting skills to help you to look after children.

The preparation and training process will give you the information and advice you need to help you on your way and give you the opportunity to think about ways you can make a positive difference to the lives of the child(ren) you will become parents to.

ATV hold Preparation Groups throughout the year. All applicants need to attend the preparation groups before they can be considered as adopters.

You will learn about:

the process of adoption
the children and the reasons why they need adoptive families - including the effects of abuse
child development
children's behaviour
how children can be helped to understand their own family history

CATCH

All Adoption Tees Valley families or any families who have adopted in our region (this includes voluntary agencies) can contact us to get access to CATCH Adopter Hub for a year, a service provided by PACT.

The Hub was developed as a result of listening to adopters and working with them to provide accessible tools to empower adopters to access the support they need. The trained Adopter Peer Supporters are “experts by experience” and able to provide a listening ear through one-to-one live webchat service. Sometimes hearing from someone who has experienced a similar situation to us is all we need to help guide us through.

The universal suite of support tools includes:

One-to-one live webchat - online peer support
Our specially developed Introduction to Attachment 12 module eLearning course
A programme of webinars with topics selected by adopters
Resources covering a wide range of subjects

Post Adoption Support Services

Adoption Tees Valley have a dedicated Post Adoption Support Team with a wealth of experience.

We understand that while adoption is rewarding, like any other parenting journey, it can also be challenging. Our team offers a range of support services to families throughout their adoption journey and beyond using a tiered approach, which has been designed to offer the right level of support at the time our families need it.

The support we offer ranges from picking up the phone for an informal chat right through to therapeutic support services. We work closely with a range of accredited providers to enable access to therapeutic services. If at any point you need further support access outside of what Adoption Tees Valley offer we will manage your application to the Adoption Support Fund to enable you to do so.

As part of our support services we also have a dedicated Education Support Worker who specifically focuses on supporting adopted children and their families with key transitions, to access education support services and assisting schools in meeting the needs of these children, including pupil premium plus.

Examples of support services are:

Tier 1