HackneyKIDS - Fostering

Adoption Support Services.

What is the London Borough of Hackney Adoption Support Service?

The London Borough of Hackney Adoption Support Service provides help to all those that may be affected by adoption.

	Help with searching for birth relatives (The Hackney contact register)
	Contacts to other organizations specialising in adoption issues
	Access to therapeutic help for adoptive families
	'Letter Box' contact
	Post Adoption Contracts to ensure that adopters get all the help they need after legal adoption
	Support and advice when adoptions are in difficulty
	Birth family contact
	Identity issues

For Adult Adopters We Offer:

	Hackney's Adoption Support Service provides support for you and your child through all the stages of the adoption process
	Support with 'Letter Box Contact': Letter box contact is an exchange of letters between adopters and birth families
	Direct contact with family members: A post adoption worker can organise the venue, supervise the contact as well as provide support for any issues that may arise
	Workshops and training opportunities, and a support group for adopters
	Helping you to communicate with adopted children about their past
	Help and guidance with challenging behaviour
	Access to specialist therapeutic services
	Assessment of your needs after adoption: therapeutic, educational, health or finance

For Adopted People We Offer:

	Helping you to decide whether to look for your birth family
	Advice on agencies that can help you in your search
	An Intermediary Service: Communicating on your behalf to try and locate your birth family
	Counselling on issues of identity for children and adults and access to specialist therapeutic agencies if you require it
	Access to The London Borough of Hackney's Contact Register: This is a register of Hackney's birth parents and/oradoptees who want to be in touch with each other.
	Access to your adoption records once you are 18 years old.
	Access to specialist therapeutic services
	Assessment of your needs after adoption: therapeutic, educational, health or finance

For Relatives of Adopted People We Offer:

	Access to The London Borough of Hackney's Contact Register: This is a register of Hackney's birth relations and/or adoptees who want to be in touch with each other
	An Intermediary Service for birth families to try and make contact with an adopted person
	Advice and access to other agencies that provide contact registers
	Counselling and advice on adoption law and the position of birth relatives
	Access to other agencies concerned with adoption issues - Post Adoption Centre, Talk Adoption, Norcap
	If you are already participating in 'Letter Box Contact' (see first section) we can help and advise you with writing letters for the adopted child