Assessment Skills for Fostering and Adoption

This two day workshop aims to provide an opportunity for participants to increase their skills, knowledge, and confidence in undertaking assessments of fostering and adoption applicants.  Practitioners will be supported to further develop their assessment skills, for some, in an area that may be new to them. 

By considering the needs of children who require foster care and adoption as the starting point, participants will explore the skills and personal attributes required of those who care for them.  Participants will try out a range of assessment tools that allow them to dig deeper in assessments and that support the exploration of applicants’ personal stories and the meaning to them as prospective foster carers and adopters. 

The workshop will also consider how socil workers can obtain the evidence required by panels to have confidence that children placed in foster care or for adoption will be safe from harm and supported to achieve their full potential.

This training is being delivered in-person and participants will be guided and supported to explore ideas and tools in a safe environment that aims to develop their confidence in applying them in practice.  There is also the opportunity to network with colleagues.

This workshop is suitable for Social Workers undertaking fostering and adoption assessments regardless of the assessment framework used by the agency with whom they work (Form F, PAR or AAR).

It will be especially beneficial to those who are interested in changing career direction to fostering or adoption work and Independent Social Workers planning to undertake assessments on behalf of fostering or adoption agencies. Managers responsible for quality assuring assessment reports and panel members who wish to develop their understanding of the assessment process should also attend.

• Have the skills and knowledge base required to undertake robust, evidence based, analytical assessments of fostering and adoption applicants
• Have awareness of learning from independent case reviews relevant to fostering and adoption and the critical importance of the assessment process to keeping children safe
• Be familiar with and able to recognise the personal attributes and skills required by foster carers and adopters to therapeutically parent children who have experienced trauma
• Have confidence in using a range of assessment tools to aid information gathering, reflection and analysis
• Be alert to the importance of critically reflecting on and managing their personal and professional values during the assessment process.