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Adoption Support Assessment of Need

Adoption Support Assessment of Need is an 'in person' 2-hour meeting with one of our experienced and therapeutic Adoption Support Social Workers (ASSW).

We start by meeting you as the parent(s) at one of our two offices in the region. In the meeting the social worker will talk with you about your whole family. In preparation of the meeting, you may find it helpful to read the paperwork you received about your child/ren when you were being matched with them.

The outcome of the assessment may include access to:

  • planned social work support
  • planned therapeutic support
  • a combination of both.

Planned social work support may include helping you to:

  • build a therapeutic network
  • build a life story work support
  • source and monitor the use of therapeutic support.

This support will involve a combination of MS Teams meetings, and in person sessions. The support can be weekly, fortnightly, or monthly depending on need. Life story work support will always be done in the family home and in conjunction with the young person and you.

Planned therapeutic support may be provided by an Adoption Partnership
South East Senior Therapist or outsourced to external provider. This support will most likely be through an 50 minute in-person therapy session.

Support must be in scope of the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF), fall within the fair access limit and be time limited.

APSE deliver therapeutic workshops and groups for parents on:

  • non-violent resistance (NVR)
  • therapeutic parenting
  • understanding sensory integration
  • life story work
  • preparing for adolescence
  • support with Staying in Touch arrangements

Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund

The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) provides us with funding to pay for essential therapeutic services for eligible adoptive families.

Eligibility

The fund is available for children who live in England up to and including the age of 21 (or 25 with a statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education health and care (EHC) plan) who:

  • are adopted and were previously in local authority care in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
  • are adopted from overseas
  • are under a child arrangements order (CAO) to enable the assessment of a potential special guardian, while the CAO is in force
  • are subject to a Special Guardianship Order and were previously in care.

Maximum funding allocation for each child

The ASGSF currently has a single fair access limit of:

  • £3,000 per child per year for therapy
  • Specialist assessments up to the level of £2,500 per child will be considered, but only within the overall £3,000 fair access limit.

This will maximise the number of children who are able to benefit from the ASGSF.

We know that the previous reduction in the fair access limit will have an impact on families and will continue to work with parents and providers to support as many families as possible.

Get an assessment

To access the fund, we'll need to assess your family's adoption support needs.

To request an assessment, contact us by:

What happens next

If, through our assessment, we decide that therapeutic services would be beneficial to your family, we will apply for funding on your behalf.

Once we have the funding, we'll be in touch with you about who can offer the support you need and which provider you would prefer.

For more information, check the list of frequently asked questions on the Adoption UK website.