Rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted on four consecutive occasions, Lincolnshire offer high quality services for adopters at every stage of their journey.
Rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted on four consecutive occasions, Lincolnshire offer high quality services for adopters at every stage of their journey.
Family Adoption Links Lincolnshire & Rutland is the new name for the adoption service at Lincolnshire County Council. Together with 4 other local authorities they form Family Adoption Links, a regional adoption agency (RAA) designed to deliver excellence and best practice across all areas of adoption.
As one of the larger agencies in our partnership, Lincolnshire offers a breadth of experience and knowledge that has consistently been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.
Often at the forefront of adoptive practices and with innovative approaches to meeting the needs of children who are waiting to be adopted, the Lincolnshire team were awarded First4Adoption’s ‘Excellence in Adoption Practice’ Award for its dedication and consistently high standards.
These approaches were highlighted when Lincolnshire was selected to be featured in the award-winning ‘The Adoption’ podcast (The British Podcast and New York Times Awards). If you haven’t already, why not listen to this incredibly insightful programme here.
Lincolnshire were also one of a selected number of authorities who were awarded ‘Partners in Practice’ status. After meeting the defined criteria for excellent practice, the PiP programme was ‘intended to create a genuine partnership between local and central government by bringing together the best practitioners and leaders in children’s social care to improve the system’. Find out more.
Family Adoption Links hold free, monthly and online Information Events to give you the opportunity to find out everything you need to know about adoption and enjoy a unique opportunity to hear from and ask questions from people who have already adopted.
As a Family Adoption Links Lincolnshire adopter, you will have access to:
Training and development
We offer adopters a range of training courses and e-learning modules tailored towards your needs, including:
To ensure we are meeting the needs of our clients, we actively encourage them to be involved in the development of our services. As part of this, our adopters have the opportunity to be involved in information events by talking about the challenges and rewards of being an adoptive parent. We also invite adopters to our preparation training courses to give potential adopters a unique insight from those people who have adoption experience and finally when recruiting to our team, we ask adopters to sit on the interview panel.
Independent advice
Sometimes you may want to access independent advice, that’s why we are happy to refer you to other adoption support agencies and organisations, including After Adoption, Adoption UK and New Family Social who offer information on a range of issues, including life story work, contact with birth families and attachment.
We also offer access to independent counselling and support services for birth relatives.
Social activities
Creating networking opportunities for our adopted children is incredibly important to us because it gives adopted children a unique opportunity to be with others who have similar experiences and ‘get’ where they are coming from. As part of this, we organise a series of activity days for adopted children of all ages throughout the year. These have previously included pond dipping and shelter building, circus skills workshops, water activities day including kayaking, and music technology workshops.
Post-adoption Assessment of Needs
An Assessment of Needs can be requested at any time to agree what help is most suitable to your needs and how it will be delivered. You can request this by calling 01522 782111.
Guide to Post Adoption Support
Our support continues throughout childhood and until 18, download our Post Adoption Support Guide here.
Isn’t it great to be able to meet up, chat and message others who understand your situation? We agree so we wanted to tell you all about the adopter support groups that are available to you in your area. These groups are full of friendly faces and often organise different social events for you and your child.
Lincoln
Lincoln Adoption Support Group:
Coordinator: Rachel
Email: lincolnasg@gmail.com
Lincoln Adoption Support Group is an active group of adopters who provide each other with support from the start of the adoption training right through to adulthood. They’re a fun group who love meeting up.
Here’s what’s on…
Stay and Play
Stay & Play runs every Wednesday from 9.30 to 12pm in Lincoln. Come along and enjoy a chat, let the kids play and bring a picnic (or there’s a café next door). The area is aimed at smaller ones but we have no age limit so long as all children are playing safely. Many of our older children still need the younger-style play and we are happy to be here for them.
Please contact us for location. This is a private group just for adopters where our children can play safely in a soft play area whilst we talk openly and with confidence that others understand. Children or no children, please feel free to come along and join us. There’s always a few there with no children who just enjoy the support and friendship the group offers.
Evening Support Group
First Friday of every month between 7.30 – 9.30pm. Enjoy drinks and biscuits (or sometimes cake) plus a chance to offload, ask questions or just have a catch up! Adopters and pre-adopters very welcome.
Family Days
We run a variety of family days throughout the year, from a very popular Easter Egg Hunt (this year we had 100 people), to beach days, Hubbard’s Hills and Farm Parks.
Books
We have a large supply of books which are free to borrow, ranging from picture books for little ones to in depth information on most things we face such as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Attachment, Trauma, etc.
For more information and to join the mailing list, click here.
Bourne
we’re looking to establish a support group in Bourne, if you’d like to get involved, please send us an email.
Spalding
We're keen to create opportunities for you and your children to mix with others. Register to find out when our next events take place.
Woodland Adventures
Your child will love this fantastic day filled with woodland adventures. With just 12 spaces on the course, this small group will learn, play and create fantastic memories together. Here’s just a few of the activities your child will enjoy:
Splash Day
If your child is aged between 11 and 16, they’ll love this brilliant water activity day. Led by experienced instructors, they’ll enjoy the chance to try out a selection of equipment including sit on top kayaks, stand up paddle boards and mini inflatables . Once they’ve mastered their crafts, there’s races, relays and games to put their new skills to the test.
Don’t worry if your child can’t swim as long as they are confident around water, they’ll be absolutely fine. They’ll also be provided with a wetsuit, helmet and buoyancy aid to maximise their enjoyment.
"I just wanted to send you an email with some really positive feedback on Laura. From the very beginning of our adoption process with our daughter, Laura has been amazing. She’s been so approachable, supportive and easy to talk to. She’s is so knowledgeable and always at the end of the phone to chat or answer any questions we have. We’ve dealt with various social workers over the past 5 years or so and she is by far the best one. She is truly a credit to your team. We will miss her now that our journey to getting our adoption order is complete. It’s a tough process to go through and having people like Laura involved has made it that little bit easier."
R and W, Lincoln
As an Adoption Service in England, we are required to produce a written Statement of Purpose each year which sets out details of our services and how we will meet our commitment to providing high-quality care and support for our children, young people, and adopters.
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