Adopt South West expands to Cornwall and Scilly
Cornwall Council and Council of the Isles of Scilly join regional adoption agency that already includes Devon, Plymouth, Torbay and Somerset local authority areas.
Regional adoption agencies (RAAs) aim to improve the recruitment of adoptive parents, help children move to their permanent families as quickly as possible and offer wider support. Adopt South West was established as an RAA in 2018, bringing together teams from neighbouring local authorities into a single agency.
Photo by Greg Willson
As of this week, Adopt South West has expanded to include Cornwall Council and the Isles of Scilly within its remit. Many of Cornwall Council’s adoption team have transferred to the RAA, so that adoptive families in the region will continue to receive report from familiar faces. At the same time, the expanded agency can pool the experience and knowledge of staff across a wider area.
Nicola and Robert have recently become adoptive parents in the area, so have seen the benefits of the transition to the larger RAA. They say: ‘The Cornwall Adoption Team has been fantastic, guiding and supporting us through the adoption process and the training that was afforded to us was amazing in preparing us to adopt.
‘We recently started our adoption journey with Cornwall Council and were matched with a child in the Adopt South West area, this meant that our adoption journey that had we been waiting in Cornwall for a child to adopt was much quicker. Adopt South West has been absolutely brilliant from their seamless communication throughout to the ongoing support we are now receiving.’
Cllr Barbara Ellenbroek, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families at Cornwall Council, adds: ‘Cornwall already has an outstanding track record for adoption so we are delighted to join Adopt South West because we are confident this will lead to improved experiences and outcomes for Cornish children requiring adoption, and for prospective adopters in Cornwall. By pooling the expertise and resource of five local authorities through Adopt South West, adoption procedures can be carried out more quickly and better matches made between children and adoptive families, all at better value for Cornish residents.’
Amanda White, Interim Head of Adopt South West, says: ‘I am absolutely delighted to welcome our new colleagues to Adopt South West and look forward to being able to support children and families in Cornwall in all aspects of adoption. We are keen to assure those within their adoption journey that we are working hard to ensure things carry on as usual for them. The main difference will be that they will now be supported by people who now work for Adopt South West, in some instances by people they may already know.
‘Cornwall adoption services joining Adopt South West will give the opportunity to increase our number of regional prospective adopters and enhance the prospect of finding families for children across our region. The extension of our Regional Agency will see the pooling of experienced and knowledgeable adoption staff who will offer support in adoption for a wider group people.’
For about more about the RAA and adopting in the region, see the Adopt South West website.
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