Essex's post adoption service is available to any Essex adopters after the adoption order is made, including those who have adopted from overseas. Before this, the social worker who dealt with your application to adopt should be your first point of contact. Some adopters ask for help and reassurance soon after the order is made while others sail through the early years with few problems but suddenly hit a rough patch, perhaps when children reach their teens.

 

The Post Adoption Team can offer a wide range of services including life story work and direct work with your family and/or your children.

 

You can also read their leaflet which gives further information about post adoption support services.

 

This helpful guide on supporting adopted children in school offers advice and guidance to parents and teachers on recognising and addressing attachment issues in school.

Telephone advice and counselling

General advice and information is available during normal office hours via our telephone helpline on 01245 436311. The helpline will be answered by staff from the Post Adoption Team. Sometimes, all you need is a bit of reassurance that you're doing the right thing.

 

 We can visit and work directly with your family to talk about issues relating to adoption. As adoption specialists, we understand the very real and difficult challenges facing adoptive families and we want to work with you to help resolve them. Many - if not all - adoptive parents find their child's behaviour difficult or unexpected at various stages in his or her development and want to talk about this with someone.

 

We can also work with you, your adopted children and their birth families to make sure you can give your children all the information about their birth history they need to help them make sense of their past. This might involve making or updating a life story book with family photos for the child.