Adoption, post adoption and fostering helplines
TACT (Formerly The Adolescent and Children’s Trust)
Tel: 0330 123 2250
(See website for details of local fostering contact numbers)
TACT is the UK’s largest charity and voluntary agency providing fostering and adoption services. Our core work involves providing high quality and well supported fostering or adoptive families for children and young people in the care of local authorities. Working in partnership with local authorities from our offices across England, Wales and Scotland, we are dedicated to providing creative, effective and outcome-focused services. We also campaign on behalf of children and young people in care, carers and adoptive families. “Children and young people are at the heart of everything we do. Our job is to help overcome the prejudice that looked after children suffer and often help heal the damage done that led to them coming into care in the first place. Our foster carers, adopters and staff work together to ensure children’s needs are met.
Coram BAAF
See website for regional numbers
CoramBAAF Adoption & Fostering Academy is the leading membership organisation dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people in care by supporting the agencies and professionals who work with them. CoramBAAF focuses on supporting and developing all areas of permanency in the UK - adoption, fostering, kinship care as well as returning children to their parents - and the legal orders that frame these. We provide and develop the infra-structure of family placement services such as forms and practice guidance, disseminate research, share best practice and offer publications, training and support to agencies and professionals to develop their skills and knowledge. This includes social workers, those working in health, the law and other related areas of activity. CoramBAAF also offers a range of resources for those caring for children.
Barnado’s
See website for regional numbers
Barnardo's is a charity which works to help vulnerable children and young people to transform their lives and fulfil their potential. Barnardo’s is a voluntary adoption agency. We help local authorities place children who might otherwise not find permanent families. The children we place will come from local authority care and we place children across England and Wales. We believe that every child has a right to family life.
NCH Action for Children
Call 0845 355 5533 to speak to one of our adoption advisors, or to request an information pack.
We believe that children need families who can help them grow up feeling good about themselves, with knowledge of their own culture, language and religion. Our projects connect adoptive families from all cultural backgrounds, reflecting the children looking for a new family. We also have specialist projects that focus on finding families for children from black and minority ethnic backgrounds. We can provide information, support and intermediary services if you are an adopted adult or the birth relative of an adopted adult whose adoption was arranged through Action for Children (previously National Children's Home or NCH). The Adoption and Children Act 2002 allows adopted people and adult members of an adopted person's birth family to ask for identifying information once the adopted person reaches the age of 18. However, the Act does not give anyone the automatic right to have this information without the consent of the people involved.
Fosterline
Helpline: 0800 040 7675
Fosterline is funded by the Department for Education and delivered by FosterTalk. Fosterline provides confidential, impartial, advice information and signposting on the broad range of issues of concern to foster carers and those interested in fostering, in order to support them in their role, aid retention and encourage recruitment of foster carers. Fosterline advisors respond to enquiries by telephone, email and on the Fosterline Interactive Forum, on Monday to Friday between 9 am to 5 pm and every second Wednesday of the month.
First4Adoption
Contact: 0300 222 0022
First4Adoption is the dedicated information service for people interested in adopting a child in England. We give clear and impartial information about adopting and can put you in touch with adoption agencies in your area.
Gov UK – Foster Carers
Government fostering information, including links to local councils and fostering Agencies.
Trans-national and Trans-racial Adoption Group
TTAG aims to provide opportunities for adoptees adopted into families whose racial and cultural heritage is different from theirs to meet each other. By developing relationships and friendships through sharing experiences and ideas, we as individuals and our organisation will become even stronger. To promote the needs of trans-nationally and trans-racially adopted adults and children on a local and national level.
Inter-country Adoption Centre
Advice Line: 0208 447 4753
The Inter-country Adoption Centre is a registered charity and voluntary adoption agency, and the only specialist centre for inter-country adoption in the UK. We offer a variety of services to inter-country adoptees, to prospective and established adopters, to birth families and to professionals. Our site details the services and we hope that you find it helpful and informative.
Gov UK – The Adoption Contact Register
The Adoption Contact Register puts adopted people and their birth relatives in touch with each other, if that is what they both wish. You can only find the whereabouts of an adopted person or birth relative if they have chosen to be entered on the Contact Register. Applicants can also record a wish for specific or no contact with a named individual. This resource will take you through the process.
Birthlink Scotland
Tel: 0131 225 6441
The Adoption Contact Register for Scotland is a confidential computerised database. The purpose of the Register is to put adopted people and their birth parents. Birthlink now provides an After Adoption Information Line for anyone with questions about after adoption issues. Service users include adopted adults, birth parents of people adopted as children and their family members, adoptive family members, local authority social workers, voluntary adoption agencies and other professionals. Our Care Connect service helps adults who were formerly ‘in care’; either growing up in the residential care of a local authority or in a foster family to access information from records. Many of this group have the same issues as adopted adults such as lack of information about their birth parents and family which impacts on their sense of identity.
Adoption UK
Helpline: 07904 793 974 and 07539 733079
Provides independent support, information and advice on good practice to all concerned with adoption. Run by and for adoptive parents. Membership includes BME Parents, Lesbian and gay adopters and families with disabilities.
New Family Social
Helpline: 0843 289 9457
New Family Social promotes the care and upbringing of children by LGBT adopters and foster carers by allowing these families to socialise and share support in a safe environment. It helps to create a wide pool of adopters and foster carers by raising awareness and encouraging and supporting prospective adopters and carers, and by promoting their utilisation and fair treatment. It also works to advance public awareness and acceptance of these families in the interest of the growing number of children being cared for by them.
Stonewall
Info Line: 08000 50 20 20
Stonewall works to achieve equality and justice for lesbians, gay men and bisexual people. We do this in a number of different ways: by Carrying out research, developing ideas and policy that remove discrimination and improve the lives of lesbians, gay men and bisexual people. By Challenging the underlying cultural and attitudinal values that allow discrimination to flourish. Changing cultures and attitudes to positively value diversity and providing information because well-informed individuals and institutions are better able to recognise how rights and responsibilities should be exercised.
Natural Parents Network - Facebook
Natural Parents Network is a self help organisation, which offers non-judgmental, confidential and independent support to people who share similar experiences.