Bury adopters offered new family support programme

Bury residents who adopt can benefit from a nationally acclaimed support programme to help them build the best possible relationship with their adopted child.

In the first partnership of its kind in the North West, Bury, Rochdale and Oldham Councils (Pennine Partnership) have joined forces to offer the SafeBase Parenting Programme to their adoptive parents.

Delivered in partnership with the charity After Adoption, the programme is designed to create a strong foundation for loving and lasting relationships within adopted families. Parents are able to access the SafeBase training from the early months of taking a child to many years after completing the adoption.

Nationally, one in five adoptions fails due to relationships within the adoptive family breaking down. SafeBase has a proven track record in other areas of the UK in preventing adoption breakdown and encouraging adoption of more challenging children.

The councils’ investment in the programme is being match-funded by the Timpson Foundation and its chairman, businessman John Timpson, who has fostered more than 90 children and adopted two.

Mark Carriline, executive director of children’s services at Bury Council, said: “Adopted children have often had a very vulnerable start in life and SafeBase has a fantastic record of helping adoptive parents manage the sometimes complex needs of their child.

“We are delighted that adoptive families in Bury will be able to benefit from the highly specialised support offered by SafeBase. We have invested in this programme over a three-year period, which will provide a longer term resource that complements the extensive support we already provide to our adoptive parents.”

Lynn Charlton, chief executive of After Adoption, said: "I am pleased to welcome Bury as part of the 39 partners working with After Adoption to deliver SafeBase. We have seen first-hand how the programme gives adoptive parents the confidence to develop their parenting skills and builds resilience to help them parent children with very complex needs.

“We want SafeBase to be available to all adoptive parents and therefore developing three-way partnerships between the business sector, voluntary agencies and local authorities will have a significant impact on the outcomes for children.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 13 February 2014.

Picture attached: Launching the new support service are (from left) Cllr Pat Sullivan, Rochdale's shadow cabinet member for children, schools and families; Cllr Barbara Brownridge, Oldham's cabinet member for social care and public health; Louise Howarth and Madeleine Baldon from After Adoption; Cllr Surinder Biant, Rochdale's assistant to cabinet member for children, schools and families; and Mark Carriline, executive director of Bury Children's Services.

Notes to Editor:

SafeBase is currently provided by 39 local authorities. The Timpson Foundation has pledged £1m to support After Adoption’s ambition to make the programme available nationwide by 2016.

SafeBase helps to develop parenting skills and techniques and has a particular focus on providing adopters with a greater understanding of attachment theory and its day-to-day implications.

Attachment difficulties are thought to be responsible for the majority of adoption breakdowns. Nationally, one in five adoptions fails.

The three-part programme involves an observation of family interaction, a four-day parenting programme and follow-up support with Parent Support Groups including an online community for parents.

One adopter commented: “SafeBase has proved invaluable. I now have a greater understanding of the issues my children have and am confident in being able to deal with them.”

Comments from other parents include: “I feel all issues and difficulties now have a solution”, “I think this will really make a difference day-to-day with our family” and “I feel as though a light has been switched on”.