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How to Request Support from Supporting Connections
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Supporting Connections Service
The Supporting Connections Service helps adopted children and their families maintain safe, meaningful relationships with birth relatives and other significant people. We provide practical, specialist support to plan and review contact arrangements, whether through letters, calls, or face-to-face meetings. Our team works directly with adopters, birth families, and children to ensure contact is child-centred, emotionally safe, and tailored to individual needs. This includes offering advice, risk assessments, and guidance on social media, as well as helping families build confidence to manage relationships independently over time. We cannot supervise direct arrangements on an ongoing basis.
We believe every adopted child deserves safe, meaningful, and lasting connections with their birth family and significant figures. Our approach is child-centred, and aims to strengthen relationships and uphold the lifelong importance of belonging.
Key Functions of the Supporting Connections Service
Casework Management
- Adoption Support Workers and Advisors manage individual cases under the supervision of an Adoption Support Team Manager.
- Responds flexibly to urgent or complex enquiries, ensuring timely and prioritised support.
Direct Work with Families
- Builds safe, trusting relationships with adopters, birth relatives, and adopted children.
- Provides short-term, intensive support using a trauma-informed and empathetic approach.
- Where needed, refers families for further adoption support assessments or to other specialist services.
Connection Support Tasks
- Reviews, reinstates, or renegotiates Family Time arrangements.
- Offers one-off consultations to families and professionals.
- Provides guidance, risk assessments, and planning for face-to-face contact.
- Advises on safe social media use and the impact of unplanned contact.
- Helps families develop the skills and confidence to manage relationships independently in the long term.
Wider Service Contribution
- Support Groups – We attend groups for adopters and birth parents to provide direct advice and guidance.
- Partnership Working – We collaborate with key agencies to enhance support for families, including:
- PAC-UK – specialist advice and resources for birth relatives and adopters.
- Women’s Centre – support for birth parents and families.
- Practice Development – We actively participate in One Adoption West Yorkshire and Adoption England working groups to share expertise, shape best practice, and contribute to service improvement.
Top Tips for Connections Planning
✅Start with the Child
- Make the plan child-centred, reflecting their emotional well-being, age, and wishes.
- Include the child’s voice - what feels safe and meaningful for them?
✅ Prioritise Safety
- Assess risks for all types of contact (letters, visits, calls).
- Remember there are emotional risks from having no ongoing connections.
✅ Maintain Sibling Bonds
- Treat sibling relationships as lifelong and unique.
- Plan for regular, meaningful contact where safe.
- If siblings are in different families (adopted or foster care), coordinate with all carers and agencies to keep communication consistent.
✅ Define Roles Clearly
- Letterbox: Who supports writing, reviewing, and sending letters for all parties?
- Direct Contact: Who organises, supervises, and supports visits for all parties?
✅ Build Flexibility
- Contact plans should adapt and evolve as the child grows and circumstances change.
- Families can request a review at any time.
✅ Support Everyone
- Offer guidance and emotional support to adopters, birth relatives, and the child.
- Refer birth families to PAC-UK for specialist help.
- If siblings are in different families (adopted or foster care), coordinate with all carers and agencies to keep communication consistent.
✅ Document Clearly
- Record purpose, frequency, method, and safety measures.
- Ensure all parties understand the plan and know where to get help if issues arise.