To our members...
As we look back on the past year, we want to extend our gratitude to all of our members and partners for your unwavering commitment to making a positive difference to the lives of children, young people, and families. While this document reflects on CoramBAAF’s achievements in 2024, it is you who truly shape and guide our work As dedicated professionals in adoption, fostering, and kinship care, your input, guidance and expertise influence everything that we do. Thank you for your continued engagement and support.
Throughout the year a key focus for our work has been on reviewing, revising and piloting new versions of many of our forms. We know how important our forms are for adoption, fostering and kinship care practice and therefore updating them is a rigorous process Working with many of our members and partners we have taken into account feedback, research, lived experience, learning from safeguarding reviews and practice knowledge, and ensured that all forms are legally compliant Releases of new forms will take place during 2025, accompanied by briefings, training and guidance.
We have also focused on supporting the vital work undertaken by Agency Decision Makers, writing and producing a range of new resources and launching a regular drop-in session for professionals to come together to explore and reflect on cases, practices, and procedures
This year we became the host organisation for the Racial Justice Family Network, which brings together social work and legal professionals, judges, academics, and people with lived experience to promote antiracist practice in family justice. A well-attended event in November marked its official launch and highlighted its aim to promote anti-racist and anti-discriminatory initiatives and practices throughout the family justice system, to address systemic discrimination, racism and inequities.
Our growing conference programme also brought together members from across the country to explore, reflect on and debate some of the most pressing issues and challenges across the sector. In November we were delighted to host our first Kinship Care conference Through presentations, discussions and workshops, over 100 delegates explored the challenges and opportunities of the current reform agenda and heard the thoughts and priorities of the newly appointed Kinship Ambassador Jahnine Davis.
We have an exciting programme of projects and activities set out for the year ahead and we look forward to continuing to work with you and for you in 2025
Yours sincerely,
James Bury
James Bury, Head of Policy, Research and Development
Michelle Bell
Michelle Bell, Head of Member Services and Engagement
Joint Interim Managing Directors
Policy, research and development
Form pilots
We know how important our forms are for practice and therefore updating them is a rigorous process
We recognise the potential impact these assessments and documents can have on those being assessed, those who come back to read their own records at a later date and decisions that are made.
We want our forms to be as good as they can be, and we want them to be versatile enough to be used across different local authorities and agencies.
To do this we take into account feedback, research, lived experience, learning from safeguarding reviews and practice knowledge, and ensure they are all legally compliant.
We pilot many of our forms to test them in practice before launching new updates We are grateful to all those who contributed to and piloted our forms in 2024.
Throughout 2025 we will be publishing new versions of the Kinship Care Assessment form (Form K, which was Form C), the Adoption Support Plan (alongside an updated version of the Adoption Progress Report), the Child’s Permanence Report, the Prospective Foster Carer Report, and the Child Health Suite of forms.
Updates to our special interest groups
Adoption Agency Decision Makers
In 2024, we launched drop-in sessions specifically for Adoption Agency Decision Makers. These sessions offer a space to discuss, share, and reflect on cases, practices, and procedures with peers
While not a traditional practice forum, these are more like ' surgery sessions' run by our Adoption and Legal Consultants, Jane Poore and Alexandra Conroy-Harris.
Occasionally we will have visiting guests such as our Health Consultant, Ellie Johnson, or the Service Manager of the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) These sessions take place every third Thursday of alternate months (six times a year)
Health Special Interest Group
The CoramBAAF Health Group provides our members with a forum to improve standards of practice for health professionals working in adoption, fostering, kinship and child care practice. Members can:
Receive our quarterly newsletter with news, updates, recommended training, and more information relevant to health practitioners
Join our free Health Practice Conversation sessions
Access our briefing notes, position statements, reports, publications and research.
Apply to join the Health Advisory Committee when we have vacancies.
Read the minutes from the quarterly Health Advisory Committee meetings
CoramBAAF was commissioned by Adoption England to produce a series of training resources to support Agency Decision Makers in their decision-making and processes. Written and produced by CoramBAAF, these resources include written materials and several films featuring detailed case law examples: Agency Decision Maker resources
The Child’s Permanence Report (CPR) for Agency
Decision Makers (PDF)
Adoption Agency Decision-Making (England) (PDF)
Part 19 - Informing family members (PDF)
The Child Permanence Report (video)
The legal framework (video)
The essentials (video)
The role of children with siblings (video)
Sibling discussion - law and practice (video)
Re B and Re B-S (video)
Part 19s and Re A, B & C (video)
Racial Justice Family Network
The Racial Justice Family Network (RJFN) is a collaborative network which brings together social work and legal professionals, judges, academics, and people with lived experience to promote anti-racist practice in family justice. Originally hosted by Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, the RJFN is now hosted by CoramBAAF.
An event on 20 November in London, marked the official launch of RJFN The programme of speakers featured The Honourable Mr Justice Keehan and Jahnine Davis, the newly appointed National Kinship Care Ambassador. As well as a panel comprising a family law barrister, a Designated Family Judge, a strategic anti-racist lead, and social work managers within local authorities
Private Fostering Awareness Day
Private Fostering Awareness Day is dedicated to raising awareness about private fostering The objective is to inform the public about what private fostering entails and its significance.
To support a better understanding of this often hidden group of children, we hosted our second Private Fostering Awareness Day
Without data on the number or characteristics - such as age, gender, ethnicity, languages spoken, or duration of arrangement - it is difficult for policymakers to effectively consider the needs of the children who are privately fostered To address this, our Kinship Consultants and Information Team hosted a survey to collect this crucial data and published the findings in a report.
The day included a free introductory webinar, while for those more versed in the area we hosted a members-only session that explored the needs of children in private fostering arrangements Additionally, we shared social media templates, posters and fact cards to help social work professionals raise awareness in their area.
Register your interest for Private Fostering Awareness Day 2025 by sharing your email with us here!
project
As part of the Fosterlink project - a Department for Education funded initiative delivered by Mott Macdonald, in partnership with Coram and CoramBAAF, to improve foster care recruitment practice - we ran a series of regional workshops for local authorities sharing learning from diagnostic visits in over 30 local authorities. These workshops were opportunities to find out more about the project, explore key themes, lessons learnt and examine potential solutions and improvements
Members’ Week
Our annual Members’ Week took place between 23 – 27 September The focus of the week was “Listening to the child ” and each day we explored a different theme relating to the diverse experiences and challenges faced by children and young people in adoption, foster care and kinship care. Hundreds of members joined us to investigate, analyse and discuss identity, staying in touch, working with schools, physical and mental health, and direct work
Across the week we delivered an exciting mix of live events, blogs, podcast episodes, journal articles, pre-recorded bitesize workshops and more. The podcast episodes, recorded interviews and bite-size workshops are all available to members on the CoramBAAF website.
Fosterlink
Augusta Itua, CoramBAAF Legal Consultant and Chair of RJDN, speaking at RJFN official launch event in November 2024.
Emma Fincham (left) joined by Janet Daby MP (right) -Minister for Children and Families at the Department for Education - speaking at Fosterlink regional workshop
Advice and information
Our Member Advice Line was busier than ever in 2024. We responded to over 3,700 enquiries.
Member Advice Line enquiry type 2024
“Thank you very much for your very helpful and comprehensive advice in response to my query.
This is greatly appreciated and is being used to inform our local authority’s planning.”
Advice Line caller
Outbound Permanence Service
Information service
Our Information service produces the CoramBAAF Digest, our comprehensive monthly bulletin covering news on policy, legislation, research and parliamentary affairs UK-wide, delivered directly to your inbox
All CoramBAAF members, whether individual members or those working for a member agency, receive the CoramBAAF Digest
We provide access to the past 12 months of the Digest which can be accessed here.
“Thank you so much for your comprehensive and very helpful response.
You provide an amazing resource and we really do appreciate your expertise and knowledge.”
Advice Line caller
In 2024, our Outbound Permanence Service began offering specialist advice on placing children overseas for free to our local authority members. We launched the service with an introductory webinar to offer new users information about what is available and how to access it.
Placing children with relatives overseas: Initial considerations before assessing a potential kinship carer
This Practice Note emphasises the initial aspects to consider before seeking to assess a potential kinship carer who lives overseas. It is not intended to cover all aspects of the topic, but to help establish basic eligibility. It also highlights obstacles and legal complexity that may cause difficulty and delay, and in some cases may lead to a local authority recognising – sooner than might have been the case – that the proposed kinship arrangement will be impossible to achieve
Available free as a PDF version for all CoramBAAF members. Click here to find out more about becoming a member.
“Thank you very much for this comprehensive and extremely helpful reply to my enquiry and for the guidance documents, all of which have been referred to the social work team for their consideration as we plan the way forward in this case.”
Outbound Permanence Service caller
Publications
We are one of the leading UK publishers of books and guides for social workers, health and legal professionals, adopters, foster carers, kinship carers, and children Our books help practitioners and parents/carers to make informed decisions, gain valuable insights, and receive expert advice and information.
New titles in 2024
New books explored assessing children for adoption support; preventing sexual abuse of children in care; exploring and assessing motivations to adopt; and organising innovative family network meetings New titles include:
Assessing children and families for adoption support in England
Where did my dinosaur go? - We published a beautifully illustrated new children’s book that explores moving, and learning to trust new carers.
Exploring and assessing motivations to adopt
Family network meetings in adoption
Practice Note: Matching children from England with adopters approved in Scotland
New editions
We revised several of our bestselling guides, including ‘Adoption by foster carers ’ , ‘The adopter’s handbook’, and the children’s guide ‘Kinship care and special guardianship’ Adoption by foster carers
The adopter's handbook
Kinship care and special guardianship: what it is and what it means
Adoption now
‘Adoption & Fostering’ journal
Our quarterly peer-reviewed journal has an international reputation as a leading source of research, knowledge and information. Our Impact Factor increased this year, showing the journal’s continued relevance to academics and researchers in the field We continued to attract a range of global submissions Standout articles explored:
care leavers’ experiences of accessing mental health support; the fostering of refugees in Uganda; recognising and addressing child to parent violence; the benefits and challenges of social media for single adopters; the significance of pets to care-experienced young people
Members, log in to your CoramBAAF website account, then click the journal cover image to access SAGE and read the Adoption & Fostering journal for free.
Starter packs for social workers
Our starter packs highlight key titles every worker needs, providing authoritative guidance for both new practitioners and those wanting to ensure their practice is up to date
Our podcast series delves into key topics on adoption, fostering, and kinship care, featuring insightful interviews with authors and journal article researchers.
Adoption starter pack
Fostering starter pack
Fostering bumper pack
Training and events
We are a leading provider of specialist training for social workers, practitioners, and all professionals associated with children's social care We reach more than 4,500 professionals through our annual programme of training, including open courses, conferences and webinars as well as commissioned training.
New courses
Viability and support plans: Placing children in UK care proceedings with overseas kinship carers
Placing children living in the UK overseas on a Special Guardianship Order: legal and practice considerations
Convention adoption: placing children in UK care proceedings with overseas kinship carers
Access to children’s social care records
Making plans for Staying in Touch
An introduction to private fostering
Private fostering
Making good use of ASGSF to support kinship families
Getting started in...
We are committed to equipping practitioners with the knowledge, best practices, and resources needed to improve the lives of children, young people and families in adoption, fostering and kinship care
In 2024, we launched a new, free webinar series: ‘Getting started in...’ . These introductory sessions covered key practice areas, including adoption, fostering, kinship care, health, legal frameworks, and permanence.
Designed for students, newly and recently qualified social workers, those returning to the profession, or anyone looking to deepen their understanding of a specific area, the series aimed to make vital knowledge more accessible to all social workers whether members or not.
The overwhelmingly positive response has led us to bring the series back in 2025! By keeping these sessions free and open to everyone, we continue to encourage inclusive learning and professional development in these crucial fields
Members, log
Learning from Research recordings
Attachment theory - new developments and perspectives
The adultification of Black girls in state care
Responses to, and experiences of, extra-familial harm and risk
Working with Muslim heritage children in care
The mental health of children in state care in England
Post adoption depression
In their own words - Care experienced young people
on local and national policy
Exploring Expertise recordings
National Kinship Strategy: Implications for local authorites
Youth Justice and care experience
LGBTQ+ young people and their social care needs
Pause: Trauma informed support for birth parents
International child protection with Children and Families Across Borders
Conferences
Post-adoption support conference: Contemporary insights into adoption support
March 2024
This conference was an opportunity for all professionals working within adoption to share practice, listen to contemporary research, and discuss the pathways toward a better future for all adopted children and their families.
We had a great line-up of leaders from across the adoption sector who delivered their insights on current support services and their vision of better outcomes for all adopted children and their families. The afternoon also included interactive sessions and networking opportunities.
Inaugural
kinship conference: Learning from policy and practice
October 2024
As ongoing reforms place greater emphasis on kinship care, we invited attendees to join us for a day of learning from researchers, senior leaders, carers, and professionals in the children and families sector
The day delivered a supportive and collaborative experience designed to empower social work practitioners. Attendees left with knowledge, practical tools, and new connections to enhance their work with children in kinship care and their families
CoramBAAF Annual Health Conference: 2024 hot topics and a step into the past
June 2024
The Annual Health Conference was an opportunity for health professionals working with children and young people in care to come together to discuss current issues and share practice
Attendees participated in an engaging event designed to inform and connect health professionals from across the country They had the opportunity to get up to date on critical topics, gain valuable insight, share their perspective, and be a part of the conversation.
The conference was held at the Coram Campus, whilst the workshops, afternoon speeches and networking took place at the historic Foundling Museum Our next Annual Health Conference will be taking place on 30 June 2025, find out more by visiting the CoramBAAF website
Did you know that you’re probably already a member?
Take advantage of your organisation's membership by creating a personal website account.
This will give you access to a range of membership benefits, including webinar recordings, our journal, our practice forums and much more.
Find out more by visiting the CoramBAAF website!