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‘Martin Narey is right, contact can be ‘frightening and destabilising’ for...
The government plans to change the law so that social workers no longer have a duty to promote contact between birth parents and adopted children. Is this a good thing? Sally Donovan gives an adoptive...
View ArticleVideo: Why peers want adoption law to be updated
In case you’re interested, here’s the chair of the House of Lords’ committee on adoption legislation, Baroness Butler-Sloss, explaining why peers have today recommended that adoption law should be...
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Potential adopters need nurture not negativity
Many potential adopters are often put off the idea even before the process begins. Sally Donovan, adoptive mother of two, makes a plea for social workers to be empathetic with those taking the first...
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Social work diary: ‘Dear media, matching children with adopters is NOT like...
Picture credit: Manfred J. Bail /WestEnd61/Rex Features Media sniping about adoption delays ignores the complex realities faced by social workers when finding the right placement for children in care,...
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The Bridge and Broadchurch: Why do fictional villains so often have a back...
As we all mourn the end of ITV’s Broadchurch, Sally Donovan asks whether the back story of one character is just the latest example of a fictional stereotype that casts adopted people as damaged, at...
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New ‘customer care’ standards promise more support for adopters
A new set of adoption ‘customer care standards’ have been developed – to ensure would-be adopters get a first class service when they enquire about adopting a child. Although the standards – endorsed...
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Working in adoption? Why not enter the National Adoption Week Awards
Do you work in adoption? Have you championed and supported an adoption service? Have you taken any photos that sum up adoption? Do you fancy going to a big party in central London? If the answer to...
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Highest number of adoptions since 1992, reveal government figures
The number of children placed for adoption has risen by 15% over the last year, according to the latest government figures. The annual Looked After Children Statistical First Release shows that almost...
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‘It feels like adoption has been singled out as the head teacher’s favourite...
Credit: Rex features/West Coast Surfer/Mood Board Adoptive parent and author Sally Donovan asks how adoption has become such a politically divisive issue, with the ‘social worker-hating right’ now in...
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Book review: ‘An inspirational must-read for everyone involved in adoption’
Adoption social worker Sandra Freeman reviews No Matter What – An Adoptive Family’s Story of Hope, Love and Healing by Sally Donovan Sally Donovan has written No Matter What to share the journey she...
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