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Adopt Thames Valley
About this service
Support is available for birth relatives before and after the adoption takes place to talk about and manage the life transition of having a child adopted. Direct support is provided to birth relatives to meet the adoptive parents of their child/children. Support is provided to maintain the contact plan (direct and indirect) and adapt to it as it changes throughout the child’s life. There are support groups that run monthly for birth mothers throughout the Thames Valley region.
This service is available for birth families in
Reading, Swindon, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead, Wokingham, Oxfordshire, Bracknell Forest
Contact details
- https://www.adoptthamesvalley.co.uk/
- Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, Oxford
- atv.permanencesupport@oxfordshire.gov.uk
- 01865 20323121
Who is the service for?
- The child’s birth mother (or pregnant mother)
- The child’s birth father
- The child’s brothers and sisters, including half siblings and step siblings
- The child’s wider family and friends (including grandparents, aunts/uncles)
At what point in the adoption process is support available? When adoption is:
- Being planned (including during court proceedings)
- Has taken place
What support is available?
- General advice and information about adoption
- Counselling or therapeutic support
- Support groups for birth families affected by adoption
- Advice and information about contributing to a child’s life story work or life story book
- Support for contact with an adopted child, including letterbox contact (contact is sometimes described as ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘family time’)
- Support for birth family members to access adoption records and information held by children’s services or another adoption agency
- Information and support about reconnecting with an adult relative who was adopted as a child (some services included in this map may charge a fee for this)
Where is support available?
- In person, at a flexible location, such as your home
- In person, at a specific location
- Online, including virtual meetings or webchat
- Over the phone
How to access the service?
- Contact us directly if you want support (this is also known as self-referral)
How much support is available?
- The amount of support is flexible, based on how much support is needed
Key details about the service
- One-to-one support is available at this service
- Additional support for people with disabilities, including learning difficulties and learning disabilities, is available at this service
- Confidential interpreters or translation services are available at this service
Has the service been independently evaluated, with input from family members who have used the service?
No, not at this point
Our funding means we can currently only help 4 in 10 people
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