Hello, I couldn't see if this has been asked already - so apologies if it has! We are looking to apply to agencies in the future (so not yet in assessment) and we wondered if we'll be expected to do childcare when we already have a birth child? I know parenting birth children and parenting adopted children is different in some ways, being an adoptee with a history of early trauma myself. If we would, is there a preference about where? Our birth child had health issues, so we are used to extra needs, lots of tears and long, sleepless nights. We aren't quite ready yet (settling into new area after house move etc.), but if we would need extra childcare experience, we wondered if it would be a good idea to do childcare experience before applying while we have extra time?
Volunteering with Children (when parent to birth child)
Our understanding is that agencies expect prospective adopters to gain as much experience working with a broad range of children not known to them to spend time and care for children that are not linked to the prospective adopter in any way. Different children have different abilities and needs. The agency will be looking for you to demonstrate this and will likely require a written reference confirming so, which will be used as part of your prospective adopters report (PAR) which is the document your social worker will eventually write once all the information required has been supplied. The PAR is essentially your profile which will need to be taken to the adoption panel for approval to adopt and then used to help social workers match you to a child. Most people look for paid or unpaid work in the education or childcare sectors, doing things such as volunteering in schools, supporting their local scouts or brownies groups, helping out at a local nursery or pre-school. That sort of thing. You could also try www.do-it.org It is never too early to start with childcare experiences. In our opinion the more experiences you can gain for as longer time as possible will be beneficial to you. With regard to your own trauma, any agency will be looking for you to demonstrate that you have put this behind you as children are remarkably good at picking up on things. That said, the right child for you will be out there somewhere! We hope this helps and good luck for the future!
"If you imagine it, you can achieve it. If you dream it you can become it." - Quote by William Arthur Ward
Thank you, Voyager, that makes sense and is really useful to know. Re my own trauma, I know they will, very understandably, and it’s something that I’ll need to demonstrate carefully to them. I’ll have a look round for some local child volunteering options!
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