The Adoption and Fostering Podcast

We did 10 years and are still talking, in lots of senses.

In this episode we start with an attempt at role play as we unpack Adoption Week's two problems, a crisis in recruitment and a crisis in support. Scott wasn't too keen on that but we look at where we came from and how we got here. 

We also look to the future of the podcast and are keen to hear what listeners think so click the link and let us know!

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

This is a slightly different episode  I speak to Professor of Social Work Adam McCormick from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. 

We chat about Social work, social workers, aspects of the foster care system and the nature of the system in the state. We also consider the motivations of social workers to join the profession and see how their life experiences impact on them and their work. We also chat about the challenges faced by LGBTQ young people in foster care and the systemic hostility the...

We asked Michelle back on to give us a 'state of the nation' report on Kinship care. The Government are developing and moving policy in this area and it's seen changes and promises of change but how is it really for kinship carers and what are the ongoing challenges. 

Michelle did come on the podcast in 2022 (Al was wrong) and we reflect on some of the changes since then and more besides. 

As always, if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on t...

This month we explore A.I. : the benefits, the pitfalls, and its role in social work assessments and recordings. Children who have experienced trauma heal through safe, attuned relationships, and no tool can replace human connection.

We also talk about learning alongside our children in a fast-changing digital world, building the trust and openness that help keep them safe.

As always you can connect with us through the following -

Website- www.bettermebetterus.co.uk

Instagram- @BMBUltd

Facebook – Better Me Better Us

Email – [email protected]

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I speak to Adoptive parent and foster carer Della, she is Canadian and in this episode she shares her experience of adoption and more specifically of challenges she faced following an allegation as she tried to adopt a child she was fostering. Della fought her battle through the legal system and she tells that story here. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get...

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast, in this episode we speak to Paul Sambrooks a retired CAFCASS social worker and the author. Paul shares his passion for communicating and supporting adopted, fostered and kinship children to understand their own stories. He has written several Dennis Duckling books and we talk through them all including his latest instalment Dennis, Harriett and Flynn live in different families

You can find all the books here. 

We also talk with Paul about his work with CAFCAS and discuss the challenges of helping children understand their stories. 

...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I speak to Lee Tempest, she works for VisAble based in New Zealand and works to support parents and families living with violence from their children. Lee is a parent through adoption and in this episode we unpack her research on the impact on parents of living with violence in the home. 

You can access the report here and view the other materials and reports that Lee has created here. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guard...

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast, we recorded this on the 9th September, FASD awareness day. 

We speak to Susie Richardson, who is research FASD in the prison population. Susie has a broad range of experience and from running prisons and working with care leavers she has seen the need for a better understanding of the impact and prevalence of FASD in those communities. She shares her journey to this research and what inspires her passion. 

You can find out more about Susie here

As always if you’ve experience of adop...

Hello, this month we're talking about advocacy - what it means, how our sense of safety shapes our ability to speak up, and the ripple effect that comes from using our voice. This episode looks at that through the lens of back to school: advocating for yourself and your child, finding the bravery to do it, and the often-messy question of how a child's history actually reaches a new school or teacher. As always you can connect with us through the following -

Website- www.bettermebetterus.co.uk

Instagram- BMBUltd

Facebook – Better Me Better Us

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.

In this episode I speak to Bethan Pell a PhD Student in Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences. Her Phd is focused on developing a theoretical understanding of Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence  (CAPVA) in the context of Wales. 

I really enjoyed this conversation and saw the potential for the use of her model to help practitioners and parents who are living with Child to parent violence understand it and address it. 

You can read Bethan's research here and can contact Bethan here.

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.

In this episode I speak to Bethan Pell a PhD Student in Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences. Her Phd is focused on developing a theoretical understanding of Child and Adolescent to Parent Violence and Abuse (CAPVA) in the context of Wales. 

I really enjoyed this conversation and saw the potential for the use of her model to help practitioners and parents who are living with Child to parent violence understand it and address it. 

You can read Bethan's research here and can contact Bet...

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of  the AandF podcast. 

In this episode we rage across a couple of matters that impact on many families, power dynamics with social workers. After a Tramadol start and Scott's good news we get distracted by the complicated relationship prospective adopters and foster carers can have with their social workers. The power dynamics are often set against applicants and what questions are appropriate and what are not. How do we push back and can we question the questions, it's not simple. 

If you want to read the research men...

Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast

In this episode I speak author Fran Hill, we spoke in 2023 about her first novel ‘Cuckoo in the Nest’ and in this interview we chat about her follow up novel ‘Home Bird’. 

Fran shares her experience of being in foster care and how it influenced the characters in these books and the experiences that they face. 

You can find out more about Fran and her work here

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective...

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast

In this episode I speak to Psychotherapist, NVR practitioner and Adoptive parent Simone Harch. Simone shares a little of her journey but the focus of this conversation is about mental health and the impact on adoptive parents of caring for children with complex needs. It is a really pertinent conversation and highlights the need for support for adopters and help for them to stay well. 

Simone is starting a pilot project for Adoption East Midlands and you can contact them directly or Simone here 

As al...

Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast. 

In this episode we unpack how caring for and parenting children with complex, challenging and aggressive behaviour can impact on relationships between parents and carers. 

It's a thorny issue, the impact of high levels of need and stress in the home with differences in motivation and approaches to the behaviour can take its toll and we share some of our experiences and look at the lack of data and draw on out professional experience. 

You can read the article referred to here. 

As always, if y...

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Better Me Better You Podcast.

How old is old enough to be left unsupervised? As families navigate the summer holidays, we unpack the guidance around children's independence and explore the bigger questions beneath it. We look at the difference between age and maturity, challenge the idea that increasing responsibility should come at the expense of play, and discuss how children's ability to manage risk develops over time.  We finish by thinking about how we can support young people to learn, grow and prepare for adulthood through experience, not just p...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I speak to Matthew Page, a care experienced adult, former foster carer and trustee of the Fostering Network. Matthew is also a specialist in intersectionality and identity thought leader, an adoption celebrant and many other things. 

We chat about his experience growing up as a black child in a white foster family, his search for his dad and appearing on DNA family secrets.  

You can visit Matthew’s website here

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or spec...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I to Niketa Sanderson Gillard, social worker, Churchill Fellow and Founder and CEO of Why Care. We chat about Niketa’s Churchill fellowship, her work that led up to it and how her organisation Why Care has  influenced the DfE’s draft standards that are currently being consulted on. Niketa and discuss the standards, the consultation and more.

You can participate in the consultation and read more on the draft standards here. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption...

In this episode of the conversations from the A&F Podcast I speak to adoptive parent Kaitlin. She shares her family's experience of adopting two boys and the challenges that they faced as a family. This was a rocky road and Kaitlin is honest in terms of the difficulties including false allegations, arrests and the catastrophic impact this had on the whole family.  

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, Blu...

Hello and Welcome to the A&F podcast. 

This week we've asked Mark Owers to come onto the podcast to talk all things fostering in light of the DfE's released consultation and changes to the national fostering standards. 

We cover a broad range of topics relating to fostering including reframing practice around carer's voices and experience, stewardship, recruitment and more. 

You can complete the consultation here. 

Here is a link to Mark's LinkedIn profile where you can read more of his insights and perspectives. 

As always if you’ve experie...

In this episode we explore what it means to change. Is change a natural part of growing up, or is it sometimes a response to the need to survive? We discuss identity, resilience, and whether having a secure base makes change feel more like a choice.

As always you can connect with us through the following -

Website- www.bettermebetterus.co.uk

Instagram- BMBUltd

Facebook – Better Me Better Us

Email – [email protected]

In this episode I speak to Michael Gaither, he was adopted in the US in the 1970s  and moved to rural Nebraska. As a black boy raised by white adoptive parents in a majority white community Michael shares the impact of the profound differences he experienced and the lack of understanding he faced. 

You can follow Michael here and there are free resources for those that are interested. 

Michael's instagram is also here. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like s...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode Scott and I reflect on the terrible news of the murder of Preston Davey. It broadens out the conversation in to the assessment process and power dynamics. We don't dwell on any of the details but reflect on some of the broader issues.

On the day we recorded the PM delivered the long awaited historic forced adoption apology and we unpack what he said, what he promised and what it means. 

You can read a full transcript of the PM's apology sp...

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast

In this episode I speak to Nancy Mielle, we first chatted in 2023 when she shared her remarkable lived experience. Here we chat about the interplay of early adversity, trauma and neurodiversity. Nancy shares her own experience and we chat about the challenges of caring for complex children. 
Nancy also shares a poem, its written for those with power of decisions.

You can listen to Nancy’s first podcast here. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective person...

Hello and welcome to this episode of conversations from the Fostering and Adoption podcast

In this episode I talk to Dr Claire Agius, she is an academic and adoptive parent who has researched the challenges faced by adoptive parents. We chat about her experience as an adoptive parent and how that led to her academic research. Claire’s hope is to affect change within the system and improvements in the service that families made through adoption receive. 

You can read Claire's research below. 

Co-creating the future of post-adoption parenting and mental health support: Expl...

Hello and welcome to this conference report -  Reframing Professional Practice on Child to Parent Abuse. It was held on the 15th May in Central London and I was asked to share my perspective on dads' experiences as well as generally. It was a great day with some perspectives that were new to me and gave me food for thought on how other communities experience children's challenging behaviour. 

I was fortunate to catch up with Helen Bonnick of Holes in the Wall, assistant Professor Nikki Rutter from Durham University, Freda Quinlan a Principal Social Worker with the Ir...

This month, we're talking about change and endings. Whether planned or unexpected, transitions such as leaving school, saying goodbye to trusted adults, or changes at home can have a big impact on children and young people.

As always you can connect with us through the following -

Website- www.bettermebetterus.co.uk

Instagram- BMBUltd

Facebook – Better Me Better Us

Email – [email protected]

To be honest there was so much news that we missed over the last month or so we thought we should catch up. We unpack the significance of the Supreme Court judgement in the matter of matter of X and Y [2026] UKSC 13 (click here to see the Coram analysis). What does this mean for the future of adoption and while the Law remains constant are we all in a very different place. 

We also bandy around the issues of DfE communication and that promo! , Kinship changes, Scott's human trafficking and much much more. There may have been s...

Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast. 

In this episode we’ve a recording of a Walking with Families  peer support group sessions with adoptive parent and NVR practitioner Rachel Braverman. Rachel has broad experience of working with and supporting families using NVR  and in this mini session titled ‘unhelpful help’ she unpicks the challenges many parents face working with professionals and families and some strategies to get around that. 

You can connect with Rachel at the NVR Consortium here.

If you’re an adoptive parent and would like to join the community...

Hello and welcome to this episode, it's action packed and we reunite after Scott's many travels! We start with a consideration about the recent FASD Ireland conference and the radio documentary that Scott commissioned in Ireland. It's well worth a listen and you can do that here. 

Al has been talking to practitioners working with families living with challenging and violent behaviour over the last few weeks and we unpack why there's low confidence in the workforce and nervousness around how to support and help. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or spec...

In this episode I speak to former foster carer Corey Mckinney from the United States,  he shares his experience of being a foster dad and the challenges he faced with his family and the rewards of being a foster carer. 

You find his book ‘Foster Dad’ here and view his website here.

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at [email protected]

In a fast-paced world where we have an increasing number of connections, how meaningful are our relationships really?  

This episode explores the contradiction of being more digitally connected than ever whilst feeling increasingly disconnected as humans. From social media and boundaries to unsafe relationships, and the impact on young people’s social skills, we reflect on what real human connection looks like in today’s world.

As always you can connect with us through the following -

Website- www.bettermebetterus.co.uk

Instagram- BMBUltd

Facebook – Better Me Better Us

Email – i...

In this episode I spoke to Sarah Fry and Claire Murphy from the Belay Foundation. They are launching a new support service to support adoptive families access DLA and PIP and we chat about how they can help and the challenges that many families face in navigating the process. 

If you want to find out more about the work of the Belay Foundation you can visit their website here

Or find out more about Walking with Families here

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective per...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I speak Christian Brock from Virtual Memory Box and he shares the vision and hopes behind the digital system for storing and sharing memories of children who have been in the care systems. They’ve now broadened their work to support families impacted adoption and help maintain links safely. 

You can find out more here.

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please...

To mark a year since I completed and released my Fellowship Report I'm re releasing the podcast. Since then I've partnered with Beacon Family Services and we've put into place some of the recommendations in the Walking with Families peer support community. You can find out more or sign up here. 

Hello and welcome to this second episode of Al's Churchill Fellowship. You can read the full report here.

Developing the themes in Part 1 this podcast considers how parents and carers are supported by focused organisations. Rather than look at specific models of in...

To mark a year anniversary of Al's Churchill Fellowship report we've released a recording from the release event for practitioners from last year. 

I shared reflections from my Churchill Fellowship Report on Walking with Families. Looking at models of support and intevention for families drawn from the Canada, US, Ireland and Austrailia. I offer areas for practice development in the UK to offer ongoing support for families that often struggle to find effective and ongoing support while caring for vulnerable children that have care experience having experiened high levels of adversity.

Churchill Fellowship Report Event...

On the 15th May Maria Duah is delivering a conference at Coram in London looking to Reframe Professional Practice in the Child to Parent Abuse arena. 

In this short chat Maria shares her experience as a profession supporting families and children, her vision behind the conference and who is speaking. 

You can sign up here and and connect with Maria here  and we hope to record some of the sessions as well. 

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share...

Hello and welcome to this first episode of Al's Churchill Fellowship. You can read the full report here.

This episode draws on peer support specialists working directly with parents and carers living with children with challenging and aggressive behaviour. Focusing on Canada & the USA it considers different models of peer support including social media, virtual and in person. It then considers the role of peer mentors specifically in the Canadian organisation Interwoven Connections based across the province of Ontario that serves a large community through virtual means. 

‘The best way to help families is one at...

Hello and welcome to this episode of the A&F podcast, we unpack the fallout of our Canada trip and answer a question from a listener. Over the last few weeks there's been a few consultations for the DfE by Adoption England, we unpack some of that and the recent Adoption Forum event looking at the legal guidance around maintaining family links.

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I speak to Dallas a parent through adoption who lives in Canada she shares the experience of adopting two children and the impact of caring for children with complex and challenging behaviour on her relationship with her husband and beyond. Dallas is frank about her circumstances and the difficulties that she faces and regardless of the context and country.  

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the...