The Adoption and Fostering Podcast

Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast.  In this recording adoptive parent and founder of FASD Ireland shares his family's story and unpacks the realities, challenges and some of the solutions to parenting a child with FASD This is a different kind of episode, in January Tris Casson Rennie joined one one the peer support group sessions that I host with Walking with Families. We are a community of...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.  In this episode I speak to Richard McCombe an adoptive parent. He shares his family’s experience of adoption including the challenges that they have faces caring for children with complex needs and complex behaviour. Richard lives in Scotland and the different aspects of that experiences are also shared.  As always if you’ve experience of...

Hello and welcome to this special edition of the Fostering and Adoption podcast On the 12th February Patch held their first in person conference in Liverpool bringing together adoptive parents, adult adoptees and professionals from the adoption arena. Fiona Wells is the founder and a driving force behind Patch and here is a recording of her morning keynote presentation on the “Journey of the Child...

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast with Scott Casson-Rennie AMBII and Al Coates.  This was recorded the day of the Children's Minister's announcement on the Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Fund and the announcement of a consultation. So, after a little banter we get right into it and unpack our views on it. Frankly we pull no punches and throw caution to the wind of ever getting...

  As February is the month of love, we thoughts we’d explore what love really means especially in the context of adoption and fostering. What does love look like in real life? How do our different love languages shape the way we give and receive? And how does trauma affect the way children and adults experience love, connection, and safety? We reflect on the powerful truth that while love is vital...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.  In this episode to Dr Maude Champagne , social worker, psychotherapist and NVR practitioner who works in adoption and foster care. Specifically she works with parents who are experiencing violence and aggression and I asked her on to talk about parents experience of recovery once children, who are challenging, leave the home.  There are l...

Hello and welcome to this episode of from the AandF podcast.  This episode is unofficially sponsored by Sainsbury's Supermarket.  In this episode we unpack the pros and cons of social media bans and the specific challenges that many parents and carers of children with complex early lives and SEN face.  We also get somewhat distracted by some self care and purchasing choices. We would welcome the f...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.    In this episode I speak with Suzanne Scott, she is the founder of Trauma informed parenting based in Scotland. Suzanne supports parents and professionals to move from fear and control to a trauma informed approach to strengthen relationships with children and affect change in them. She shares her own experience of parenting children wit...

Hello and welcome the AandF podcast, it the New Year so our better halves,Paula and Tris, join us to catch up on the year and join the banter.   We unpack the year and catch up with them and after a slow start we discuss the challenges and new experience of parenting adult children with the subsequent surprising rewards. At no point is there any marital strife!  As always if you’ve experience of a...

In this episode we explore the responsibility adults and professionals carry to own their behaviours, words, and actions, especially when working with children. From everyday interactions to moments of conflict and repair, we unpack why accountability is not about perfection, but integrity. We discuss how children learn more from what we model than what we say, why owning mistakes builds trust and...

Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast.  In this  episode I speak to adult adoptee Tiegen Boyens and social worker/researcher Nick Burke. They are undertaking research examining the adoptee quality of life for those between 16 and 25. Tiegan and Nick unpack the reason behind the research and how the topics and questions were identified though focus group with a range of adoptees.  You can access t...

Hello and welcome to the A&F Podcast. In this episode we're continuing to look at parenting from a distance and adoption disruption. It's a hugely sensitive matter with the impact on children adults and professionals often being catastrophic. Here, I speak to Amy an adoptive parent and social worker and she describes the events that led to crisis and the response of the system. As always if yo...

This episode resinated with so many of our listeners. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder remains under discussed with a growing understanding of the prevalence and impact that many children are living with.  In this episode of the A&F podcast we speak to adoptive parent and Neurodiversity Coaching Psychologist Anna Webster. She shares her experience of parenting a child with a diagnosis of Fetal...

Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast Christmas special.  In this episode we streamed live to Facebook and chat with Fiona Wells from Patch . We unpack all that's been happening with the raised awareness of the levels of adversity all members of adoptive households are having. There is a crisis in the adoption community and Fiona has spearheaded the news and bringing of many families together.  O...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.  In this episode I speak with Helio an adult adoptee, he shares his experience of being adopted from Brazil to an Italian family. There’s so much more to his story and as an adult he went onto what was a complex journey to reconnect with his biological mother. His resilience and the murky circumstances of his adoption are remarkable and it...

In this episode, we explore the importance of stripping everything back to the basics and showing up on a truly human level. It’s these foundations, warmth, consistency, repair and presence, that create safety and stability for our most traumatised children. We also reflect on how powerful our modelling is: what we, as professionals, model to parents and carers, and what they in turn model to the...

Hello and welcome to this episode of the adoption and fostering podcast. With the wide ranging coverage in the news of the UK's adoption crisis we focus in on that in this episode as well as the response from adoption agencies and the children's minister.  There's a lot to unpack but we give it a go and then have a little chat about the drop in foster carers in the UK and the review announced in t...

On the 19th November Al was invited to attend a conference in London organised by The Adoption Forum and this is his on the hoof podcast. Their goal is to bridge law, policy, and lived experience and to turn research and policy into practical, down to earth strategies that support children, families, and the professionals who work with them.  You can follow them on Linkedin here Al was able to spe...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the A&F podcast.  In this episode I speak to former foster carer and author Amelie. She shares her family story of a serious allegation made against them that led to her own children being removed from her care. It’s a stark account  and Amelie’s book, Broken, recounts that experience. Amelie is passionate to see change and help build a system that manag...

Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast.  *Warning!* We will be leaning into gender stereotypes. So, it's been a while since we had a proper natter so we catch up then dive into the tricky issue of mens'/dads' mental health and the specific challenges that adoption may bring. We think about blocked care and post adoption depression as well as consider how we access support and if we even want it? H...

Podcast 30 - Professional Relationships   In this episode, we explore the power and complexity of professional relationships - how they shape our ability to ask for help, to trust, and to be trusted. We look at the systems we work within, and how they can both nurture and hinder the relationships we need to do our best work.    As always you can connect with us through the following - Instagram- B...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast.  In this episode I speak to Dan Boxall-Simpson, he’s returned to the podcast to update us on the progress of EPIC Fostering the independent foster care agency he is in the process of setting up. He shares some of the challenges of navigating the process, Ofsted applications and more. It’s interesting to find out why now is a good time to d...

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast.  In this  episode we’re focusing our gaze on the issue of adoption disruption. It’s a hugely sensitive subject matter with the impact on children, adults and professionals often being catastrophic.  Here I speak to Vicki McKeown psychotherapeutic Counsellor at VLM Therapy Ltd & Director at Better Me Better Us Ltd, social worker and panel member. She ha...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the A&F podcast.  In this episode I speak to adoptee Andy Wallis. We talk about his experience of being an adoptee and the impact on his mental health in adulthood. This is a thought provoking conversation and Andy is honest about the the complexity of being an adoptee. Andy blogs on the subject as well as having told parts of his story in his book  Who'...

I speak to Fiona Wells, social worker, #adopter, #adoptee and #adoption reform campaigner about where we are this #NationalAdoptionWeek.  We talk all things adoption, trends, contact, the good and the bad.  It's an engaging chat and you can see the comments on Al's FB page here .  Patch's even can be found through their website here .  As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or speci...