TITLE:
Exploring the Benefits and Challenges of a Support Service for Adoptive Parents: A Case Study of Evaluating the Adopter Champions Programme
AUTHORS:
Maria Kambouri, Fiona Curtis, Yota Dimitriadi, Megan Ravenhill, Lucy Coleman
KEYWORDS:
Adoption, Family Support, Adoption Disruption, Support Services, Adopter Champions
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.12 No.3,
March
29,
2024
ABSTRACT: Adopters often face challenges during the process of
adoption which may occasionally lead to adoption disruption. When aiming to
minimise disruption, it is important to look closer at the support provided to
adopters, to understand what works and what could be improved; however, there
are few studies that focus on what works best. This paper seeks to
address part of this gap, by exploring the
benefits and challenges of a support service for adoptive parents,
namely the Adopter Champions programme. The study explored the key issues faced
by adopters and their experiences of the Adopter Champions programme, aiming to understand if and how such
programmes can help adopters.
Employing a sequential mixed methods approach, a survey was shared with
55 families that had received support from the Adopter Champions programme with four then interviewed. The findings confirm how important it is for
adoptive parents to have access to support and people that can understand and
advise them, such as other adopters, and therefore how this is worth investment
from the government. While the study highlights the importance of having
support available and for government to invest in this, it is recommended that
more studies like this are conducted to identify what types of support are more
beneficial for adopted parents.