Placing children for adoption across Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

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Why Choose FFC

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Families for Children Trust is a Specialist Voluntary Adoption Agency and charitable trust based in the South West.

At Families for Children we believe that the best place for a child to grow is with their birth families. However where this is not possible we endeavour to find new adoptive families who can offer them a stable and loving home.

Why Choose Families for Children?

A warm and friendly welcome awaits you at Families for Children. We are an independent agency specialising in adoption. We are here for you from the moment you pick up the phone through your assessment to placement of your child and beyond. We find adoptive families from all over the South West of England including Devon, Dorset, Cornwall & Somerset. As a registered charity we are independent of the Local Authorities and Regional Adoption Agencies, so are able to be flexible and responsive to meet your particular needs.

We have over 26 years experience placing children with adoptive families including placing harder to place children (older children, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups (BAME), sibling groups and children with disabilities) with adoptive parents.

Families for Children has achieved Outstanding in its last three Ofsted Inspections. (2011; 2015; 2018).

Families for Children works in partnership with Regional Adoption Agencies amd Local Authorities to provide the best support for families and children in the South West. We place a high value on offering these children and families a lifetime relationship with ongoing support. We recognise the diverse society in which we live and seek to meet the complex needs of children, valuing and respecting their culture, identity and personal history.

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Families for Children have now been OFSTED Oustanding for thitd time
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Searching for Children

As a Voluntary Adoption Agency we do not have children in our care, which means we are able to search for the right child or children for our families from any Local Authority in the UK and are not limited to those in foster care in the South West. All of the children we place are vulnerable and many have complex extra needs, resulting from early childhood traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect or lots of changes and moves in their lives. We place children of all ages, sibling groups, children with disabilities, and children from a variety of backgrounds and ethnicities. We are looking for a range of adopters from varying backgrounds. Age, ethnicity, faith, marital status or sexual orientation are not what determine if you will make a good adoptive parent
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Adoption Support Services

We are a specialist adoption agency providing advice and support for those who are considering adoption. This means we are able to offer adoption support to the child and new family for as long as they need us. Our early placement support, ‘right support right time’ approach with Peer Mentors, and support throughout the life journey, offer a qualitatively different experience to other Adoption Agencies Our adopters often say they chose us because of the recognition that adoption is a lifelong commitment and that we offer support or signpost adopters, throughout the adoption process and beyond. Our Adoption Support services offer day- to-day support for our adopters through to bespoke training and developmental therapeutic support for our families.

Our History

Families for Children existed for many years as a joint venture operated by the Exeter Diocesan Board for Christian Care and the Plymouth Diocesan Catholic Children’s Society. In 2003 the agency became a separate charity in its own right.

We hold adoption files from 1948 for the Society which was then known as the Plymouth Diocesan Children’s Rescue Society and from 1954 for the Exeter Diocesan Board for Christian Care.

Although we are a Christian agency we are pleased to welcome enquiries from different faiths and cultures or no faith at all and as a Christian organisation we are concerned with the welfare of children, parents and families, our attitudes and practices are shaped by Christian values and we therefore aim to uphold the importance of love, family life and the dignity of each individual.

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