Building a healthy relationship between a foster carer and the child in their care is deeply rooted in trust. In this insightful conversation, Jo Francis, our Publishing Manager, sits down with Brad Kemp and Lauren Fernandes to explore what it truly means to build trust between children and their carers.

Both Brad and Lauren played pivotal roles in the creation of our latest children’s book, Where did my dinosaur go? Brad shares how his personal experiences in care shaped the story, while Lauren discusses the significance of illustrating a book with such an important message.

Bradley Kemp is a care experienced individual who was in care from a young age till the age of 18. He got involved with this project to show how important it is to have trust built up between a carer and a child in care.

Lauren Fernandes is a care experienced artist and illustrator living in Dublin with her husband, daughter, two dogs and cat.

Visit corambaaf.org.uk for more information!

In this episode, Dr Dennis Golm interviews Saul Hillman about their PhD, which focused on developing the Story Stem Assessment Profile (SSAP), a tool to measure attachment in children through narratives. Saul has been involved with all phases of the longitudinal adoption study which has followed up on late- and early-placed children since placement.

Saul Hillman is a Senior Research Fellow at Anna Freud and an Honorary Lecturer at University College London (UCL). Saul’s research has primarily focused on attachment and mentalization in both children and adolescents, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as looked-after or adopted children.

Read the lastest article in the study, Adoptive parents’ worries and concerns about their adolescent adopted children, in Volume 48 Issue 1, March 2024 of ‘Adoption & Fostering’.

Members, remember to sign in to your CoramBAAF website account to access any article from Adoption & Fostering. The journal is accessed via the SAGE website.

For more information visit corambaaf.org.uk!

Clare Seth, our Kinship Consultant, interviews Chloe Hubert from Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB) about their Cultural Family Life Library - a series of guides for social workers introducing them to the history and culture of families in diaspora communities in the UK.

Chloe has a background in asylum and immigration law and has worked in various NGOs working to support women who are survivors of domestic abuse and honour based abuse and supporting migrants, asylum seekers and refugees to access justice. She has been working at CFAB for almost 4 years where she works on the Post Placement Support Service and provides holistic casework to families and young people on practical matters such as engaging with the benefits system, housing, education as well as accessing medical services and legal advice.

CFAB initiated their Cultural Family Life Library due to serious case reviews which highlighted that social work professionals sometimes require further support to work with families whose culture or religion is unfamiliar to them. Culture-specific training can help inform practice and avoid the risk of inadvertently enabling situations that put some children at risk.

Some professionals also feel they lack the tools or confidence to build on cultural strengths, or to question specific cultural practices, potentially hindering better outcomes for children. With one in three children born in 2022 having a foreign-born mother, it is of growing importance that social workers receive more support for working within diaspora communities.

Please note that this conversation references child abuse, domestic abuse, genital mutilation, harmful practices, and the death of children.

For more information visit corambaaf.org.uk or https://corambaaf.org.uk/episode-25-cfabs-cultural-family-life-library