Support for all affected by adoption

 
Welcome

Hello and welcome to the Permanence Support Team. We support adoptive families and Special Guardianship (SGO) families (nb SGO only for Wokingham). Permanence is a lifelong experience, and we are here to support all families within the Adopt Thames Valley Region from the start of your journey and into the future. This may be as the adopted or Special Guardianship person, a birth family member or parent, or an adult affected by adoption.

Adoptive and Special Guardianship families often need support at the start of their new life together as well as navigating life as children age and develop. There may be times when you need specialist practical and therapeutic support, to help you and your child understand their history and the impact their early experiences may have on your daily lives.

The Permanence Support Team offers a range of support from therapeutic interventions to fun days out. Please scroll through the dropdown options to find further information on the services we can provide and the support available. If you would like a service or would just like to enquire further on what is available, or simply have a question please contact our Front Door which operates every weekday except Bank Holidays from 8:30-5 (8:30-4 on Fridays) please call 01865 323121 or email ATV.PermanenceSupport@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

For more information on our services, please select from the dropdown options.

Best Wishes
Emma and Rachel – Joint Team Managers

Who we are
We are the Permanence Support Team, an experienced team of Social Workers, Senior Practitioners and Managers, with a passion for supporting children, young people and families who have come together through adoption and Special Guardianship.

The Permanence Support Team are part of Adopt Thames Valley (ATV), the Regional Adoption Agency for Oxfordshire, Swindon, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, Reading and West Berkshire. We provide support for Adoptive families across all our areas, and support for Special Guardianship families in Wokingham. During the first 3 years after an Adoption or Special Guardianship Order is granted, support remains the responsibility of your child’s placing Local Authority. After this support will fall to the Reginal Adoption Agency in which you currently live. However, support around contact will always remain with the area who placed your child. If you are unsure if this applies to you, then please contact us and we can ensure you can access the right support.

We also provide support to Birth Relatives, Adults Affected by Adoption and coordinate the Letterbox service over all areas, as well as specialist professional consultation and advice to our colleagues.

If you would like a service please contact our Front Door which operates every week day except Bank Holidays from 8:30-5 (8:30-4 on Fridays) please call 01865 323121 or email ATV.PermanenceSupport@oxfordshire.gov.uk

EMERGENCY INFORMATION
If there is an emergency and anyone is at immediate risk of harm, please contact the Police or the safeguarding team in your local area as appropriate.

Oxfordshire: MASH (safeguarding) – 0345 050 7666
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 0800 833 408

Swindon: MASH (safeguarding) - 01793 466903
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 01793 436699

Bracknell: MASH (safeguarding) 01344 352005
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 01344 786543

Wokingham: MASH (Safeguarding) 01635 503090
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 01344 786543

West Berkshire: MASH (Safeguarding) 01635 503090
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 01344 786543

RBWM: MASH (safeguarding) 01628 683159
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 01344 786543

Reading: Single Point of Access (Safeguarding) 0118 937 3641
EDT (out of hours emergency safeguarding) – 01344 786543

Support for all affected by adoption

Contact us

To contact the ATV Permanence Support Team please phone 01865 323121 or email ATV.Permanencesupport@oxfordshire.gov.uk

The Permanence Support Team administrator will respond as quickly as they can. Please do bear with us; we’re working through the challenges of developing our new service and of managing significant demand, but we will respond. Please leave your full name, the local authority where you live, and your contact details (phone and email if possible), to help us respond to you more effectively.

If there is an emergency and if anyone is at immediate risk of harm, please contact the Police or the safeguarding team in your local area as appropriate.

Support Plan

If only a simple, one-off service is needed, this may be provided without a formal adoption support plan being drawn up. If, following assessment, there is a need for ongoing adoption support, we will draw up a plan of what services we propose to offer. The plan will be reviewed periodically.

Training

Courses are offered to for adopters approved by us or adopters who live in the Adopt Thames Valley region.

Email us today about the training that’s offered in your area.

Helpdesk

The Permanence Support Team run a helpdesk, where a social worker will be available to talk to adoptive parents and special guardians. You can contact us either by telephone, email or by writing to us.  The adoption helpdesk is there to help us help you.

Call 01865 897981

Support Plan

If only a simple, one-off service is needed, this may be provided without a formal adoption support plan being drawn up. If, following assessment, there is a need for ongoing adoption support, we will draw up a plan of what services we propose to offer. The plan will be reviewed periodically.

Training

Course costs are met by Adopt Thames Valley for adopters approved by us and/or for adopters resident in Oxfordshire where their children were adopted more than three years ago. View information of the training we offer.