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Adoptions today are not always the harmonious endings they are widely perceived to be. The average age at which children are adopted is currently just over 4 years old, and they can need significant support if they are to settle in their new family. Many have experienced poverty, neglect and abuse, and adoptive families often need support to help them understand the impact of these early experiences on the child’s behaviour and development, and crucially, their ability to ‘attach’ – to form new relationships. After Adoption's new SafeBase programme is inspired by adoptive parents and provides training, support, and the practical tools that equip them with the confidence and the skill to meet the specific needs of their children. By helping parents to address the underlying causes of difficult and challenging behaviour in their children, SafeBase has been proven to improve the long-term stability of family dynamics and to reduce the number of adoptions that break down.
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Developed by After Adoption staff using Theraplay® techniques, SafeBase is a practical, hands-on parenting course that teaches structured play techniques to adoptive parents to create healthy attachments between them and their children. This aims to give them the tools to reduce negative behaviour in a family setting and increase the likelihood that the adoption will be successful. The programme’s key objectives are to: - educate and inform parents about attachment difficulties - teach parents structured play and techniques to build positive attachments and modify their children’s negative behaviour - assess family dynamics and measure progress through formal observation - enable parents to exchange ideas and mutual support - produce a resource pack for use by adoptive parents in the future The course comprises educational elements and hands-on training, alongside peer support groups, a closed online support group for parents and family observation sessions. SafeBase was developed in response to demand from parents for practical ways to address and manage challenging behaviour in their adopted children. Parents often approach us in crisis feeling that ‘nothing is working’ and that they have failed as parents. SafeBase draws on previous parenting support work undertaken by After Adoption and has been hugely successful, operating a waiting list of parents at most times. Without support, one in four adoptions in the UK breaks down, children are returned to the care system and to disadvantaged futures. SafeBase is about keeping adoptive families together, and improving outcomes for adopted children and their family members. There is a huge demand for this training and whilst we have invested in its development, demand outstrips the number of places we can offer on the programme. We are committed to maintaining the high quality of the service, and whilst we are seeking further funding to roll the SafeBase programme out across the UK, we are also keen to invest in staff training in the techniques central to the SafeBase programme. Partner agencies have been able to finance some places on the courses on an ad hoc basis but we are seeking more substantial investment that will enable us to build capacity and plan for the long term future of the programme. We have produced a DVD to highlight the difference SafeBase makes to families; please contact the charity if you would like to receive a copy.