The Adoption and Fostering Podcast

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of  the AandF podcast. 

In this episode we rage across a couple of matters that impact on many families, power dynamics with social workers. After a Tramadol start and Scott's good news we get distracted by the complicated relationship prospective adopters and foster carers can have with their social workers. The power dynamics are often set against applicants and what questions are...

Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast

In this episode I speak author Fran Hill, we spoke in 2023 about her first novel ‘Cuckoo in the Nest’ and in this interview we chat about her follow up novel ‘Home Bird’. 

Fran shares her experience of being in foster care and how it influenced the characters in these books and the experiences that they face. 

You can find out more about F...

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In this episode I speak to Psychotherapist, NVR practitioner and Adoptive parent Simone Harch. Simone shares a little of her journey but the focus of this conversation is about mental health and the impact on adoptive parents of caring for children with complex needs. It is a really pertinent conversation and highlights the need for support for adopters and help for them to stay well. 

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Hello and welcome to the AandF podcast. 

In this episode we unpack how caring for and parenting children with complex, challenging and aggressive behaviour can impact on relationships between parents and carers. 

It's a thorny issue, the impact of high levels of need and stress in the home with differences in motivation and approaches to the behaviour can take its toll and we share some of our experiences and look at the ...

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Better Me Better You Podcast.

How old is old enough to be left unsupervised? As families navigate the summer holidays, we unpack the guidance around children's independence and explore the bigger questions beneath it. We look at the difference between age and maturity, challenge the idea that increasing responsibility should come at the expense of play, and discuss how children's ability to ...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I speak to Matthew Page, a care experienced adult, former foster carer and trustee of the Fostering Network. Matthew is also a specialist in intersectionality and identity thought leader, an adoption celebrant and many other things. 

We chat about his experience growing up as a black child in a white foster family, his search for his dad and appea...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode I to Niketa Sanderson Gillard, social worker, Churchill Fellow and Founder and CEO of Why Care. We chat about Niketa’s Churchill fellowship, her work that led up to it and how her organisation Why Care has  influenced the DfE’s draft standards that are currently being consulted on. Niketa and discuss the standards, the consultation and...

In this episode of the conversations from the A&F Podcast I speak to adoptive parent Kaitlin. She shares her family's experience of adopting two boys and the challenges that they faced as a family. This was a rocky road and Kaitlin is honest in terms of the difficulties including false allegations, arrests and the catastrophic impact this had on the whole family.  

As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fosterin...

Hello and Welcome to the A&F podcast. 

This week we've asked Mark Owers to come onto the podcast to talk all things fostering in light of the DfE's released consultation and changes to the national fostering standards. 

We cover a broad range of topics relating to fostering including reframing practice around carer's voices and experience, stewardship, recruitment and more. 

You can complete the consultation here...

In this episode we explore what it means to change. Is change a natural part of growing up, or is it sometimes a response to the need to survive? We discuss identity, resilience, and whether having a secure base makes change feel more like a choice.

As always you can connect with us through the following -

Website- www.bettermebetterus.co.uk

Instagram- BMBUltd

Facebook – Better Me Better Us

Email – info@b...

In this episode I speak to Michael Gaither, he was adopted in the US in the 1970s  and moved to rural Nebraska. As a black boy raised by white adoptive parents in a majority white community Michael shares the impact of the profound differences he experienced and the lack of understanding he faced. 

You can follow Michael here and there are free resources for those that are interested. 

Michael's instagram is also her...

Hello and welcome to conversations from the AandF podcast. 

In this episode Scott and I reflect on the terrible news of the murder of Preston Davey. It broadens out the conversation in to the assessment process and power dynamics. We don't dwell on any of the details but reflect on some of the broader issues.

On the day we recorded the PM delivered the long awaited historic forced adoption apology and we unpack what he said, w...

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In this episode I speak to Nancy Mielle, we first chatted in 2023 when she shared her remarkable lived experience. Here we chat about the interplay of early adversity, trauma and neurodiversity. Nancy shares her own experience and we chat about the challenges of caring for complex children.  Nancy also shares a poem, its written for those with power of decisions.

You can listen to Nancy...

Hello and welcome to this episode of conversations from the Fostering and Adoption podcast

In this episode I talk to Dr Claire Agius, she is an academic and adoptive parent who has researched the challenges faced by adoptive parents. We chat about her experience as an adoptive parent and how that led to her academic research. Claire’s hope is to affect change within the system and improvements in the service that families mad...

Hello and welcome to this conference report -  Reframing Professional Practice on Child to Parent Abuse. It was held on the 15th May in Central London and I was asked to share my perspective on dads' experiences as well as generally. It was a great day with some perspectives that were new to me and gave me food for thought on how other communities experience children's challenging behaviour. 

I was fortunate to catch up w...

To be honest there was so much news that we missed over the last month or so we thought we should catch up. We unpack the significance of the Supreme Court judgement in the matter of matter of X and Y [2026] UKSC 13 (click here to see the Coram analysis). What does this mean for the future of adoption and while the Law remains constant are we all in a very different place. 

We also bandy around the issues of DfE communication ...

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In this episode we’ve a recording of a Walking with Families  peer support group sessions with adoptive parent and NVR practitioner Rachel Braverman. Rachel has broad experience of working with and supporting families using NVR  and in this mini session titled ‘unhelpful help’ she unpicks the challenges many parents face working with professionals and familie...

Hello and welcome to this episode, it's action packed and we reunite after Scott's many travels! We start with a consideration about the recent FASD Ireland conference and the radio documentary that Scott commissioned in Ireland. It's well worth a listen and you can do that here. 

Al has been talking to practitioners working with families living with challenging and violent behaviour over the last few weeks and we unpack why t...