Council wins award for adoption and fostering

Buckinghamshire Council has won an award at the prestigious Social Worker of the Year awards. The silver award in the Digital Transformation category was given to the council for its work in developing a series of online tools to help people thinking about adoption, fostering or special guardianship.

The Social Worker of the Year Awards promote positive stories from the profession and give recognition to those improving the lives of the people they support. There are a total of 18 categories and each is judged by an independent panel of social workers, people with lived experience, and senior figures from the world of social work.

Buckinghamshire Council’s Adoption Ready and Fostering Ready tools are easy to use online applications that allow those who may be contemplating adoption or fostering, to check their eligibility and suitability, to find out more about the process and to plan and prepare ahead. Alongside these tools, the council has also created a Guardians’ Guide, a website full of practical guides and expert support for special guardians*.

Anita Cranmer, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services & Education said: “A lot of hard work has gone into creating our adoption and fostering readiness checkers and the guide for special guardians so I am delighted that these efforts have been recognised in this award.

“We want to ensure that everyone involved in adoption, fostering and special guardianship in Buckinghamshire has access to the best support and advice available to help them at every stage of the process. This, along with the hard work and dedication of our specialist teams, is what makes our adoption and fostering service deserving of such an award. Well done to everyone.”

To find out more about adoption and fostering in Buckinghamshire visit the fostering and adoption web pages.