Foetally Affected Children's Service

TACT offers training in the area of foetally alcohol affected children. As well as group training, TACT can offer individual training to specific adopters who may have adopted a child with this condition.

Our team

The Foetally Affected Children's Service (FACS) team is made up of an in-house team with social work, psychologist and support work expertise. We also use additional experts including a consultant paediatrician, play therapist, speech therapist. The team provides a range of advice, assessment and training.

Background

Many children being referred for family finding for adoption have care histories where the birth mother have used alcohol and or other drugs and the impact of this have not been adequately assessed or considered in the permanency planning framework. This can lead to significant potential consequences for adoptive parents making decisions about future care needs of children. For more details on the subject, read the guide, Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, A guide for healthcare professionals, published by the British Medical Association (BMA).

Our view

In our view, anyone working with looked after children, fostering or adoption should be aware of the issues involved in maternal drug misuse and the impact of this on foetal development and consequences for future care planning. This is why we've set up a series of conferences, Bruised Before Birth.

Training seminars

Our last training seminar for adopters, foster carers and social workers, Understanding foetal alcohol syndrome and its implications for fostering and adoption - was held on Thursday 3 March, if you would like us to run a seminar for one of your teams, contact us on the number below.

Contact details

For more information about FACS and services we can offer, please contact Jacqui Le Vaillant, our FACS Project Manager, on 020 8695 2313 or adoptionduty@tactcare.org.uk.

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