Providing specialist clinical support for adoptive parents and adoption professionals

Children who are adopted are at greater risk of experiencing mental health issues than their nonadopted peers. This has influenced the development of dedicated care pathways, teams and clinical posts for adopted children in child and adolescent mental health services.

This article describes the role of a specialist practitioner lead for adoption, detailing the core duties, which include providing consultation clinics for professionals and parents, providing mental health awareness training for prospective adopters and the introduction of a group-based psychoeducation intervention. The article provides practice-based reflection and service evaluation findings on these core duties. Changes in practice during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the shift to remote care delivery, as well as the support role provided by nursing students and assistant and trainee psychologists during the consultation clinics, are also discussed.