YOUR ADOPTION PANNEL

The adoption panel is there to ensure that a full assessment has been properly carried out by Family Futures. We are a collection of practitioners, social workers and adoptive parents, united by a desire to see hurt children find the homes they deserve.

The panel is not made up of bureaucrats, but people who are knowledgable and passionate about adoption, and just want the best for hurt children. Meet them here.

BRIDGET BETTS, CHAIR OF PANEL

Hello, my name is Bridget Betts, and I am the chair of the i-Adopt panel. For the past nine years I have worked as an independent social worker and trainer across a wide range of agencies in adoption and fostering, and I have some 26 years experience as a social worker. I am a mother and step mother to seven children who have now left home and are (hopefully!) making their own way in the world. Being an adoptive parent today is both a challenging and rewarding experience I believe that adoptive parents and the children placed with them deserve the very best in terms of support. I hope that in your journey into adoption with us you will feel supported and inspired!

ADRIAN BRIGGS, AGENCY ADVISOR

I am the Agency Advisor to the i-Adopt Family Futures’ Adoption Panel and Adoption Agency. This means I help to prepare the Panel papers, give professional advice to Panel members and staff, and follow up matters arising from Panel meetings, including briefing Alan Burnell as Agency Decision Maker. I am a qualified social worker and teacher and have been involved in adoption for many years, working as agency advisor on adoption and fostering to two local authorities and a voluntary organization. My interest in family placement most probably stems from a period in care as a child. I am now a parent with five children and have recently adopted my step-daughter which was an interesting assessment experience! I am glad and proud to be involved in the creation of the i-Adopt Panel and Agency. This exciting and challenging project should help to contribute to the services contemporary adoptive families need.

KATHY MCLOUGHLIN, PANEL ADMINISTRATOR

Hi. I’m Kathy and although I’m new to Family Futures I will do my best to make the administration side of things go smoothly for you. I am a strong believer in children and in their right to a supportive and peaceful environment in which to grow up. Family Futures has a wealth of experience and innovation in the field of adoption and will guide you through this vital time. If there’s anything I can do to help please let me know.

NEIL HARRIS

I am Neil Harris. I work as a child and adolescent psychiatrist and as a psychotherapist. My work focuses on the mental health of looked-after children and I have been working with Family Futures since October 2005. I also work in the Channel Islands where I am part of the mental health team for looked-after children on Guernsey. I get to see the adjustment and happiness that children can find in their adoptive families. I'm concerned that we do all we can to make this happen, and my work with i-Adopt will be part of this.

RICHARD LANDSDOWN

I have been working with Family Futures, as an Educational Psychologist, for half a dozen years and am beginning to understand some of the needs of the children we see. The key to meeting those needs, I believe, is partnership: when child, family, Family Futures and school can work together we can succeed. My background is in education, as a teacher and a psychologist, and in the health service, I worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital for many years. Children are often apprehensive when told they will be seeing a psychologist, we try to make the experience as pleasurable as possible.

JAY VAUGHAN

Hello! My name is Jay. I am one of the three Co-Directors of Family Futures and the Director of Therapy Services taking clinical responsibility for the smooth and efficient running of the Family Service. I am a qualified Dramatherapist registered with the Health Professionals Council. I have specialised in working with foster and adoptive families exclusively since joining the Post-Adoption Centre in 1994 and then setting up Family Futures with Alan Burnell and Christine Gordon in 1998. I have two step children and two birth children, and a personal and passionate belief in the work we do a Family Futures. If for any reason you have any wish to contact me directly please get in touch!

CLAIRE FRIDAY

Hello, my name is Claire Friday and I am an adoptive parent. Adoption has been very much a part of my life; my mother being adopted in the 1940s and my husband in the 1960s.  We then took what we felt was a natural decision to adopt after having our birth child. I work for Adoption UK, a national charity supporting both prospective adopters as well adopters, and my role is to offer direct one-to-one support to families.  Through my work I have gained insight into the difficulties experienced by families. I therefore feel it's essential for parents to have as much information and support as necessary at the outset of their adoption journey to become a therapeutic parent.

DEBORAH HODES

Hello my name is Deborah Hodes. I have been the paediatrician for Family Futures for 5 years and a consultant community paediatrician in London for the last 17 years. I am from a close family and have 3 teenage children. My interest in working with the team at Family Futures is in helping to find out and understand if and how any medical problems contribute to the child’s health and well being. I believe it is important for children and their adoptive family to be comfortable with the paediatrician and to ask any questions about their own and others health.

JOHN GOODCHILD

Hi, my name is John. My wife and I adopted our daughter several years ago. She is doing well, and has coped with the transition to secondary school very well, we are very proud of her. Our experience of the adoption process however, was not easy initially. As well as being a parent, I have many years experience as both a social worker, involved in fostering and adoption, and as a Psychotherapist and marriage guidance counsellor. Because of my personal and professional experience, I am very excited about being involved in the setting up of i-Adopt. My primary role on the panel is to ensure that the needs of parents are taken fully in to account, and that they get the service they need and deserve.

TRACEY OGLETON

Hi my name is Tracey Ogleton; I have worked directly with children, young people and their families for 18 years, specialising within the adoption field for 6 years. My Current position involves the delivery of Adoption Support services for a London borough. I am very committed to advocating, supporting and providing the appropriate education/information for adoptive families with an aim to enhance their family life. My role on the Adoption panel would be as an Independent Social Worker.

ELSIE PRICE

Hi my name is Elsie Price. I am Family Futures’ Social Work representative on the panel. As a Social Worker, I have worked in children’s residential homes and in fostering and adoption teams. I joined Family Futures not long after it started. I wanted to work for Family Futures, because it was offering and developing support services for adoptive families that were previously not available. I believe passionately that children, who have been neglected and abused, should not only live in safe, loving new families, but be helped to be given a voice.

ALAN BURNELL, AGENCY DECISION MAKER

Hello my name is Alan Burnell. I am a Co-Director and Registered Manager of Family Futures – Adoption Support Agency, and will be the Agency Decision Maker for i-Adopt. I am an adopted person, a father and step father. I believe passionately that families are the best place for children to grow up in. I have spent the last 20 years working in the field of post adoption and helping with my friends and colleagues at Family Futures to develop innovative services that meet the needs of the contemporary adoptive family. I hope that you will find your relationship with Family Futures supportive and helpful as you embark upon the challenging task of becoming and being an adoptive parent in the 21st century.