What we do

In 2010 BAAF will be celebrating 30 years of supporting, advising and campaigning for better outcomes for children in care. We work with everyone involved with adoption and fostering across the UK. We have regional and country offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, providing services to meet the needs of some of the UK’s most vulnerable children and young people.

BAAF’s activities include:

• Family finding: Our monthly newspaper, Be My Parent, helps find families for hundreds of children every year. Similarly, Scotland’s Scottish Children Waiting helps link children with families across Scotland. We also run the Adoption Register for England and Wales and support various consortia. Together, our services help agencies find hundreds of adoptive and permanent foster families for children every year.
• Publications: We publish an extensive list of highly respected expert publications for social workers, adoptive parents, foster carers, children, adopted adults, students and academics, and the wider children’s workforce, covering a range of issues relating to adoption, fostering and children in the care system. We also publish the UK’s only journal dedicated to adoption and fostering issues.
• Training, conferences and consultancy: Our training, seminars and conferences tackle the vital issues facing practitioners today and our courses and programmes are available nationwide. Our consultants carry out expert independent assessments of local authority adoption and fostering services and are regularly asked for advice on complex cases.
• Campaigning: We campaign nationally and locally for changes to policy and practice to improve the lives of children in the care system. Adoption law has been overhauled in England and Wales. New legislation is planned in both Scotland and Northern Ireland. BAAF has been at the centre of all of this work.
• Membership: we are the UK's leading membership organisation for agencies and individuals that have an interest in fostering, adoption and the well-being of children.
• Advice: Every day our members ask BAAF for expert guidance to support their work. We also receive thousands of calls each year from people who need advice about all aspects of adoption and fostering.