Best Practice in Adoption Agency Front Door

On demand training course delivered by Nicola Storey and Ayesha Foster, senior practitioners at ARC Adoption North East

CPD: 2.5 hrs

Description

The first point of contact with an adoption agency can have a significant impact on a person’s experience of adoption. A welcoming, responsive, and positive ‘front door’ can help prospective adopters feel valued, informed, and confident about taking the next step.

In this course, you will explore best practice in enquiry handling, effective signposting, and understanding enquirer behaviour. You will consider how to create positive first impressions and how mystery shopping and ongoing feedback can help agencies reflect on and improve their approach.

Learning Outcomes

  • Understand how people engage with adoption agencies and the factors that may influence their behaviour as enquirers
  • Identify key principles of effective enquiry handling and signposting
  • Apply best practice to create positive first impressions and welcoming experiences for prospective adopters
  • Recognise how mystery shopping and ongoing feedback can support reflection and continuous improvement

Meet the trainers

—

Ayesha Foster

Head of Adoption Services, ARC Adoption North East
Ayesha is a highly skilled social worker who has worked with children for over 30 years and is committed to improving the lives of children through permanence.
Ayesha joined ARC Adoption at its inception in 2014 and has contributed much to the agency's success. She has guided many families through the adoption process as an assessing social worker, and has been instrumental in the development and delivery of preparation training for prospective adoptive parents. Ayesha has represented ARC Adoption within several key working groups alongside professionals from other voluntary and regional adoption agencies, most recently working on a project to develop and promote Early Permanence, as an alternate and child-centric route to adoption. In response to her growing experience, professional development and passion for driving the agency forward, Ayesha was promoted to the role of Adoption and Permanence Manager at ARC in 2024 and also gained a Level 5 Diploma in Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services.

Nicola Storey

Marketing and Business Manager, ARC Adoption North East
In her role Nicola leads on the adopter recruitment efforts of ARC Adoption alongside the enquiries team, and delivers the wider marketing strategy of the Voluntary Adoption Agency. Since joining the ARC Adoption team, she has worked on the development and delivery of a number of successful marketing campaigns to raise the profile of adoption in the North East region, and to appeal for families for children who wait the longest to be adopted.
Created with