Adoption England has also agreed to provide 12-months’ initial funding to Adopt London and Adoption West to enable the agencies to do preparatory work, which will enable them to create a multidisciplinary model in the future.
Multidisciplinary approaches to assessment and support in adoption services
The Department for Education provided two year funding in 2023-2025, which enabled the development of multidisciplinary and multiagency approaches across England. Adoption England has commissioned 7 new projects.
Why are multidisciplinary approaches in adoption needed?
The support needs of adopted children are often complex and multifaceted as a result of the early adversity and trauma they may have experienced. Being in care itself can be extremely difficult for children, especially those who have already experienced acute safeguarding issues, as a consequence of physical or sexual abuse; emotional abuse and neglect; domestic violence, drug and alcohol use (often during pregnancy); genetic factors, such as inherited learning disability; the impact of chronic instability and lack of permanence early in life. It is challenging to disentangle the causal relationships between the current situation and the child’s past experiences.
The evaluation of Adoption Support Fund (2022) showed that:
- the mental health and wellbeing needs of children aged 5-15 years about to receive ASF-funded support were significantly greater than those of the overall population of similarly aged children (As measured by the SDQ,).
- A high proportion of all children in the study (80% aged 1.5 to 5 years and 90% aged 6-18 years) had clinical or borderline clinical needs measured by the Child Behaviour Checklist.
The pathways within existing children’s mental health services, designed around diagnosable mental health conditions with very high thresholds, do not readily fit the higher level and complex needs that adopted children often have. To understand the needs and the corresponding support requires input and sharing expertise from a range of services and disciplines.
Key achievements over the past two years
Adopt North East – MDASS (Multi-disciplinary Adoption Support Service)
The MDASS project established a skilled, experienced multidisciplinary team to support adoptive families across the North-East. Launched in October 2024, the service provides specialist assessments and transitions families to appropriate support services.
Key Achievements
- Referral decisions made within 4–7 days; initial visits completed within 3 weeks.
- Differential assessments identify appropriate support tailored to family needs.
- All support informed by Dyadic Developmental Practice (DDP); team trained to DDP Level 2 and Theraplay Level 1.
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist provides oversight and links with Theraplay consultant.
- Approach fosters open, non-blaming discussions with families.
Adoption Partnership South East
This project aimed to strengthen support services for adoptive families by expanding therapeutic services, improving professional networks, and incorporating lived experiences into service development.
Key Achievements
- Expanded internal therapy team to include a clinical therapist for Bexley and Medway.
- Engaged wider professional networks to improve understanding and support for adoptive families.
- Conducted case file audits and parent interviews for 11 children to inform practice.
One Adoption South Yorkshire
Focused on addressing FASD (Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) through assessment, prevention, support, and training initiatives.
Key Achievements
- Engaged educational psychologist to assess children and develop education plans.
- Created three working groups: Prevention & Awareness, Support, and Assessment & Diagnosis.
- Trained over 300 school staff; developed virtual training for Adoption England.
- Established Yorkshire FASD Community of Practice and hosted regional conferences.
- Developed FASD diagnostic pathways and collaborated with Sheffield CAHMS.
Adopt South
Despite recruitment challenges, the project appointed a multidisciplinary team including psychologists and focused on staff development, training, and inclusive practices.
Key Achievements
- Team contributed to staff reflection, training, and consultations.
- Led research on adoption panel practices and shared expert resources.
- Developed a new Education Support Plan in collaboration with virtual schools.
- Implemented Digital Stories project with Southampton University to amplify youth voices.
Adoption East Midlands
Established a multidisciplinary team to promote reflective practice and early intervention, enhancing outcomes for children and families.
Key Achievements
- Enabled whole-child approach through multi-professional consultations.
- Offered support from placement through post-order stages.
- Followed neuro-sequential model supported by peer mentors.
- Launched Youth Connect group for adopted youth, incorporating VR tools.
- Positive feedback from youth and parents; increased engagement in regional events.
Adopt Thames Valley
Expanded MDT services region-wide and developed a therapeutic service in consultation with families.
Key Achievements
- Recruited a highly qualified multidisciplinary team.
- Delivered 101 family assessments and direct work since April 2024.
- Improved outcomes in health, education, well-being, and family stability.
- Reduced waiting lists and increased service capacity.
- Delivered training, consultations, and trauma-informed practices.
What will we do during 2025-26?
The North East and Adoption Partnership South East projects will continue under the ASGSF Pilot programme. Adoption England will continue to fund Adoption East Midlands, Adopt Thames Valley, Adopt South until March 2026. The One Adoption South Yorkshire project will end.
The Development of Multidisciplinary Models will be governed by the National Adoption Support Programme Board. The board oversees four workstreams that support the improvements in the adoption support:
- Adoption Support Practice Improvement Programme,
- The Development of Multidisciplinary Models Programme,
- The Pan-Regional Commissioning Programme and the
- ASGSF Pilot Programme.
Evaluation of multidisciplinary approaches in adoption
The evaluation of the 7 new projects and the existing multidisciplinary models in adoption support will help to assess the impact, benefits and challenges of these different approaches. The evaluation outcomes will help to understand the enablers and barriers to setting up integrated support services.
The Institute of Public Care (IPC) at Oxford Brookes University, partnered with Cardiff University and the University of East Anglia, have been commissioned to evaluate the projects and the benefits of existing and emerging multidisciplinary approaches to adoption support. The mixed methods evaluation aims to learn more about how multidisciplinary arrangements work, for whom, in what circumstances and why. It will also explore what the likely costed benefits are for organisations funding the arrangements and for the whole system of support for children and families’ health, education, and if there are broader outcomes.
The evaluation will explore these benefits from the perspective of both:
- Children and families who have received or are receiving multidisciplinary support through existing, mature models in both Adoption Counts and One Adoption West Yorkshire.
- Children and families receiving or about to receive multi-disciplinary support through up-coming models in the 7 funded projects in other regions in England.
What will the evaluation include?
The evaluation will need to be tailored to the different projects in each specific region but will also include a common core of activities, questions and methods including:
- A longitudinal survey of parents whose children are about to participate in multidisciplinary team supports, after the end of a period of support and 6 months after that.
- Follow up surveys of parents whose children have been the focus of multidisciplinary assessment and support in the past.
- Advice for existing or new projects about data capture.
- Secondary analysis by evaluators of data collected by each project site relating to their model, beneficiaries, and outputs / outcomes.
- Interviews with projects staff, and key stakeholders.
Evaluation of multidisciplinary approaches to adoption support: Interim findings
Multidisciplinary approaches to adoption support and multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) have been developing within the context of regional adoption agencies (RAAs) over the last 8-9 years. ‘Early adopter’ MDTs are now becoming more embedded in One Adoption West Yorkshire (OAWY) and Adoption Counts (AC) and ‘second wave sites’ are starting to be implemented in 7 other RAA or pan-regional sites in England this year.
This mixed methods evaluation commissioned by Adoption England from the Institute of Public Care at Oxford Brookes University and the University of East Anglia seeks to explore (2023-2025):
•The feasibility of implementing multidisciplinary approaches to adoption support – from the perspectives of both early adopters and second wave sites.
•The actual or potential benefits, including where possible costed benefits, of implementing multi-disciplinary approaches and teams.
•Which outcomes and outcome measures are important to use in this context.
Early (end of year one) findings summarised for the report linked below have been generated from a range of evaluation activities including theory of change (development) work and allied support for data capture and analysis involving all sites. More in-depth evidence has been generated from the early adopter sites via independently captured via qualitative interviews and a longitudinal survey.
