Support for adoption

Stockton Council has a duty to assess your adoption support needs and may provide you with services.

If you have been involved in adoption either as an:

Adopted person
Birth relative
Adopter
Relative of an adopter

and you live in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees you may at some point in your life require adoption support; this could include information, counselling, support and guidance or signposting to a relevant service.

The Adoption Support Services Advisor (ASSA) is responsible for ensuring that your request for support is dealt with and may become involved in negotiating the provision of support for you. Contact the Adoption Support Services Advisor for more information.

If you are an adoptive parent and you feel your child needs assistance or an assessment of need you can make a self-referral by contacting the First Contact Team.

Stockton Council acknowledges that sometimes people affected by adoption may not want to contact the Local Authority and may want to speak to an independent agency.

We have contracted an agency called After Adoption for this purpose. After Adoption is able to offer support to anyone involved in adoption at whatever stage it may be. Contact them free by calling 0800 0 568 578 or visit the After Adoption website for further information.