We are delighted to share some very exciting news
CONNECT – The National Service for Adopted Children and Young People, which is led by Adoption UK Cymru, has achieved the National Participation Kitemark, awarded by Children In Wales and endorsed by the Welsh Government.
CONNECT supports adopted children and young people aged 7-30 years old across 22 counties in Wales. This is achieved by providing child & young person friendly information and guidance on adoption, raising awareness of the adoption experiences of children and young people, and providing peer led, activity-based sessions and support through the Connected Service. CONNECT also runs national Youth Councils and an ambassador scheme for adopted young people to ensure their voices are listened to and can influence the services they access.
The National Participation Kitemark is awarded to services that have demonstrated that they are successfully achieving all seven National Participation Standards
Information
It’s your choice
No Discrimination
Respect
You get something out of it
Feedback
Working better for you
To gain the Kitemark, a group of Young Inspectors inspected CONNECT The National Service for Adopted Children and Young People to examine if they were achieving against all seven standards.
The young inspectors wrote a feedback report, based on their assessment, which recommended awarding the Kitemark.
The standards are also underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which puts the involvement of children at the heart of improving well-being.
We are extremely proud to receive this prestigious award. We have worked extremely hard to ensure that we enshrined the seven standards within our day-to-day work practices, and this was evidenced within the final report.