From this Saturday (April 1, 2023) the local authorities in Cumbria will look different, with two new unitary councils replacing the current county council and six district councils.

The new authorities have decided it makes sense for a number of services to still be provided together across both new council areas, including fostering and adoption.

Cumbria County Council’s fostering and adoption services will now become Cumbria Fostering & Cumbria Adoption, working on behalf of the two new authorities, Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness, to find safe and loving homes for some of the county’s most vulnerable children.

This means we can still provide the same level of service for children, adopters, adopted adults, foster carers and birth families with little or no disruption.

April 1 also marks the end of our adoption service’s partnership with Durham County Council and Sunderland City Council, as part of the Adopt Coast to Coast Regional Adoption Agency. Prospective adopters in Cumbria are now being encouraged to contact Cumbria Adoption to start their adoption journey.

Cllr Anne Burns, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said:“Whilst our fostering & adoption services may have a different name and a fantastic new look, rest assured our teams will continue to prioritise children, families and foster carers, who will remain at the heart of everything we do.

“Our recruitment activities for both fostering and adoption will continue seamlessly into April and beyond. If you have been thinking about adding to your family through adoption or fostering, I would urge you to try and attend one of our online events this month. All of our events offer the chance to speak to our friendly teams and experienced carers and adopters and to take that first crucial step on your journey.”

Find out more at an upcoming event

At each information event, our fostering and adoption experts will give an overview of the approval process, the timescales involved and answer any questions guests may have. We also welcome a guest speaker who is kind enough to share their own experiences of fostering and adoption.

If you would like to find out more about fostering or adoption you can attend an online event in April:

• Tuesday 18 April – Fostering information drop in online from 7pm to 8pm.  Join our virtual information drop in on Zoom from 7pm.
• Wednesday 26 April – Adoption online information event from 6pm to 7pm. To book a place at our adoption event please email events@cumbriaadoption.org.uk and one of our team will send you the Teams link for the event.
• Friday 28 April – Fostering information drop in online from 12pm to 1pm. Join our virtual information drop in on Zoom from 12pm.

For full details on how to join our events visit our Facebook page at @cumbriafosteringandadoption.

From April 1, to find out more about adopting visit cumbriaadoption.org.uk or speak to our adoption team on 0303 333 1216. To find out more about fostering visit cumbriafostering.org.uk or speak to our fostering team on 0300 013 2065.